EPA is underestimating fracking’s impacts on climate change
Urge EPA: use the latest, best science when calculating methane’s impacts on global warming
Methane -- the main component of natural gas -- is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
How much more potent? That’s what the EPA is currently deciding as it updates its greenhouse gas reporting rule. And right now, they’re doing it wrong.
This matters because one of the main arguments for increased natural gas production is that it’s climate friendly. But actually, if you count methane emissions using the latest and best science, it’s not.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the folks who sounded the alarm on global warming in the first place – says that methane is 72 times more potent than carbon dioxide. That’s much greater than what EPA is proposing to use.
A gas flare burns at a fracking site in rural Bradford county. Photo: Inspired by Design
Better science leads to better reporting. Better reporting leads to better policy decisions… like not pushing natural gas as a climate cure-all.
TAKE ACTION: urge the EPA to use the best science when making decisions about fracking’s impacts on climate.
They’re at it again. The House Majority scheduled committee votes on the same day for two bills contending to be this year’s worst mining bills.
HR 761, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act, and HR 687, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act will be voted on in the House Natural Resources Committee tomorrow!
HR 761 would require less public review and fewer environmental protections for all hardrock mines proposed anywhere in the country!
HR 687 would privatize federally protected lands- sacred to the Apache Tribe- and turn them over to a foreign mining corporation without federal environmental review and public input.
TAKE ACTION: Tell you Member of the House of Representatives to Vote NO on HR 687 and HR 761
Wait for science: bring New York's fracking moratorium to a vote:
Governor Cuomo promised to wait for the science on fracking’s health and environmental impacts before he makes a decision on whether to proceed with drilling in New York.
Nonetheless, the fracking industry has deep pockets and is attempting to mislead the public and bully the state into making a political decision rather than one based on the facts.
An official moratorium may be the only guarantee we have that the state will not rush into permitting.
The Assembly has passed a two-year moratorium that would officially hit the pause button on this process while we wait for critical answers. But with legislators leaving Albany for the year in June, the Senate has yet to act.
TAKE ACTION: Ask your senator do their job and bring the moratorium to a vote!
They’re at it again. The House Majority scheduled committee votes on the same day for two bills contending to be this year’s worst mining bills.
HR 761, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act, and HR 687, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act will be voted on in the House Natural Resources Committee tomorrow!
HR 761 would require less public review and fewer environmental protections for all hardrock mines proposed anywhere in the country!
HR 687 would privatize federally protected lands- sacred to the Apache Tribe- and turn them over to a foreign mining corporation without federal environmental review and public input.
TAKE ACTION: Tell you Member of the House of Representatives to Vote NO on HR 687 and HR 761
New EPA Study: Impacts to Alaska’s Bristol Bay bigger than before!
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Alaska’s Bristol Bay: the world’s greatest wild salmon fishery
Year after year, millions of wild salmon return to Bristol Bay like no other place on earth. It provides 14,000 jobs for hard-working fishermen, sustains the Alaska Native people, and provides food for Alaska’s bears, bald eagles, beluga whales, and other wildlife.
NEW EPA study just out: impacts BIGGER than before
The EPA has just released a new draft of its study on the impacts of mining to the Bristol Bay fishery. The new draft identifies even larger impacts to the salmon fishery from the proposed Pebble Mine, under routine operation. At maximum size studied, Pebble Mine would likely: eliminate or block 90 miles of streams, destroy 4,800 acres of wetlands, and harm 34 miles of streams from reduced stream flow.
As a jeweler, metalsmith and jewelry wearer, your voice is important! The majority of mined gold -- sometimes more than 90% annually -- goes to jewelry fabrication. As an Ethical Metalsmith it is especially powerful for you to tell the EPA that you don't want your craft to come at the expense of salmon or the people that rely upon them.
Urge the EPA: Protect Bristol Bay!
The EPA has the authority under 404c of the Clean Water Act to prohibit the disposal of mine waste in the pristine waters of the Bristol Bay watershed if science shows that the fishery is at risk. The science is clear. It’s time to stop studying, and take action.
TAKE ACTION: We need you to speak out AGAIN. Urge the EPA and President Obama to take immediate steps to protect the world’s greatest wild salmon fishery.
Once again we must act swiftly and decisively to stop the Oak Flat land exchange.This is the 12th version of the land exchange that Rio Tinto (a huge foreign mining company) has convinced Arizona members of Congress to introduce on their behalf, and is every bit as bad as HR 1904.
The Natural Resources Committee of the US House of Representatives has scheduled a Committee markup of HR 687 (the Oak Flat land exchange) for May 15.
Please contact your Representative now and ask him/her to vote no on the Oak Flat land exchange (HR 687).
There are many reasons that this bill is a bad idea and should never have been reintroduced. Now that is has, we must stop this bill as we have stopped the previous 11.
Please use the form below to contact your Representative and tell him or her to vote no on HR 687, the Oak Flat land exchange.
The Oak Flat land exchange would:
The Oak Flat land exchange (HR 687) would be the only bill that would turn over a Native American sacred site on public land to foreign mining companies and is opposed by every Indian Tribe in the United States.
The Oak Flat land exchange (HR 687) would be the largest loss of public lands recreational climbing opportunities in history and is opposed by the Access Fund and other organizations that care about maintaining recreational opportunities on public land.
The Oak Flat land exchange (HR 687) bypasses the normal process of permitting mines on public lands, avoids the NEPA process, and would destroy wildlife habitat and clean water resources.
The Oak Flat land exchange (HR 687) would benefit only two huge foreign mining companies at the expense of Arizona’s clean water, recreation, and economy.
The playing field has changed dramatically even since this version of the Oak Flat land exchange was introduced in February. The land exchange is opposed by every Native American Tribe, village, and pueblo in the US and is widely opposed by conservation, recreation, faith, and historical preservation organizations. In addition, the towns of Superior and Queen Valley, the two towns nearest to Oak Flat, oppose the Oak Flat land exchange.
For the first time, Rio Tinto has admitted it may not go through with a mine at Oak Flat and has listed five reasons that a mine may never happen:
The land exchange doesn't pass
Rio Tinto does not receive permits for a mine
Rio Tinto cannot find a suitable place to dump toxic tailings
Rio Tinto does not have the support of local communities (through a "social license" to mine)
Rio Tinto does not have the money for the project
With all these unanswered questions even within the company itself, it makes no sense for the Us House of Representatives to approve a bill to give public land to a foreign mining company that may never use it!
New EPA Study: Impacts to Alaska’s Bristol Bay bigger than before!
Alaska’s Bristol Bay: the world’s greatest wild salmon fishery Year after year, millions of wild salmon return to Bristol Bay like no other place on earth. It provides 14,000 jobs for hard-working fishermen, sustains the Alaska Native people, and provides food for Alaska’s bears, bald eagles, beluga whales, and other wildlife.
NEW EPA study just out: impacts BIGGER than before The EPA has just released a new draft of its study on the impacts of mining to the Bristol Bay fishery. The new draft identifies even larger impacts to the salmon fishery from the proposed Pebble Mine, under routine operation. At maximum size studied, Pebble Mine would likely eliminate or block 90 miles of streams, destroy 4,800 acres of wetlands, and harm 34 miles of streams from reduced stream flow.
Urge the EPA: Protect Bristol Bay! The EPA has the authority under 404c of the Clean Water Act to prohibit the disposal of mine waste in the pristine waters of the Bristol Bay watershed if science shows that the fishery is at risk. The science is clear. It’s time to stop studying, and take action.
TAKE ACTION: We need you to speak out AGAIN. Urge the EPA and President Obama to take immediate steps to protect the world’s greatest wild salmon fishery.
New EPA Study: Impacts to Alaska’s Bristol Bay bigger than before!
Alaska’s Bristol Bay: the world’s greatest wild salmon fishery
Year after year, millions of wild salmon return to Bristol Bay like no other place on earth. It provides 14,000 jobs for hard-working fishermen, sustains the Alaska Native people, and provides food for Alaska’s bears, bald eagles, beluga whales, and other wildlife.
NEW EPA study just out: impacts BIGGER than before
The EPA has just released a new draft of its study on the impacts of mining to the Bristol Bay fishery. The new draft identifies even larger impacts to the salmon fishery from the proposed Pebble Mine, under routine operation. At maximum size studied, Pebble Mine would likely:
eliminate or block 90 miles of streams,
destroy 4,800 acres of wetlands,
and harm 34 miles of streams from reduced stream flow.
Urge the EPA: Protect Bristol Bay!
The EPA has the authority under 404c of the Clean Water Act to prohibit the disposal of mine waste in the pristine waters of the Bristol Bay watershed if science shows that the fishery is at risk. The science is clear. It’s time to stop studying, and take action.
TAKE ACTION: We need you to speak out AGAIN. Urge the EPA and President Obama to take immediate steps to protect the world’s greatest wild salmon fishery.
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On Friday, Governor Bullock vetoed SB 347 (Chas Vincent, R- Libby), a terrible bill that would have allowed mining companies to dewater Montana’s high quality rivers & streams -- including those in Wilderness areas.
Some of Montana’s most treasured waters were at risk, including rivers and streams in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, and the Smith River.
Thank you for your e-mails to the Governor, urging him to veto the bill. He listened. And, now it’s time to send him a heartfelt thank you!
TAKE ACTION: Tell Governor Bullock thank you for vetoing SB 347, and protecting Montana’s rivers and streams.
Instructions:
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This action is only available to Montana residents.
On Friday, Governor Bullock vetoed SB 347 (Chas Vincent, R- Libby), a terrible bill that would have allowed mining companies to dewater Montana’s high quality rivers & streams -- including those in Wilderness areas.
Some of Montana’s most treasured waters were at risk, including rivers and streams in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, and the Smith River.
Thank you for your e-mails to the Governor, urging him to veto the bill. He listened. And, now it’s time to send him a heartfelt thank you!
TAKE ACTION: Tell Governor Bullock thank you for vetoing SB 347, and protecting Montana’s rivers and streams.
Instructions:
Send/amend the sample letter to the right. Personalized letters have a much greater impact.
Click "send your message" to send your letter.
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Rules Violate the Water Quality Act and should be Remanded Back to the NM Environment Department
The New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) is holding hearings on proposed groundwater quality rules for the copper industry.
Speak for the salmon, call on the EPA to stop Pebble Mine! Credit: Ben Knight
After an eight-month stakeholder process to develop a draft rule that would be protective of groundwater at copper mine sites and provide regulatory certainty to industry, NMED upper-level managers ignored the recommendations of NMED technical staff and many stakeholders from its own Copper Rule Advisory Committee, and instead adopted the mining industry's draft rules. The proposed rules will reduce water quality protections that have been in place in New Mexico for over 35 years.
Gila Resources Information Project and Turner Enterprises represented by New Mexico Environmental Law Center, and Amigos Bravos represented by High Desert Energy + Environment Law Partners, are opposed to this rulemaking on grounds that the proposed rules violate the protections afforded under the Water Quality Act and requests that the rules be remanded back to the NM Environment Department for revision.
"We strongly oppose adoption of NMED's proposed rules as they will allow the mining industry to pollute our valuable groundwater resources rather than prevent pollution at mining operations as required under the State Water Quality Act," says Sally Smith, GRIP Director of Responsible Mining. "The proposed rules would allow mining giant Freeport-McMoRan to evade its responsibility for pollution prevention and use the public's groundwater as its dumping ground, shifting the cost of cleanup to us - the taxpayer - while endangering our public health."
"Because of Freeport-McMoRan's apparent influence on NMED management, NMED's draft rules now blatantly allow pollution," says Bruce Frederick, NMELC Staff Attorney. "This draft, which purports to be a statewide regulation to prevent water pollution, is now specifically designed to accommodate Freeport-McMoRan's desire to pollute groundwater above the water quality standards set by the State."
NMED's proposed rules: Would give the mining industry the right to pollute thousands of acre-feet of groundwater underneath copper mining sites, and would risk groundwater contamination of public water supplies surrounding mining sites for decades and even centuries to come. Are in direct conflict with the State Water Quality Act, which requires polluters to prevent groundwater contamination under their sites during operations. Could pave the way for other polluters to demand similar rollbacks in water quality safeguards and allow the federal labs, dairies, wastewater treatment plants, and other industries to pollute under their sites and further risk groundwater pollution of public water supplies. This would lower the cost of doing business for the polluter while transferring the costs of clean up and any other public health outcomes directly to the New Mexico taxpayer. NMED's petition to roll back 35 years of groundwater protection in New Mexico represents a "gift" to the copper mining industry from the Martinez Administration. If allowed, companies such as Freeport-McMoRan, the largest publicly traded copper company in the world, will use New Mexico's groundwater as a dumping ground for mine waste.
Gila Resources Information Project and Turner Enterprises represented by New Mexico Environmental Law Center, and Amigos Bravos represented by High Desert Energy + Environment Law Partners, are opposed to this rulemaking on grounds that the proposed rule violates the protections afforded under the Water Quality Act.
The NM Attorney General (NM Attorney General Gary King op-ed) is equally opposed to NMED's proposed rules to the WQCC because they are in direct conflict with the Water Quality Act, and do not adequately protect the state's ground water, which the Attorney General agrees is the public's resource in New Mexico, not industry's.
TAKE ACTION: Tell the WQCC that the proposed copper rules are in violation of the state's Water Quality Act as they allow mining companies to pollute rather than prevent pollution at mine sites.
Instructions:
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Tell the EPA we need a new and expanded investigation in the Range Resources water contamination case in Parker County Texas
Range Resources’ political bullying caused the EPA to abort their investigation despite evidence that Range polluted a water well. Mounting new evidence proves the EPA should step back in with a new and expanded investigation.
In 2010 after the Texas Railroad Commission took no action to protect two landowners whose water was contaminated with explosive levels of methane and cancer-causing benzene, the EPA stepped in and found that Range Resources had “caused or contributed” to the pollution.
Under tremendous political pressure, the EPA ignored their own commissioned scientific evidence linking Range Resources' drilling operations. They buckled under the pressure and dropped the case.
Now we learn there is another landowner whose water changed after Range operations began. Shelly Perdue’s water suddenly started effervescing. The fizzing in a glass of her water is audible and when she recently tried to light her water, look what happened:
Texas water on fire!
Shelly is in danger because she is still using her water! And there could be others!
TAKE ACTION: Tell the EPA Attorney General to start an expanded investigation of why our water's on fire.
The Montana legislature has passed SB 347 (Chas Vincent, R- Libby). It would allow mining companies to dewater Montana’s high quality rivers & streams -- including those in Wilderness areas.
The bill would eliminate protections for Montana streams that limit the amount of water that can be removed. It would replace those safeguards with vague language that won’t protect Montana’s cherished fish and wildlife habitat, or downstream water users.
Some of Montana’s most treasured waters are at risk. The bill sponsor says the language will benefit the proposed Montanore Mine proposed under the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, the recently announced Black Butte Mine on the headwaters of the Smith River, and the Otter Creek coal tracts.
The bill will be headed to the Governor’s desk, and he needs to hear from you.
TAKE ACTION: Urge Governor Bullock to protect Montana's rivers and streams and VETO SB 347.
What's bad about SB 347?
Eliminates the only laws that currently place limits on how much water mining companies can pump from rivers.
Replaces current numeric pumping limits with vague, fuzzy language that will not protect fish, water, or the people who use it, and will likely lead to costly, drawn-out litigation.
Undermines water rights for current water users (in some basins, any reduction in existing streamflow will prevent current users from getting their full water right).
Leaves almost no recourse for water rights holders whose water rights are harmed. It will allow companies to divert huge amounts of water, for hundreds of years, while being exempt from the water rights process all other users are bound by.
Bottom line - this bill is unnecessary. Not a single mine being contemplated needs to dewater creeks in the coming year. This last-minute, rushed legislation is poorly crafted, bad for clean water, and bad for Montanans who depend on it.
Instructions:
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Protect healthy forests and clean water:
keep a proposed ban on horizontal fracking in the George Washington National Forest.
When the Forest Service proposed this ban in 2011, it drew tremendous support. Ten local governments and a great majority (95%) of 53,000 public comments encouraged the Forest Service to stick with its sensible limits on gas drilling.
Now, the US Forest Service is under intense pressure to abandon its proposal. But it’s not too late for the Forest Service to make the right decision.
George Washington National Forest (Virginia)
TAKE ACTION: ask your Senators stand against irresponsible fracking! Urge them to encourage the Forest Service to stand firm on the proposed fracking ban.
Let them know the well-considered ban would prevent the riskiest fracking on the forest and protect the headwaters of drinking sources for more than 4.5 million Virginians.
Our Senators need to hear that we value the integrity of our national forest lands and the clean water they provide.
Exxon spilled 84,000 gallons of crude oil in Arkansas
and a legal loophole will let them get away with it
Last week a pipeline carrying tar sands oil from Canada to the US broke, spilling thousands of gallons of dirty crude in Mayflower, Arkansas.
This is the same kind of pipeline as Keystone XL, carrying the same kind of oil, and, you guessed it, the same risks.
We know pipelines break.
Instead of placing the whole burden of clean up costs on taxpayers, when a company spills oil they have to pay into the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.
Crude spilling through neighborhoods in Mayflower, Arkansas
But what if it isn't, technically and legally, oil?
Because tar sand oil isn't technically considered "oil" under the law, Congress and the Internal Revenue Service consider Exxon exempt from paying an 8 cents-per-barrel-spilled tax.
That's right: Exxon doesn't have to pay a dime. Taxpayers do.
TAKE ACTION: Tell your Representatives and the President close the loophole and prevent more spills by stopping the Keystone XL pipeline!
Urge your Representative to support
the BREATHE and FRESHER Acts
Emerging science shows that air pollution from the oil and gas shale boom harms nearby communities and contributes to climate change. Thanks to a Clean Air Act loophole, we are powerless to control much of that pollution.
The BREATHE act, introduced by Reps Polis and Cartwright, would protect communities by requiring oil and gas drilling and fracking follow the same rules as other industries when it comes to air pollution.
Texas hospital entrance next to fracking rig!
Polis and Cartwright also introduced the FRESHER act to better protect our rivers and streams. FRESHER would close a Clean Water Act loophole that exempts oil and gas companies from managing stormwater runoff, a basic rule that every homeowner in America is required to follow.
The oil and gas industry justifies their special interest loopholes by claiming that the states are the proper place for oversight. But new research shows states annually inspect less than half of active oil and gas wells. And the same research shows that when violations are found, violators are not punished.
TAKE ACTION: Tell you Representative to put our public health before (bigger) oil and gas company profits. Tell them oil and gas companies should play by the sames rules as other industries. Urge them to support the BREATHE and FRESHER acts!
Senator Cantwell Calls For SEC Investigation of Pebble Mine Developers
This week, Senator Cantwell urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate contradictory information provided by Pebble Mine developers to federal officials about their plans for Bristol Bay, Alaska.
Northern Dynasty, one of the developers, claims that the EPA's scientific assessments is baseless because there is no mine plan. Yet, the assessment is based on a mine plan that Northern Dynasty submitted to investors and the SEC in February 2011.
In so many words, Senator Cantwell is calling out Northern Dynasty for either deceiving investors, or the Environmental Protection Agency.
“Bristol Bay salmon support a multi-million dollar commercial fishing industry that includes thousands of Washington state jobs,” Cantwell wrote in the letter sent today to the SEC.
“In total, Bristol Bay produces roughly half of the world’s wild sockeye salmon with a total value of over $480 million dollars, and supporting over 14,000 jobs."
We're grateful to Senator Cantwell. Join us in thanking her for her tireless support of Bristol Bay!
TAKE ACTION: Send Senator Cantwell a thank you letter!
Help stop a state power grab of local oversight of the oil & gas industry
Do you want an oil or gas well next to schools, playgrounds, or in your backyard?
Rep. Van Taylor, who lives where drilling or fracking isn't, has authored a bill to grab local controls of oil & gas development and hand them to a failed state agency: the Texas Railroad Commission.
Taylor lives on an oil company inheritance, so its no surprise that his bill would help billion-dollar corporations, not regular Texans!
Texas hospital entrance next to fracking rig!
His bill would be a disaster for Texas cities, forcing communities to defer to state regulations which allow drilling and fracking within 200 ft. of a habitable structure -- including homes, schools, churches etc.
TAKE ACTION: HB 1496 is pending approval by the Land and Resource Management Committee. Send the Committee a strong message that Texans won’t stand for this government power grab.
Tell the BLM: don't allow mining in conservation and recreation areas
Alaska possesses some of the most remote wild places remaining in the United States. In the Eastern Interior of Alaska, three areas have achieved national management designations for their unique characteristics for recreation, wildlife, habitat and subsistence:
The Steese National Conservation Area was set aside to restore the Birch Creek National Wild and Scenic River, and protect caribou and Dall sheep habitat;
The White Mountains National Recreation Area was specifically set aside for recreation;
The Fortymile Wild and Scenic River corridor was established to maintain and improve fish and wildlife habitat.
Fortymile Wild and Scenic River Photo: Darcie Warden
Now the American public has a chance to weigh in on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) draft Resource Management Plan, which proposes to open the area to hardrock mineral leasing.
TAKE ACTION: Tell BLM to maintain existing protections, and not to allow hardrock mineral leasing in conservation and recreation areas.
On February 14, Valentine’s Day, Representatives Gosar (R-4th) and Kirkpatrick (D-1st) introduced the newest version of the Oak Flat land exchange. This new version, HR 687, is virtually identical to last year’s version of the land exchange (HR 1904). This is the 12 version of the land exchange that Rio Tinto has convinced Arizona members of Congress to introduce on their behalf, and is every bit as bad as HR 1904, which was the worst of the lot.
There are many reasons that this bill is a bad idea and should never have been reintroduced. Now that is has, we must stop this bill just like we have stopped the previous 11.
Please use the form below to contact your Representative and tell him or her to not support HR 687, the Oak Flat land exchange.
The Oak Flat land exchange would:
The Oak Flat land exchange (HR 687) would be the only bill that would turn over a Native American sacred site on public land to foreign mining companies and is opposed by every Indian Tribe in the United States.
The Oak Flat land exchange (HR 687) would be the largest loss of public lands recreational climbing opportunities in history and is opposed by the Access Fund and other organizations that care about maintaining recreational opportunities on public land.
The Oak Flat land exchange (HR 687) bypasses the normal process of permitting mines on public lands, avoids the NEPA process, and would destroy wildlife habitat and clean water resources.
The Oak Flat land exchange (HR 687) would benefit only two huge foreign mining companies at the expense of Arizona’s clean water, recreation, and economy.
Sacrificing the environment won’t balance the budget
Congress has just more than a week left to pass a responsible budget deficit deal that would prevent dramatic spending cuts to federal programs protecting our air, water, wildlife and national parks.
As President Obama said last week during the State of the Union, we can't just cut our way out of the deficit mess. We have to protect programs that we can't afford to live without. Tell Congress to reduce the deficit by ending wasteful tax loopholes -- not by allowing cuts that could risk public health and our threaten air, water and land.
INSTRUCTIONS:
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Tell Governor Corbett and DEP Secretary Krancer to start giving the public better water and air tests, complete results, and honest answers
When it comes to shale gas, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) seems to have forgotten if they work to protect the public, or the gas companies.
Right now, when PADEP tests drinking water for drilling pollution, DEP only reports partial results to homeowners—leaving residents in the dark about information they need to protect their health and safety.
Incomplete reporting also makes it easier for the gas industry to deny contamination that could be happening. And PADEP may be letting companies get away with pollution they cause.
PADEP scheduled a meeting with environmental and citizen groups to discuss the issue—but then abruptly cancelled it.
TAKE ACTION: tell Governor Corbett and Secretary Krancer that PADEP needs to stop playing hide and seek and start giving the public better water and air tests, complete results, and honest answers. They also need to reschedule the planned meeting and answer the questions they’ve been asked.
INSTRUCTIONS:
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Personalize the letter and subject header -- personalized messages have much greater impact.
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On the next page, spread the word by Facebook, Twitter and/or email.
Urge Macy's to adopt the Golden Rules
for more responsible mining!
Macy's is famous for its splashy New York Times ads around Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, Macy's has a dirty little secret that it isn't advertising: its sparkly jewelry may be tarnished by human rights abuses and toxic chemicals.
Jewelry demand accounts for 70% of newly mined gold. So far, 90 leading jewelry retailers have pledged to keep irresponsibly mined gold off their shelves.
But Macy's refuses to join these retailers and clean up its gold supply chain.
People buy jewelry as a token of affection for their loved ones. But is your token of love contaminated with dirty gold?
TAKE ACTION: Tell Macy's you don't want to tarnish your love with dirty gold! Urge CEO Terry Lundgren to sign the Golden Rules now!
INSTRUCTIONS:
Read the sample letter at right.
Personalize the letter and subject header -- personalized messages have much greater impact.
Click "Send Your Message" to send your letter via email to Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren
On the next page, spread the word by Facebook, Twitter and/or email.
Tell the Interior Secretary and Congress to
protect the Chetco from mining.
The Wild and Scenic Chetco River is renowned for world-class salmon & steelhead runs, and crystal clear water.
But it is still vulnerable to mining thanks to the General Mining Law of 1872 -- which gives mining precedence over all other uses.
Thankfully, the Interior Department is considering protecting 17 miles of river from mining for the next 5 years -- to give Congress time to pass more lasting protection.
Protect the Chetco! Photo: Ann Vileisis
But the clock is ticking! If the Interior Secretary, and Congress, don't act soon the river will be open to mining once again.
TAKE ACTION: Tell the Interior Secretary and Congress to protect the Chetco Wild and Scenic River from suction dredge mining.
The Susquehanna River, which winds its way through New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, is the source of drinking water to more than six million people, provides recreational opportunities for visitors and supports natural environments for wildlife from bald eagles to river otters. But today, the mighty Susquehanna and its communities are at risk.
Rapid shale gas development threatens to pollute waterways, harm drinking water supplies, and destroy landscapes. That’s why American Rivers named the Susquehanna the nation’s most endangered river in 2011. No state or the agency charged with managing and protecting the Susquehanna—the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC)—has done the planning or taken the steps needed to protect the river. In fact, the SRBC’s piecemeal approach, which addresses only the impacts of water withdrawals, could make things even worse.
Protect the Susquehanna!
We have the chance to change the status quo. The SRBC plans to identify and study negative impacts on water resources of the Basin and create a new strategy for how to prevent them. We need you to send a letter to your Governor and the Army Corps of Engineers telling them how the SRBC can better protect and responsibly manage the entire Susquehanna River Basin.
TAKE ACTION: send a letter to your Colonel Savre telling him the SRBC needs to manage the river responsibly.
The Susquehanna River, which winds its way through New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, is the source of drinking water to more than six million people, provides recreational opportunities for visitors and supports natural environments for wildlife from bald eagles to river otters. But today, the mighty Susquehanna and its communities are at risk.
Rapid shale gas development threatens to pollute waterways, harm drinking water supplies, and destroy landscapes. That’s why American Rivers named the Susquehanna the nation’s most endangered river in 2011. No state or the agency charged with managing and protecting the Susquehanna—the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC)—has done the planning or taken the steps needed to protect the river. In fact, the SRBC’s piecemeal approach, which addresses only the impacts of water withdrawals, could make things even worse.
Protect the Susquehanna!
We have the chance to change the status quo. The SRBC plans to identify and study negative impacts on water resources of the Basin and create a new strategy for how to prevent them. We need you to send a letter to your Governor and the Army Corps of Engineers telling them how the SRBC can better protect and responsibly manage the entire Susquehanna River Basin.
TAKE ACTION: send a letter to your Governor telling him the SRBC needs to manage the river responsibly.
Would you hire a consulting firm with strong fossil fuel industry ties to study whether or not exporting fracked gas is a good idea? The Department of Energy (DOE) did just that, and you probably won't be surprised by the industry-friendly results.
This report has more holes than a block of Swiss cheese, focusing on how the natural gas industry and the wealthiest people in our country will profit. The costs to our communities -- air and water pollution, environmental destruction, lost jobs, climate disruption, and even increased energy costs -- are completely ignored or dismissed as unimportant to big business.
Send your letter today, and tell DOE not to make any decisions about the future of exporting fracked gas without looking at the whole picture.
More than two years after the disastrous Gulf oil spill, BP still has not paid a single penny in Clean Water Act fines.
Instead, BP is using litigation to stall this process and abandon its obligations to clean up the Gulf.
It's time for BP to pay!
While we wait, people in the gulf are breathing in toxic chemicals from the spill, and it's showing up in their blood.
Al Jazeera reported one Gulf resident's account:
"There are now dozens, if not hundreds, of other Gulf Coast residents and former oil clean up workers that have also tested positive for having BP's chemicals in their blood," she added. "And for many of us, the problem seems to be getting worse with time."
TAKE ACTION: Tell BP to stop stalling, take responsibility, and pay the maximum Clean Water Act fines for which they are liable — now.
Tell DEC not to shut the public out of decisions on public health.
Make New Yorkers' voices heard!
It’s crazy for New York’s Department of Environment Conservation to issue draft fracking regs without waiting for the state’s analysis of fracking’s health impacts.
Any agency that is supposed to protect the public interest needs to wait for their own science on an issue before they try to regulate the issue.
Without it critical health information—including that directly related to core regulatory aspects such as setbacks, air emissions, chemical use, and waste disposal—will be ignored.
DEC promises the final regs will reflect the health analysis’ findings. But that promise is empty without opportunity for the public to comment. And DEC hasn’t promised that opportunity. And as our research has shown, DEC is woefully unprepared to oversee new drilling.
TAKE ACTION: Tell the DEC to extend the public comment period on the regulations, until at least 30 days after the completion of both the DOH health impacts review and DEC’s final guidelines on high-volume fracking (known as the SGEIS).
More information:
The type of critical information we're worried will be omitted from the health analysis and rules:
Gas Patch Roulette: How Shale Gas Development Risks Public Health in Pennsylvania, is Earthworks’ 2012 report based on air and water testing and more than 100 health symptom surveys—the largest such set of information from residents in the Marcellus Shale region to date. The report summary is attached, as well as a research paper based on this study that has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication in spring 2013 in New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy. (Additional information is available at http://health.earthworksaction.org.)
Tell your state legislator to oppose attempts to repeal the sulfide mining moratorium, and to oppose the Iron Mining bill
In 1998, Wisconsin passed the sulfide mining moratorium.
The moratorium isn’t a ban. Instead, it requires a mining company to prove – before they mine – that another sulfide mine has operated and been reclaimed… without violating environmental laws.
Protect beautiful Wisconsin!
15 years later, no safely operating sulfide mine has been found, and so no sulfide mining (which creates sulfuric acid, leaches toxics and threatens water supplies) has occurred in Wisconsin since.
The mining lobby’s response? Encourage more responsible operation? Don’t be silly. They want to change Wisconsin law so they don’t have to prove they can mine safely.
TAKE ACTION: Please tell your Wisconsin legislators to oppose attempts to repeal the sulfide mining moratorium, including the Iron Mining bill!
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Tell Governor Cuomo: the whole nation is watching how New York handles fracking and public health
Governor, be careful where you open your mouth
and breathe if you permit fracking without science
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has a chance to set an example for how responsible government should protect public health from fracking's impacts.
But right now, it looks like the only example he's going to set will be a bad one.
The state's health review is proceeding under a veil of secrecy, without any chance for input from health profesionals, or directly impacted communities.
To make things worse, the state is moving forward with fracking rules before the health review is even finished -- severing science from the rulemaking process.
TAKE ACTION: Let Governor Cuomo know we're watching. Urge him to release the public health review and allow public comment. Tell him he needs to keep his promise to allow the science to determine whether New York moves forward with fracking.
Thank you for supporting our work. Overall, 2012 has been a good year for us and we have accomplished much, but there is much more to do and we need your financial support. Please consider a financial contribution to the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition, so we can continue our work to protect Oak Flat, the Santa Rita Mountains, and Arizona’s many lands and waters threatened by inappropriate mining projects.
We have accomplished much this year:
Our Camera Project at Oak Flat has been active for more than a year. We have documented many rare species as well as recreational uses at Oak Flat.
Our improved action alert system allowed us to increase the size of our list tenfold and to provide additional input to state and federal agencies on a number of issues including our work to protect Oak Flat and to stop the proposed Rosemont Mine.
We have successfully held at bay the Oak Flat land exchange and are prepared to fend off a last ditch effort by Arizona’s senators to move the bill yet this year.
We uncovered Rio Tinto’s preferred tailings dumpsite at Florence Junction and alerted neighbors in Queen Valley to the threat.
We provided major comments to federal and state agencies on Rosemont and other mining proposals.
We (along with several groups and individuals) appealed the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality’s decision to grant Augusta/Rosemont an Aquifer Protection Permit to the Water Quality Board and our Director was one of our witnesses.
We were interviewed for many newspaper and television stories including one on Oak Flat by the Swedish Broadcasting Network. Many media outlets consider us the “go to” source for mining issues in Arizona.
Our successes are exciting and encouraging. However, we are in a funding emergency and need your immediate help to keep the coalition in place in the coming months. We are a lean and frugal operation. Our successes have been built on a budget of less than $93 per day – which pays our expenses and a part-time salary for our Director.
In addition to the accomplishments described above, we want you to know what is at stake in the near future. Our survival is critical to track and be ready to move on these important issues:
Stop the Oak Flat land exchange in the Senate this year and prepare for the new Congress;
Provide input to federal and state agencies on a myriad of mining proposals including Rosemont, Oak Flat, and Florence;
Provide attention to new and old mining projects such as the in-situ copper mine proposed for Florence;
Provide a presence and a voice on the national stage to keep positive reform of federal mining laws and rules alive and fend off attempts to further weaken mining laws.
We can’t emphasize enough how important your support is at this moment to ensure our survival and keep the doors open.
If you prefer to mail a check or would like to know more, please contact our Director.
Any amount will help, but please be as generous as you can – and dig deep! The deeper you dig into your pocket, the less digging will happen on Arizona’s precious public lands.
Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law for federal non-profit organizations.
Sincerely,
Roger Featherstone
P.S. As the only non-profit organization working exclusively on mining issues in Arizona, our work is of critical importance. Not only do we help protect our communities and the environment from inappropriate mining, but our member groups depend on our leadership and assistance to make their efforts more valuable.
The largest open pit mine in North America could be built at the headwaters of the world's largest remaining wild salmon fishery -- Alaska's Bristol Bay. The mine would generate as many as 10 billion tons of harmful mine waste.
That's one lucky bear! Photo by Ken Morrish.
Year after year, the salmon return to Bristol Bay in astounding numbers, like no other place on earth. The fishery is the region's economic engine, generating $450 million and supporting 14,000 jobs!
Bristol Bay communities are asking all jewelers to support their efforts to protect Bristol Bay, their source of sustenance and livelihood. Jewelry retailer gold demand represents 80% of annual global mine production.
Over 50 jewelry retailers have already signed the Bristol Bay Protection Pledge.
TAKE ACTION: send a letter to thank jeweler signatories!
Tell Governor Cuomo: no new fracking before the science comes in
New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation, at Governor Cuomo’s direction, recently issued new fracking regulations. They’ll only be available for public comment for 30 days, starting December 12th. Then they’ll be finalized on February 27th.
Governor, be careful where you open your mouth
and breathe if you permit fracking without science
This schedule severs science from the rulemaking process.
The Department of Health’s review of fracking health impacts, and the DEC’s environmental impact statement, are both unfinished and will not be completed before the public comment period closes -- but could provide the very information needed to develop sound regulations.
TAKE ACTION: Tell Governor Cuomo to withdraw the fracking regulations. Urge him to keep his promise to allow the science to determine whether New York moves forward with fracking.
Tell your Senators to protect sacred sites and recreation areas from irresponsible mining
Oak Flat campground, and sacred areas
near it, are at risk from irresponsible mining
Once again, two massive mining companies, Rio Tinto and BHP, are pushing a land exchange -- another special favor to the mining industry -- to privatize nearly 3000 acres of public land in southeastern Arizona.
Apache tribal leaders overwhelmingly oppose the mine that would include lands sacred to their cultural identity. Throughout the year, thousands of birders, climbers, campers, bikers, and hikers enjoy the area in and around the Oak Flat campground.
But the mining lobby is pushing Congress to pass this land exchange surreptitiously --- by attaching it to a larger piece of legislation. We need your help to stop it.
TAKE ACTION: Tell your Senators to protect public lands, sacred sites, and recreation jobs from a bill that would give more special favors to multinational mining companies.
More information:
HR 1904, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act, would:
Mandate the loss of the largest amount of federal lands ever for recreational rock climbing resulting in financial ruin for small businesses supported by the climbing industry.
Transfer federal land that is a Native American sacred site to foreign companies for mining activities that will destroy it.
Result in massive dewatering and loss of habitat critical to rare and endangered plants and animals.
Congress is back after the elections in a lame duck session that should wrap up by the end of the year. The Congress has a lot on its plate for this short session. However, Senators Kyl and McCain are intent on pushing through the Oak Flat land exchange (HR 1904) this year to give more government handouts to two of the world’s largest mining companies.
The Oak Flat land exchange would give away sacred lands critical for religious freedom and for many recreational and cultural opportunities to allow Rio Tinto and BHP to build a destructive mine.
Oak Flat is located an hour east of Phoenix, Arizona and is a riparian paradise now protected from mining for recreational and cultural activities.
Kyl and McCain will attempt to attach HR 1904 to important legislation instead of letting the Senate decide on the merits of the bill. Because of the controversial nature of the Oak Flat land exchange, this would amount to adding a poison pill to any necessary legislation.
Don’t let Senators McCain and Kyl divert the Congress from important business by inserting their destructive special interest bill.
HR 1904:
•Would mandate the loss of the largest amount of federal lands ever for recreational rock climbing resulting in financial ruin for small businesses based on the climbing industry.
•Would be the only transfer of federal land that is a Native American sacred site to foreign companies for mining activities that will destroy it.
•Would result in massive dewatering of the riparian area and the loss of habitat critical to rare and endangered plants and animals.
If HR 1904 were to become law, the campground would be destroyed and the surrounding area would be devoid of water. Recreational opportunities that allow small businesses to flourish would be lost forever. Religious freedom for Native Americans would be curtailed.
Contact your Senators and ask them to oppose any attempt to move the Oak Flat land exchange, HR 1904, and to continue to protect Oak Flat for cultural, spiritual, and recreational opportunities.
Urge Governor Corbett and Secretary Krancer to fully reveal water tests to Pennsylvanians impacted by drilling
Governor Corbett: don't keep Pennsylvanians in the dark.
Last week, court documents revealed that the PA Department of Environmental Protection withholds 2/3rds of heavy metals results when testing homeowners' drinking water.
Many heavy metals are hazardous to human health. Some have been found in fracking flowback fluid and other water produced from drilling.
DEP justifies withholding results by saying the practice is “standard”, and levels are “low". But as drilling practices change, so do drinking water contaminants. And gaps in science and testing standards mean that DEP has no way to know if “low” = “safe.”
TAKE ACTION: tell Governor Corbett that people have the right to know what’s in their water—and DEP has the responsibility to tell them.
Urge the Governor, and DEP Secretary Krancer, to help protect public health by requiring DEP to share all water testing data with Pennsylvanians.
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Earthworks: Gas Patch Roulette, our report linking gas development with negative health impacts -- an example of why comprehensive water testing results are essential, and that drilling and neighborhoods don't mix
Amid growing public concern, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) has proposed revising the old standards for how far oil and gas operations should be from homes, schools and neighborhoods.
We're glad the state recognizes the problems created by drilling in and near our communities, but their solutions fall short. The Commission’s proposal fails to deliver the balanced, common-sense protection for public health and welfare that Coloradans expect and demand.
Instead, the proposal simply locks in place the existing 350-foot minimum distance between drilling and homes.
It is time for Governor Hickenlooper to lead on protecting citizens and the environment from the threats of oil and gas drilling.
TAKE ACTION: Send Governor Hickenlooper a letter telling him that drilling and neighborhoods don't mix.
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Earthworks: Gas Patch Roulette, our report linking proximity to gas development with negative health impacts -- an example of why significant setbacks are essential, and that drilling and neighborhoods don't mix
Unlike your garden-variety, brain-eating zombie, the Mining Law that never dies feeds on our public lands.
Signed by President Ulysses S. Grant, the 140 year old zombie 1872 Mining Law allows mining companies to buy mineral-bearing public lands for no more than $5/acre. And they pay the public no royalty for the minerals they extract.
The zombie mining law of 1872 is eating our public lands!
To date, the zombie 1872 Mining Law has eaten a meal of our public lands the size of Connecticut – in the process snarfing down more than $300 billion of (once) publicly-owned gold, copper and other metals.
And now the mining lobby wants to make it even easier for the 1872 Mining Law to consume our brai… uh.. public lands. They want to limit public input into how mines are permitted on public lands.
TAKE ACTION: Fight back the zombie attack! Tell your Senators to protect our public lands and oppose S1113/HR4402.
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NOTE: Selling mineral-bearing public lands for $5/acre is authorized by the 1872 Mining Law. But a temporary block, that must be annually renewed, prevents new purchases at this point.
In the name of promoting "critical" mineral development in the United States, HR 4402/S1113, the Critical Minerals Policy Act of 2012, could muffle or silence community and environmental concerns when new mines are proposed.
So-called strategic or critical minerals, like rare earths, are used in the manufacture of items we use every day, like mobile phones.
According to the Department of Energy, what's holding back "critical" minerals development is not community or environmental concerns about mining.
But S. 1113, in the name of critical minerals, could effectively silence the voices of mining impacted communities anyway. Worse yet, the definition of "critical minerals" could be so broad that traditional hardrock minerals like copper could be considered for fast tracking the permit process.
Counter industry denial:
send your representatives Gas Patch Roulette
Earthworks released a new report last week, Gas Patch Roulette: How Shale Gas Development Risks Public Health.
The largest health investigation of its kind, Gas Patch Roulette couples pollution testing with reports from more than 100 people living in the shadow of Pennsylvania's gas development. It concretely reveals the pattern of gas development's impacts on health and communities.
But decision makers continue to turn a blind eye to growing evidence. Tens of thousands of new gas wells are permitted each year while industry and officials ignore public health risks.
What are the health impacts of having the oil and gas industry in your backyard?
Photo courtesy of Robert Donna
TAKE ACTION: Send your representatives Gas Patch Roulette. Tell them we should stop permitting new gas development until the public's health can be protected.
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Oregon's Wild and Scenic Illinois River is now protected from mining because of its scenic beauty, salmon and steelhead fishery, and recreational values.
But that protection is set to expire in June 2013 -- leaving 13 miles of the river at risk.
Please tell the Interior Department to renew the Illinois River's protection against mining! Because some places simply shouldn't be mined.
Sixmile Creek Recreation Site, part of the river that is subject to the withdrawal extension.
Photo courtesy of Barbara Ullian
1872 Mining Law Puts the Illinois River at Risk
Without a mineral withdrawal, mining becomes the dominant use because the 1872 mining law prioritizes mining over all other land uses —even on National Wild and Scenic Rivers like the Illinois. With gold at record high prices and the advent of recreational suction dredge mining, the risks to the river are great.
BLM Decides the River's Fate
The Oregon Office of the BLM, part of the Department of the Interior, is taking public comment now on extending the mineral withdrawal for another 20 years.
TAKE ACTION: Please tell BLM to protect this special river from mining.
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Please send us your letters by October 21st.
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A new bill in the Senate will fast track a huge federal land exchange and strip mining give-away to Big Mining.
Rep. Cravaack's H.R.5544 Minnesota Education Investment and Employment Act would swap 86,000 acres of state-owned lands within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to the federal government in exchange for similar but unspecified acreage in Superior National Forest outside of the wilderness area.
The state then plans to give that land to the mining industry.
[left] Before - Superior National Forest [right] After - Suflide- Mining District (MN-LTV)
Photo courtesy of Lori Andresen
This transfer of tens of thousands of acres of National Forest lands will result in the loss of important protections including:
Watershed protection under the Weeks Act and other laws that protect our national forests
Citizen input and the right to legal intervention under the National Environmental Policy Act
Native American Tribal rights and Executive Orders requiring government-to-government consultation on issues related to Federal actions.
Revenue from the proposed sulfide mine will mainly benefit international mining companies and put now public lands in the Superior National Forest at risk.
TAKE ACTION: Ask your senators to oppose this special favors land exchange legislation that benefits multinational mining interests at the expense of precious forest.
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Proponents of the bill note that the land the state will receive will be held in trust for Minnesota schools. But any revenue could be in jeopardy because potential water contamination creates a financial risk to taxpayers. Further, the actual revenue to the schools generated from mining pales in comparison to the per student expenditures the state outlays.
Thanks to the national precedent setting Pit Rule – a rule that governs the proper disposal of oil and gas production wastes – there is cleaner water to drink in New Mexico.
But since it was enacted in 2008, the oil and gas industry has been fighting to kill the rule.
Now, the current administration and its appointees on the Oil Conservation Commission appear poised to weaken it, and we're asking you to help stop them.
Photo courtesy of The Capitol Report New Mexico
Why we need the Pit Rule:
The Pit Rule was adopted after extensive input from industry, ranchers, conservationists and everyday New Mexicans;
Before the Pit Rule was adopted, state records show more than 400 cases of pits causing soil and water contamination;
In 2010, OCD staff testified before a legislative subcommittee that since the approval of the Pit Rule, state inspectors had found no new cases of contamination from oil and gas waste pits;
If the Pit Rule is dismantled, our safe drinking water will be in jeopardy;
The New Mexico Pit Rule sets an example for other oil and gas producing states - weakening the rule in New Mexico could impact other states' decisions.
Efforts to dismantle this common-sense safeguard are ongoing and it’s critical that the administration hears from you that you support a strong Pit Rule – not a weaker one.
The New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission is set to make a final decision on the Pit Rule September 24.
TAKE ACTION: Tell Governor Susana Martinez that we support the strong Pit Rule protecting our water from oil and gas waste.
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In the name of promoting "critical" mineral development in the United States, HR 4402/S1113, the Critical Minerals Policy Act of 2012, could muffle or silence community and environmental concerns when new mines are proposed.
So-called strategic or critical minerals, like rare earths, are used in the manufacture of items we use every day, like mobile phones.
China Rare Earths
Photo courtesy of The Daily Caller
According to the Department of Energy, what's holding back "critical" minerals development is not community or environmental concerns about mining.
But S. 1113, in the name of critical minerals, could effectively silence the voices of mining impacted communities anyway. Worse yet, the definition of "critical minerals" could be so broad that traditional hardrock minerals like copper could be considered for fast tracking the permit process.
TAKE ACTION: Tell your Senators to oppose S1113/HR4402. Don't ignore the community and the environment when deciding whether to allow new mines!
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HR 4402, sponsored by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), seeks to encourage "critical" minerals development in the United States by asking the Interior Department to:
Determine a methodology for identifying critical minerals
Create a list of critical minerals using that methodology
Examine all mining regulations soup to nuts to determine where permitting of critical minerals should be streamlined.
Harvesting many rare earth minerals occurs as a by-product of other traditional hardrock metals. This presents the practical problem of streamlining permits for the rare earth minerals found in the same mine as uranium, iron, or copper. Worse yet, the bill allows the Interior Department to select any metal that could be subject to supply disruption or important for defense or agricultural applications as "critical".
Congress is effectively talking about creating incentives for large, profitable mining operations that have rare earths or other minerals as a by-product of the primary mineral production.
To the extent that there is a problem, the market is already solving it. A rare earths mine in California is slated to reopen within the year. And surveys of mining companies worldwide indicate that U.S. regulation/permitting is a competitive advantage rather than a disadvantage.
Industry groups, led by the US Chamber of Commerce, have relentlessly lobbied the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in an effort to delay and dilute Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act, also known as the conflict minerals provision. Section 1502 aims to curb the trade in minerals -- including gold, tungsten and tin -- from fueling human rights abuses and violent conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Credit: Enough Project
Tell Best Buy to break from the US Chamber of Commerce’s stance on conflict minerals.
Until now, companies like Best Buy have relied upon their suppliers’ assurances that they do not utilize conflict minerals - without independent verification. The Dodd-Frank Act, signed into law by President Obama on July 25th, 2010, aims to change that by requiring companies to disclose whether their products contain conflict minerals.
But the US Chamber of Commerce – of which Best Buy is a member -- is committed to seeing this crucial provision falter. The good news is that leading companies like General Electric, Microsoft and Motorola Solutions have all publicly stated that the US Chamber of Commerce does not represent them on conflict minerals.
Now it’s Best Buy’s turn to step up.
Join us in demanding that Best Buy break with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on conflict minerals.
Please take action by writing to Best Buy CEO Mike Mikan right away! Time is running out as the SEC will be announcing its final decision this week.
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We need your help to protect healthy forests and drinking water in Virginia and West Virginia by keeping a proposed ban on natural gas fracking on the George Washington National Forest.
The US Forest Service is under intense pressure by the gas industry to abandon its proposal to prohibit horizontal drilling on more than one million acres on the George Washington National Forest. This ban is intended to limit or prevent the riskiest fracking, with large volumes of water and chemicals, on any future federal oil and gas leases on this Forest.
Please tell Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who oversees the Forest Service, that the agency must stand firm. Let him know the well-considered ban was supported by 10 local governments and the great majority (95 percent) of more than 53,000 public comments on the new GW National Forest management plan, which will guide forest land uses for the next 15 years.
The George Washington National Forest hosts more than a million visitors each year, supplies drinking water to more than 260,000 local residents, and is headwaters of the Potomac and the James River, the drinking water sources for millions in cities such as Washington, DC and Richmond, VA. The Forest Service decision to prohibit horizontal drilling for natural gas in the George Washington National Forest is a well-justified and sensible precaution in light of the well-documented environmental impacts of hydrofracking.
The Secretary of Agriculture needs to hear from each of us who values the integrity of our national forest lands.
Thank you for your support on this critical issue!
The George Washington National Forest. Credit: Forest Service
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The US House of Representatives is poised to vote tomorrow on a bill that would further weaken already pathetic federal hard rock Mining laws.
HR 4402, the “National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2012” masquerades as a law about the importance of critical minerals to our economy. But, what this legislation is really about is limiting public review and environmental protection for all hardrock mines proposed anywhere in this country!
If this bill becomes law, it will allow the mining industry to poison our lakes, rivers and streams and disenfranchise local communities. We need your help now. Tell you Members of Congress that HR 4402 is bad for the environment and bad for communities.
Tell your representative to vote no on HR 4402. Our communities need more, not less protection from multi-national mining corporations.
Mining has already caused pollution, such as this river runing red, across our public lands. Don't give the mining industry more of a license to pollute!
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One example of Newmont’s poor record on community consent is in Peru. Communities are trying to stop a major threat to their water before it occurs. The threat is Newmont’s massive proposed gold mine in northern, Peru.
Newmont's CEO Richard O'Brien
The $4.5 billion Conga Mine is:
Being built without community consent;
Slated to be built in a fragile high-altitude headwaters area;
Will require the removal of at least four lakes that are relied on for drinking, agriculture, and grazing;
Will require a toxic waste containment facility that is two times the size of New York’s Central Park.
Poised to massive amounts of water (2.3 million cubic feet) annually for processing
Now we are following up the message we sent at Newmont’s Annual Shareholder Meeting with a letter in support for our Peruvian partners, and all communities fighting for the right of free, prior, and informed consent. Every human has the right to clean water, every community has the right to be consulted and give consent.
Tell Newmont community consent is not an option it is a requirement!
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New EPA Study: Impacts to Alaska’s Bristol Bay bigger than before!
Alaska’s Bristol Bay: the world’s greatest wild salmon fishery
Year after year, millions of wild salmon return to Bristol Bay like no other place on earth. It provides 14,000 jobs for hard-working fishermen, sustains the Alaska Native people, and provides food for Alaska’s bears, bald eagles, beluga whales, and other wildlife.
NEW EPA study just out: impacts BIGGER than before
The EPA has just released a new draft of its study on the impacts of mining to the Bristol Bay fishery. The new draft identifies even larger impacts to the salmon fishery from the proposed Pebble Mine, under routine operation. At maximum size studied, Pebble Mine would likely:
eliminate or block 90 miles of streams,
destroy 4,800 acres of wetlands, and
harm 34 miles of streams from reduced stream flow.
Speak for the salmon, call on the EPA to stop Pebble Mine! Credit: Ben Knight
Urge the EPA: Protect Bristol Bay!
The EPA has the authority under 404c of the Clean Water Act to prohibit the disposal of mine waste in the pristine waters of the Bristol Bay watershed if science shows that the fishery is at risk. The science is clear. It’s time to stop studying, and take action.
TAKE ACTION: We need you to speak out AGAIN. Urge the EPA and President Obama to take immediate steps to protect the world’s greatest wild salmon fishery.
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The Susquehanna River deserves respect. Stretching 400 miles across New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, it gives drinking water to millions and the Chesapeake Bay half its freshwater.
But the Susquehanna is under constant threat, now by gas development and fracking. In 2011, American Rivers designated the Susquehanna the nation’s most endangered river. And in April, the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission asked that the river be officially declared “impaired” and strong limits placed on pollution.
Clearly these are no ordinary times for the Susquehanna. Yet the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) charged with its protection continues to conduct business as usual. They insist on giving drillers many water withdrawals but considering them only a few at a time, with no concern for their collective impact across the Basin.
Kayaks on the Susquehanna. Credit: Bucknell College of Engineering
SRBC will soon be revising its “Comprehensive Plan for the Water Resources of the Susquehanna River Basin,” and they need to hear from you how to do it! They only make revisions every 5 years, so we must seize this chance to protect the Basin from current and future gas development. SRBC will accept comments on the planned revisions through May 21st.
TAKE ACTION: Tell the SRBC to get serious about taking care of the river and the human and natural communities that rely on it!
Remind the Commission that it has a responsibility to conduct planning and ensure protections—not to make drilling happen faster.
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In May we told you about HR 4402, the latest huge giveaway to the mining industry.
HR 4402, the “National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2012” masquerades as a law about the importance of critical minerals to our economy. But, what this legislation is really about is limiting public review and environmental protection for all hardrock mines proposed anywhere in this country!
If this bill becomes law, it will allow the mining industry to poison our lakes, rivers and streams and disenfranchise local communities. We need your help now. Tell you Members of Congress that HR 4402 is bad for the environment and bad for communities.
Stop the $ Madness! Credit: Jason Reed/Reuters
We need your help now.
Tell your member of Congress that HR 4402 is bad for the environment and bad for communities.
Instructions:
Send/amend the sample letter to the right. Personalized letters have a much greater impact.
Click "send your message" to send your letter to Congress.
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On this day 140 years ago, President Ulysses S. Grant signed a law that gave pick and shovel miners free access to our nation's public lands.But the silver spoon treatment didn’t end there.
A Gift That Keeps On Giving
Now that mining is a large-scale industrial process capable of polluting our water and fouling our communities, the 1872 Mining Law still governs hardrock mining on public land today. Multi-national mining companies take public minerals for free while generating the most toxic waste of any industry in the country.
This Year’s Gift
Friends of the mining industry in Congress have decided to put a big red bow on a new gift for the mining industry this year by introducing a bill that gives mining companies even more freebies than the 1872 Mining Law. How is that possible, you ask? What sort of gift could be even better than free gold?
Congress might be getting the mining industry a very nice present this year! Too nice, in fact.
The answer is the HR 4402, the “National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2012”. Masquerading as a law about a select group of minerals, HR 4402 would actually require less public review and environmental protection for all hardrock mines proposed anywhere in this country!
We need your help to make sure the industry doesn't receive a gift that puts our water and land at risk! Tell Congress to Vote No on HR 4402!
Instructions:
Send/amend the sample letter to the right. Personalized letters have a much greater impact.
Click "send your message" to send your letter to Congress.
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The oil and gas industry is pressuring the Obama administration to kill rules that would protect communities from fracking air pollution.
Air pollution from fracking dumps hundreds of thousands of tons of smog-forming toxic pollution into our air, sickening nearby communities.
Last year, you sent a message to the EPA that we needed strong rules to protect our air from these emissions – and they listened. The EPA was all set to release final rules protecting communities from new fracking air pollution at the beginning of April.
Range Resources flares a natural gas well near a Texas playground.
Credit: Sharon Wilson
But the rules were postponed -- despite the fact that they would save the industry money in addition to protecting public health.
Now the oil and gas industry lobby is going in for the kill. They've taken this fight to the White House -- and we need your help to remind the President what is important, and what we need -- clean air.
TAKE ACTION: Tell President Obama to stand up to the oil and gas industry and put the health of our communities first!
Instructions:
Send/amend the sample letter to the right. Personalized letters have a much greater impact.
Click "send your message" to send your letter to President Obama.
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March 22 is World Water Day. With 7 billion people, the world’s rivers, lakes, streams and oceans are more overstretched than ever.
So we should be working to sustain and strengthen these precious resources, right?
Tailings from Papua New Guinea's Ok Tedi mine is dumped directly into the Ok Tedi river.
Credit: Dete Siegert
Tell that to the mining industry. They seem to have missed that memo.
Every year, gold, copper and other metals mines dump over 180 million tons of mine waste into the world’s waters – and much of this is contaminated with toxic chemicals such as arsenic and lead. This massive dumping is taking a tremendous toll on communities and ecosystems from Alaska and Canada to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
This World Water Day, tell the mining industry to stop trashing our waters!
Thus far, just one major mining company, Australia’s BHP Billiton, has a written policy against dumping wastes into rivers and oceans, and not one has a policy against dumping in lakes.
We need every major mining company to adopt and implement policies that protect, rather than destroy, our water resources.
TAKE ACTION: tell the mining industry to wasting our waters!
Thank you for joining us in protecting the Earth’s most precious resource.
Instructions:
Send/amend the sample letter to the right. Personalized letters have a much greater impact.
Click "send your message" to send your letter to the major mining companies.
SHARE this alert with your friends and family via the subsequent page. Share via email, Facebook, Twitter and/or Google+
March 22 is World Water Day. With 7 billion people, the world’s rivers, lakes, streams and oceans are more overstretched than ever.
So we should be working to sustain and strengthen these precious resources, right?
Tailings from Papua New Guinea's Ok Tedi mine is dumped directly into the Ok Tedi river.
Credit: Dete Siegert
Tell that to the mining industry. They seem to have missed that memo.
Every year, gold, copper and other metals mines dump over 180 million tons of mine waste into the world’s waters – and much of this is contaminated with toxic chemicals such as arsenic and lead. This massive dumping is taking a tremendous toll on communities and ecosystems from Alaska and Canada to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
This World Water Day, tell the mining industry to stop trashing our waters!
Thus far, just one major mining company, Australia’s BHP Billiton, has a written policy against dumping wastes into rivers and oceans, and not one has a policy against dumping in lakes.
We need every major mining company to adopt and implement policies that protect, rather than destroy, our water resources.
TAKE ACTION: tell the mining industry to wasting our waters!
Thank you for joining us in protecting the Earth’s most precious resource.
Instructions:
Send/amend the sample letter to the right. Personalized letters have a much greater impact.
Click "send your message" to send your letter to the major mining companies.
SHARE this alert with your friends and family via the subsequent page. Share via email, Facebook, Twitter and/or Google+
The Wild and Scenic Chetco River is renowned for its world-class salmon and steelhead runs, and crystal clear water. Flowing from the Kalmiopsis Wilderness in southwest Oregon, it’s truly a national treasure.
The Wild & Scenic Chetco River. Credit: Ann Vilesis
Recently, there have been a number of proposals to mine as much as half the length of the river. Fortunately, the miner has recently forfeited those claims.
Right now, members of the Oregon Congressional delegation have introduced legislation (the Chetco River Protection Act) to permanently withdraw the river from mining.
This is a unique opportunity to protect this wonderful river, while the river is unfettered by any mining claims.
TAKE ACTION: Please tell your Representative to co-sponsor this important bill.
Please help us in pushing this important legislation forward.
Instructions:
Send/amend the sample letter to the right. Personalized letters have a much greater impact.
Click "send your message" to send your letter to your Representative.
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At the request of Rio Tinto (doing business as Resolution Copper), a bill is moving through the state legislature that would raise the number of hours miners could work underground. The bill would also remove the provision in Arizona’s statutes that says that underground mining is dangerous.
The bill, SB1054, would set back mining safety rules 50 years. Without question, lengthening the shift of workers in a dangerous environment will lead to increased injuries. This bill will set back hard fought concessions from mining companies that have led to high standards of worker productivity and safety.
The bill also strikes current language in the statutes that says, “Employment in mining activities in underground mines and underground workings is declared injurious to health and dangerous to life and limb of those employed therein.” No reason is given by the bill sponsors for eliminating this language from current law. Presumably, by removing this language and extending the hours miners work underground in a dangerous occupation would make Rio Tinto’s bottom line more profitable, but at what cost to worker safety?
This bill has passed out of the Senate and is now in front of the House of Representatives.
Please send a letter to your Representative asking that they vote no on SB1054. It’s bad for worker health and safety and would be yet another handout to the mining industry -- in this case only Rio Tinto and BHP.
Urge the EPA to stand strong against political sabotage of the Pavillion groundwater contamination study
The Pavillion Gas Field, where industry's pot o' gold is residents' poison.
Credit: Pavillion Area Concerned Citizens
People living near Pavillion, Wyoming have had to put up with contaminated groundwater for years.
Adding insult to injury, when community representatives appealed to the state for relief -- and to identify the polluter -- they got the cold shoulder.
So they went to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -- which started a rigorous scientific investigation.
The preliminary results came out in December. They show that drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and oil and gas production are likely responsible for the groundwater contamination.
If the preliminary results hold up after peer review, this study will mark the first time the federal government has authoritatively connected fracking with groundwater pollution.
Predictably, industry and its champions in Wyoming state government are not happy. In response they've attacked the EPA and the study any which way they can. They want to continue running commercials around the country claiming fracking has never been proven to pollute groundwater.
TAKE ACTION: Please tell the EPA to stand strong against political attempts to influence the study.
Urge them to follow the science where it leads. Only by doing so can they fulfill their mission of protecting water, air and public health.
Instructions:
NOTE: the EPA extended the comment period, which was to close on March 12th.
Send/amend the sample letter to the right. Personalized letters have a much greater impact.
Click "send your message" to send your letter to the Environmental Protection Agency.
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To further weaken our state’s mining laws makes no sense and is nothing more than another taxpayer subsidy to an industry that is currently swimming in profits and seems to care nothing for the health of Arizona.
SB1287 aquifer protection permits: waste (Griffin: Melvin) is one of many bills this legislative session that provides further exemptions for the mining industry. This one could put at risk our state's groundwater. The bill provides additional exemptions to the mines relative to aquifer protection permits, Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permits, and for waste programs. Mines already are exempt from many environmental protections in Arizona – and it shows. The mining interests release more toxics than any other industry in our state and have contaminated our waters and lands alike, leaving the public with significant liability. The Arizona Legislature should consider carefully before allowing an additional exemption which could put at risk our state’s groundwater. The bill says a new or expanded waste rock pile is not considered a discharging facility – that means no permit required. It further exempts storm discharges as well and expands the exemptions for waste tires and slag. It exempts copper concentrate, leachate material, tailings and slag, provided they are consolidated at a mining site that is located within 50 miles by classifying them as “waste” rock.
All of Arizona's aquifers are designated for drinking water and keeping the standards and protections high is critical to our future.
This bill is now in the House, so you’ll be sending the following letter to you House Representative.
Please personalize the message below and ask your Representative to vote no on SB1287!
On February 9th, the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on two versions of the Oak Flat land exchange that would privatize much of the Oak Flat watershed and take away religious freedom for Native Americans, recreational opportunities and destroy a precious desert riparian ecosystem to allow two foreign mining giants to build a destructive underground copper mine.
Both bills are unacceptable as they would overturn the Presidential withdrawal of Oak Flat from mining and would bypass the normal process of permitting mines on public lands.
We are circulating the following letter that will be sent to the Committee to become part of the official record of the hearing. Your organization can sign the letter or you can sign on as an individual. If you represent your organization, please add the name of the organization when you send the letter to us. We will then include your organization in the letter. If you leave the organization field blank, we will sign you on as an individual.
The deadline for signing the letter is 5:00, Tuesday, February 21.
TAKE ACTION: Please tell the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to say no to both bills
Instructions:
§Send the letter below.
oPlease note that this letter is a bit different than most we’ve asked you to send. This will be a single letter signed by many groups and individuals to show strength through unity. Since many groups and individuals will be signing, you will not be able to change the form of the letter. Also, note that your signature will come to me personally and will be added to the letter that other groups are also circulating. Once all the signatures are added to the letter, it will be sent to the Committee to become part of the official record by the Sierra Club.
§SHARE this alert with your friends and family via the subsequent page. Share via email, Facebook, Twitter and/or Google+
Urge the Army Corps not to permit dumping mine waste directly into Montana's waters
This wetland and others, and nearby streams would be buried under 200 ft of mine waste
if Montanore is permitted. Credit: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Burying Montana streams in mine waste
In order to build the Montanore mine under Montana's Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, a mining corporation proposes to bury four headwater streams, wetlands and springs with 120 million tons of mine waste.
Dumping wastes directly into rivers, streams and wetlands may be cheaper for the mining company, but it is not a necessary way of doing business.
Harming threatened bull trout and Wilderness
To keep the mine tunnels dry, the mine will lower the groundwater by up to 1,000 feet within the Wilderness Area, severely depleting flows in the most important streams in the region for threatened bull trout.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decides
In order for this to happen, the Army Corps must issue a "404 permit", so-called because it would be authorized under section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
TAKE ACTION: Urge the Army Corps of Engineers to oppose the Montanore proposal to bury Montana's waters with mine waste.
Instructions:
Send/amend the sample letter to the right. Personalized letters have a much greater impact.
Click send your message to send your letter to the Army Corps of Engineers.
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An hour east of Phoenix is a unique ecosystem that is both critical for religious freedom of the San Carlos Apache, and famous for its climbing, hiking and camping . The center of this area, Oak Flat Campground was forever set aside for public use by President Eisenhower.
Now, two huge foreign mining companies want to take Oak Flat from the public and mine it. The very definition of a "special interest", they have attempted to bypass the normal process for permitting mines, and gone straight to Congress for a legislative "fix".
This Thursday, February 9th, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will be holding a hearing to compare two recent bills that would take away Oak Flat.
Both bills would give away Oak Flat and destroy Gaan Canyon, Queen Creek Canyon, and Apache Leap. Both bills would devastate the watershed. Both bills would curtail Native American religious freedoms. Both bills would end recreational opportunities and their positive economic impact on the surrounding towns.
Join the solid and massive opposition to both bills by Native American, conservation, recreation, and other organizations.
TAKE ACTION: Please tell the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to say no to both bills
Instructions:
Send/amend the sample letter to the right. Personalized letters have a much greater impact.
Click send your message to send your letter to the Seante Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
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An hour east of Phoenix and a half hour west of the current boundaries of the San Carlos Indian Reservation lays a unique ecosystem that not only is critical for religious freedom for Native Americans, but is a recreationists’ Mecca. The center of this area, Oak Flat Campground was forever set aside for public use by President Eisenhower more than 50 years ago.
Now, two huge foreign mining companies want to take Oak Flat from the public so the can build a mine that will devastate the area. They have gone straight to Congress and asked them to pass legislation that would bypass the normal process of approving mines.
This Thursday, February 9th, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will be holding a hearing to compare two recent bills that would take away Oak Flat.
Both bills would give away Oak Flat and destroy Gaan Canyon, Queen Creek Canyon, and Apache Leap. Both bills would devastate the watershed. The entire area is sacred to Native Americans and both bills would curtail religious freedoms. Both bills would end recreational opportunities and their positive economic impact on the surrounding towns.
There is solid and massive opposition to both bills by Native American, conservation, recreation, and other organizations.
TAKE ACTION: Please tell the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to say no to both bills
Instructions:
Send/amend the sample letter below. Personalized letters have a much greater impact.
Click send your message to send your letter to the Seante Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
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An hour east of Phoenix and west of the San Carlos Reservation lays an ecological haven that is not only a sacred site critical for religious freedom, but a recreational Mecca.
Oak Flat Campground was set aside by President Eisenhower for all Americans to enjoy. It and the surrounding lands including Apache Leap, Gaan Canyon, and Queen Creek Canyon, are under siege by two huge foreign mining companies who want to take them from public ownership and destroy them by building a huge mine.
For the past 6 years, these companies have unsuccessfully asked the US Congress to pass legislation giving away these lands. The current bill they are pushing may be heard in the US Senate soon.
If the bill passes, we would lose a priceless piece of our natural and historic heritage and these wealth mining companies would be allowed to wreak unfettered havoc over Oak Flat and the surrounding watershed.
The scenic Santa Rita Mountains, south of Tucson, Arizona, are an ecological haven and the headwaters for part of Tucson's water supply. And they’re under threat from the Rosemont mine proposal.
A Canadian investment company, with no previous mining experience, has proposed an open pit copper mine a mile in diameter and a half mile deep, in the middle of the Santa Ritas.
The mine would transform a desert refuge into an industrial zone, destroying the ecosystem and the economy that depends upon it.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has released a draft Aquifer Protection Permit (APP) for the proposed Rosemont Mine. The permit is required before the proposed mine could begin operation.
The deadline for comment on this proposed permit is February 3.
The permit is lacking in many areas. It does not require the company to provide important studies, conduct proper monitoring, or provide important details until long after the permit would be granted. The bond required for the mine is laughably low, especially for a company that has never operated a mine before. It allows the company, Augusta Resources, to set pollution limits for the mine, and then only after at least two year of monitoring long after the permit would be granted.
The draft permit needs to be rewritten to fix these and many other problems and then released again for public comment and review.
TAKE ACTION: Please tell the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality that the Scenic Santa Ritas are no place for a mine!
Instructions:
Send/amend the sample letter below. Personalized letters have a much greater impact.
Click send your message to send your letter to the ADEQ.
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Tell the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to stop dragging its feet and issue conflict mineral rules.
The Dodd-Frank Act aims to put an end to the trade in conflict minerals -- specifically those which fund atrocities in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) -- by requiring companies to disclose whether they're using minerals from the region.
The idea being, consumers and investors can use that information to pressure companies to act more responsibly. Great, right?
Well, for that to work, the SEC has to issue rules telling companies how to comply with Dodd-Frank. And the SEC has been dragging its feet.
It was supposed to issue new rules within 270 days of Dodd-Frank passage, but it has been over 530 days… and still no rules. All while people in the DRC continue to suffer.
Join us in demanding that the SEC issue strong conflict minerals rules by the end of January.
This is important because conflict minerals fuel human rights abuses, murders, rapes, and war. These minerals could be in our phones, on our ring fingers, or in our cars. Congress took action by passing the law; it's now time for the SEC to step up.
TAKE ACTION: Tell the SEC to issue strong rules for conflict minerals!
The SEC has dragged its feet in response to the use of conflict minerals in our electronics products: send a letter and tell them every day of delay is another day conflict minerals fuel human rights and environmental abuses in the DRC.
Instructions:
Read the sample letter below appears, and edit the letter text and subject header if you are able. Customized letters have a greater impact!
Click "Send Your Message" to send your letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The scenic Santa Rita Mountains, south of Tucson, Arizona, are an ecological haven and a recreational playground. The Santa Ritas are home to rare and endangered plants and animals, an active tourist economy, and the headwaters for part of Tucson's water supply.
Lightning storm over the Santa Ritas.
Photo: Tom Vezo/photomigrations.com
And they’re under threat from the Rosemont mine proposal, thanks to the 1872 Mining Law which gives mining priority over almost all other land uses.
A Canadian investment company, with no previous mining experience, has proposed an open pit copper mine: a mile in diameter, a half mile deep, in the middle of Santa Ritas.
The mine would transform a desert refuge into an industrial zone, destroying the ecosystem and the economy that depends upon it.
To decide whether to permit this mine, the US Forest Service has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact statement and is accepting comments.
TAKE ACTION: Please tell the Forest Service the Scenic Santa Ritas are no place for a mine!
Instructions:
Send/amend the sample letter to the right. Personalized letters have a much greater impact.
Click send your message to send your letter to the Coronado National Forest, which is charged with evaluating the Rosemont mine proposal.
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Rep. Ed Markey (D, MA), Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, has sent a letter to Energy Secretary Chu expressing his concerns about the authorization of LNG exports.
According to the letter, the DOE approved the Sabine Pass permit and is considering seven additional permits. These eight LNG export plans would equal 18 percent of the natural gas we use in the US.
The letter addresses concerns about increased prices for US gas and the probability of rapidly increased production when they need more time to improve technology since they are currently making such a mess of it all by letting the gas leak out all over the place, not to mention the rather serious water issues.
Augusta Resource Corporation has applied for a 404 permit from the US Army Corp of Engineers to place fill (mine waste) into potential Waters of the United States to build their proposed Rosemont Mine.
Please send a letter to the Army Corps outlining why they should say no.
Augusta's proposed open-pit mine in the Santa Rita Mountains near Tucson would have a wide range of negative impacts on the area. It threatens the economic vitality of our communities, and would bury miles of mountain streams, dry up dozens of springs and destroy thousands of acres of public land.
In order to proceed with the mine, the company must acquire a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Army Corp of Engineering is accepting public comments on the project through Jan. 19.
The Corps has affirmed that it has the power to deny the permit, thereby preventing the mine from being developed. The Army Corps is not bound by the 1872 Mining Law and has every right to say no to Augusta to protect our water, our environment, and our communities.
It is very important that the Corps hear from as many people as possible that this proposal is a bad deal for Arizona's communities and our environment. Please consider using the information in the sample letter below to craft your own message, or use the form and we'll send your message asking the Corps to say "No" to the Rosemont mine.
Please take action by January 19, 2012.
For more information, see the Army Corps notice at:
Because gold jewelry should mean "I love you", not "I poisoned someone's drinking water".
They're famous for their Thanksgiving Day parade, "Black Friday" deals, and last-minute Christmas sales.
Unfortunately, Macy's now risks becoming synonymous with "dirty gold." That's because, unlike 8 of the top 10 jewelry retailers, they haven't signed the "Golden Rules" for more responsible metals sourcing and committed to cleaning up their gold supply chain.
Jewelry demand accounts for more than 80% of each year's mined gold – which is why we've been talking with Macy's for a long time about opposing irresponsible gold mining by signing the Golden Rules. But they haven't come around. So now we need your help.
Tell Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren to sign the Golden Rules!
This holiday season, people are considering buying jewelry as a token of affection for their loved ones. But is this token of love contaminated with dirty gold?
Tell Macy's that no gold necklace or ring is worth a community's clean water, or a child's health.
Tell Macy's to join other major jewelry retailers and sign the Golden Rules.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Read the sample letter at right.
Personalize the letter and subject header -- personalized messages have much greater impact.
Click "Send Your Message" to send your letter via email to Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren
On the next page, spread the word by Facebook, Twitter and/or email.
Tell the EPA, the White House & the Army Corps of Engineers to close Clean Water Act loopholes
The mining industry uses our lakes & streams as waste dumps
Lower Slate Lake, before being used as a mine waste dump
for the Kensington mine. Credit: Pat Costello
Mining corporations are using two Clean Water Act loopholes to dump their toxic mining waste directly into the waters we all rely on.
In the process, these multinational companies are turning some of America's most pristine lakes and streams into industrial waste dumps.
Death by mining waste
In Alaska, the Kensington gold mine is pumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxics per day into Lower Slate Lake, killing its fish and aquatic life.
And we can expect more of the same: given the choice between treating their waste properly and just dumping into lakes and streams – mining companies will take the easy way out every time.
Lower Slate Lake, being used as a mine waste dump for the Kensington mine. Credit: Pat Costello
EPA to the rescue?
To protect our waters—and us—President Obama must make closing these Clean Water Act loopholes a priority.
Fortunately, the EPA and the Army Corp of Engineers are considering regulatory changes that would do just that.
TAKE ACTION:
Tell the White House, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers that our water is more precious that gold!
Urge them to close the Clean Water Act loopholes that allow multinational mining corporations to use our clean waters as a toxic mine waste dumps.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Read the sample letter at right and edit it if possible. Customized letters have greater impact.
Click "Send My Message" to send your letter to the Environmental Protection Agency, President Obama, and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Tell your Senators, Representative to support the FRAC Act
Senators Casey (D-PA) and Schumer (D-NY), and Representatives DeGette (D-CO), Polis (D-CO) and Hinchey (D-NY) have introduced twin bills in the Senate (S 587) and House (HR 1084) to close the so-called "Halliburton" loophole in the Safe Drinking Water Act that allows oil and gas drillers to inject hazardous materials -- unchecked -- directly into or adjacent to underground drinking water supplies.
The exemption is known as the "Halliburton loophole" because former Vice President Dick Cheney, ex-CEO of Halliburton, is associated with its creation. Halliburton developed hydraulic fracturing in the 1940s, and remains one of the three largest manufacturers of fracturing fluids.
Potential for drinking water contamination
Hydraulic fracturing injects fluids under extremely high pressure into an oil or gas well to crack open underground oil and gas formations. The fluids usually contain highly toxic chemicals, such as benzene, and hydraulic fracturing is suspected of contaminating drinking water across the country.
We need your help to help get as many cosponsors as possible on this important piece of legislation. This loophole is a relic of the Bush Administration and must be closed to protect drinking water in the 34 states where oil and gas drilling takes place.
Instructions:
Enter your zip code in the area provided at right.
Read the sample letter that appears and edit the letter text and subject header if you are able. Customized letters have a greater impact!
Click "Send My Letter!" to send your letter to your Senators and Representative.
Ask Costco to join other top jewelry retailers and sign the Golden Rules of responsible metals sourcing
Let’s face it. When we buy jewelry, we want to make someone feel good.
But imagine that gold necklace or ring or bracelet you bought cost much, much more than just the money: communities destroyed, water polluted, wildlife killed.
Doesn’t feel too good, does it?
Unfortunately, you don’t have to imagine it. It’s true.
Every gold ring produces more than 20 tons of mine waste, and in the process all too often lays waste to nearby communities, the environment and clean water.
Right now, Costco -- one of the top 10 jewelry retailers in the United States -- has an opportunity to be a leader in the fight against this dirty gold.
Eight of the other top 10 jewelry retailers have already joined the fight against irresponsible mining -- including Target, Tiffany & Co., and Sears. Jewelry retailers are important because jewelry demand accounts for about 80% of annual mined production of gold.
TAKE ACTION:
Urge Costco to sign the Golden Rules of responsible metals sourcing, and help put a stop to dirty gold.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Read the sample letter on the right.
Customize the subject and letter text -- personalized letters have greater impact
Click "Send Your Message" at page bottom to send your letter to Costco President Jim Sinegal
Our Golden Rules Report documents the toll of irresponsible mining on people, water, and wildlife at a time when soaring metals prices are driving new mining development globally.
Say thanks to Senator Cantwell for her support of Alaska’s Bristol Bay
Salmon spawing in the Bristol Bay watershed.
Photo: Nick Hall
This week Senator Cantwell (WA) sent a letter to the EPA urging the agency to protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay – home to our nation’s largest wild salmon fishery.
10 billion tons of toxic mine waste
The Bristol Bay watershed is at risk from the proposed Pebble Mine, which would dispose of up to 10 billion tons of toxic mine waste at its headwaters.
EPA protection Needed
The Senator has asked the EPA to use its authority under section 404c of the Clean Water Act. This provision gives it authority to prohibit or restrict the disposal of mine waste into rivers, streams or wetlands, if science shows it will harm the fishery.
Watershed study underway
The EPA is currently undertaking a watershed assessment to evaluate the impact of large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed. The results are expected in Spring 2012.
Please send a thank you to Senator Cantwell for her leadership!
Congressmen Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) have introduced legislation to modernize oversight of uranium mining -- by shifting it from the antiquated 1872 Mining Law to the Mineral Leasing Act.
This change would allow uranium mining on federal lands to be managed through a competitive leasing program, as opposed to the current, industry-initiated system, which amounts to "first come, first serve".
This legislation, the Uranium Resources Stewardship Act (HR 1452), is the first step towards comprehensive federal regulation and oversight of uranium mining to protect both uranium-impacted communities and the environment.
The Uranium Resources Stewardship Act (URSA) would impose a 12.5% royalty on the uranium mining industry, compensating the taxpayer for the uranium that is being taken from public lands.
Perhaps most importantly, URSA would end the presumed "right to mine" afforded by the 1872 Mining Law. It would allow public land managers more discretion to decide where uranium mining is and is not appropriate.
Ask your members of Congress to support this important legislation.
Instructions:
Enter your zip code in the area provided below.
Read the sample letter below and edit the letter text and subject header if you are able. Customized letters have a greater impact!
Click "Send My Letter!" to send your letter to your Representative.
Senators Casey (D-PA) and Schumer (D-NY), and Representatives DeGette (D-CO), Polis (D-CO) and Hinchey (D-NY) have introduced twin bills in the Senate (S 587) and House (HR 1084) to close the so-called "Halliburton" loophole in the Safe Drinking Water Act that allows oil and gas drillers to inject hazardous materials -- unchecked -- directly into or adjacent to underground drinking water supplies.
The exemption is known as the "Halliburton loophole" because former Vice President Dick Cheney, ex-CEO of Halliburton, is associated with its creation. Halliburton developed hydraulic fracturing in the 1940s, and remains one of the three largest manufacturers of fracturing fluids.
Potential for drinking water contamination
Hydraulic fracturing injects fluids under extremely high pressure into an oil or gas well to crack open underground oil and gas formations. The fluids usually contain highly toxic chemicals, such as benzene, and hydraulic fracturing is suspected of contaminating drinking water across the country.
We need your help to help get as many cosponsors as possible on this important piece of legislation. This loophole is a relic of the Bush Administration and must be closed to protect drinking water in the 34 states where oil and gas drilling takes place.
Instructions:
Enter your zip code in the area provided below.
Read the sample letter below and edit the letter text and subject header if you are able. Customized letters have a greater impact!
Click "Send My Letter!" to send your letter to your Senators and Representative.
Right now, the gas industry is exempt from New York State laws and regulations governing hazardous waste disposal.
Even though a great deal of the wastewater generated by dirty gas drilling called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," meets the state definition of hazardous, it's not treated as such. We want to change that.
A bill in the New York State Legislature would update state law. If passed, all hazardous fracking waste would be subject to regulations for hazardous waste generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal. Is that too much to ask?
The New York Water Rangers don't think so. Hazardous waste is hazardous waste, no matter the source—and it must be dealt with properly to avoid harm to our water and communities.
The gas industry should not have a special exemption from laws governing the safe treatment and disposal of hazardous waste. From start to finish, fracking is an industrial process that jeopardizes the health and safety of our water and our communities.
TAKE ACTION: Please fill out the form at right to ask your state representatives to protect New York from hazardous waste.
Because everybody is a body of water, we must protect our health, water, and communities before we allow dirty gas drilling in New York State.
Right now, the gas industry is exempt from New York State laws and regulations governing hazardous waste disposal.
Even though a great deal of the wastewater generated by dirty gas drilling called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," meets the state definition of hazardous, it's not treated as such. We want to change that.
A bill in the New York State Legislature would update state law. If passed, all hazardous fracking waste would be subject to regulations for hazardous waste generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal. Is that too much to ask?
Hazardous waste is hazardous waste, no matter the source—and it must be dealt with properly to avoid harm to our water and communities.
The gas industry should not have a special exemption from laws governing the safe treatment and disposal of hazardous waste. From start to finish, fracking is an industrial process that jeopardizes the health and safety of our water and our communities.
TAKE ACTION: Please fill out the form at right to ask your state representatives to protect New York from hazardous waste.
Because everybody is a body of water, we must protect our health, water, and communities before we allow dirty gas drilling in New York State.
On November 29, the New York Assembly voted by a wide margin (93-43) to suspend the issuance of permits to hydraulically fracture (or “frack”) natural gas wells in New York until May 15, 2011.
The State Senate passed this bill back in August. Now all eyes are on Governor Paterson to sign the fracking timeout into law.
The Governor has not committed to signing the bill, although he has publicly stated that fracking for gas shouldn't proceed if it puts our water or public safety at risk.
The fracking timeout is critical to provide lawmakers and Governor-elect Cuomo's administration the opportunity to understand what dirty gas drilling would really mean for New York’s communities and environment.
It gives the state time to address major flaws in its draft drilling guide -- such as no analysis of cumulative impacts, no plan to regulate massive water withdrawals, and not enough staff to oversee the gas industry – that both the Legislature and Governor Paterson have acknowledged.
A timeout on fracking in New York would send a strong signal to the gas industry that it’s vital to understand the true costs of fracking and shale gas development and put strong protections in place before permits are issued.
TAKE ACTION:
If you can, please CALL Governor Paterson TODAY at 866-374-0409 and ask him to sign the fracking timeout into law.
If you can't call, please send a letter to Governor Paterson asking him to sign the fracking timeout into law.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Enter your zip code in the blue box on the right (this alert is only open to New Yorkers).
Read the sample letter (at right) and edit it as you see fit. Customized letters with your own experiences and ideas have a greater impact!
Click "Send Your Message" to send your letter to Governor Paterson.
In March, Governor Corbett established the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission to study the economic, social, and environmental issues related to natural gas development in the state.
The Commission's report is supposed to guide the state.
Given what's at stake, this is a great idea. But there’s a big hitch. Actually, two hitches:
The Commission is stacked with drilling companies and Corbett’s campaign contributors; and
Corbett has repeatedly stated that jobs are his top priority when it comes to drilling, over all other considerations.
As a Pennsylvania resident, you know that many communities are already feeling the impacts of under-regulated industrial drilling on their water, health, and quality of life. Yet the Governor’s commission doesn’t include public health experts, impacted residents, or citizen-based environmental organizations.
TAKE ACTION: Tell Corbett we deserve a balanced study, not an industry whitewash.
Send him a letter insisting that the study should reflect what’s really happening with Marcellus Shale drilling. The state should listen to citizens and scientists—not just oil and gas companies!
Instructions:
Enter your zip code at page bottom to demonstrate Pennsylvania residency (NOTE: this action is only open to PA residents).
Read the sample letter at page bottom that appears and edit it if possible. Customized letters have greater impact.
Click "Send My Message" to send your letter to Governor Corbett.
Join environmental, labor, and citizens groups at a rally during the meeting of the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission: Wednesday, April 27, 11:30 am–1:30 pm Outside the DEP office, Rachel Carson State Office Building, 400 Market St., Harrisburg, PA 17101. The Commission will meet from 10:30 am– 3:30 pm; public comment starts at 3 pm and you can sign up to speak beforehand.
Ask Costco to join other top jewelry retailers
and sign the
Golden Rules of responsible metals sourcing
Let’s face it. When we buy jewelry, we want to make someone feel good.
But imagine that gold necklace or ring or bracelet you bought cost much, much more than just the money: communities destroyed, water polluted, wildlife killed.
Doesn’t feel too good, does it?
Unfortunately, you don’t have to imagine it. It’s true.
Every gold ring produces more than 20 tons of mine waste, and in the process all too often lays waste to nearby communities, the environment and clean water.
Right now, Costco -- one of the top 10 jewelry retailers in the United States -- has an opportunity to be a leader in the fight against this dirty gold.
Eight of the other top 10 jewelry retailers have already joined the fight against irresponsible mining -- including Target, Tiffany & Co., and Sears. Jewelry retailers are important because jewelry demand accounts for about 80% of annual mined production of gold.
TAKE ACTION:
Urge Costco to sign the Golden Rules of responsible metals sourcing, and help put a stop to dirty gold.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Read the sample letter on the right.
Customize the subject and letter text -- personalized letters have greater impact
Click "Send Your Message" at page bottom to send your letter to Costco President Jim Sinegal
Our Golden Rules Report documents the toll of irresponsible mining on people, water, and wildlife at a time when soaring metals prices are driving new mining development globally.
Ask Costco to join other top jewelry retailers
and sign the
Golden Rules of responsible metals sourcing
Let’s face it. When we buy jewelry, we want to make someone feel good.
But imagine that gold necklace or ring or bracelet you bought cost much, much more than just the money: communities destroyed, water polluted, wildlife killed.
Doesn’t feel too good, does it?
Unfortunately, you don’t have to imagine it. It’s true.
Every gold ring produces more than 20 tons of mine waste, and in the process all too often lays waste to nearby communities, the environment and clean water.
Right now, Costco -- one of the top 10 jewelry retailers in the United States -- has an opportunity to be a leader in the fight against this dirty gold.
Eight of the other top 10 jewelry retailers have already joined the fight against irresponsible mining -- including Target, Tiffany & Co., and Sears. Jewelry retailers are important because jewelry demand accounts for about 80% of annual mined production of gold.
TAKE ACTION:
Urge Costco to sign the Golden Rules of responsible metals sourcing, and help put a stop to dirty gold.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Read the sample letter on the right.
Customize the subject and letter text -- personalized letters have greater impact
Click "Send Your Message" at page bottom to send your letter to Costco President Jim Sinegal
Our Golden Rules Report documents the toll of irresponsible mining on people, water, and wildlife at a time when soaring metals prices are driving new mining development globally.
Use the momentum from the successful release of our latest report Flowback: How the Texas Natural Gas Boom Affects Health and Safety tohelp get Rep. Lon Burnam’s bill HB 3792 out of the House Energy Resources Committee.
Only one vote is needed to move it out of committee. Every member of this committee was handed a copy of Flowback.
H.B. 3792 protects surface property owners by ensuring local control over decisions regarding natural gas pipeline locations.
It clarifies that a municipality has the authority to regulate the location of pipelines, compressors, storage tanks, and related facilities within the boundaries of the municipality.
The bill also ensures that an operator wishing to condemn city property to construct a pipeline is required to comply with applicable city ordinances.
Tell the committee members that Texans should have a say in where pipelines and other oil and gas production equipment are located in their cities!
Tell Rep. Keffer and the members of the House Energy Resources Committee to get it right.
Representative's Keffer's HB 3328 requires disclosure of fracking fluids and the "transparency" of the oil and gas industry without really being genuinely transparent.
HB 3328 bill requires the industry to disclose the chemicals in hydraulic fracturing fluids -- except those industry claims as "trade secrets". Adding insult to injury, the bill doesn't allow water users or property owners to challenge industry's secrecy claims.
The ability to challenge trade secrets is one of the most important aspects in protecting nearby water users and property owners suffering from toxic effects of these chemicals.
TAKE ACTION: Tell the Texas Senate to protect the public and pass REAL chemical disclosure
Use the sample letter below to tell committee members that disclosure is too important: we must get it right. They should only pass HB 3328 if it is amended so that:
Texans have the ability to challenge industry's claims for secrecy.
Drilling and service companies are required to disclose chemical constituents,
volumes and concentrations used prior to their use on a well-by-well
basis.
Our public agencies are required to give notice to nearby water users of the
availability of the chemical constituent list prior to well operations.
Instructions:
Enter your zip code. This action is only open to Texas residents.
Click "Send My Message" to fax your letter to our member of the Texas House Energy Resources Committee.
After sending a letter, please consider following up with a phone call to at least one of the members. Phone calls have significantly more meaning than faxes.
Under Rule 37, the Texas Railroad Commission allows minerals you own to be taken from you -- even if you do not lease them.
Intended to allow drilling in certain limited cases where the mineral owner can't be found, it's a bad idea as it stands.
The Railroad Commisson wants to make it worse.
It has tentatively approved a change to Rule 37 that would allow a driller to take your minerals, without your consent or payment, so long as they notify you after the fact.
Obviously (to everyone except the Commission) this violates a number of bedrock American principles, like the right of a citizen to be compensated for takings of property.
As a mineral owner, at a minimum you should have the right to:
State senator Troy Fraser, chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and renowned champion of corporate interests, recently introduced his latest bad idea, SB 875.
In a nutshell: SB 875 allows Texas state permit holders to trample on your property rights
A permit -- for gas drilling, or anything else -- is supposed to make the permit-holder behave responsibly.
SB 875 turns that on its head – it makes a permit a “get out of jail free” card.
No matter what the gas driller (or other permit holder) does -- if they’re holding a government permit, they can’t be held accountable under Texas nuisance law.
If SB 875 becomes law, that is.
Pollution from industry can trespass onto your property all day and night, pollute it, make your family sick, kill your livestock, and industry only has to say “I was just following my permit or rule.”
TAKE ACTION:
Tell the members of the Texas Senate Natural Resources Committee: protect our property rights, oppose SB 875!
Instructions:
Enter your zip code. This action is only open to Texas residents.
Click "Send My Message" to fax your letter to our member of the Texas Natural Resources Committee.
More information:
SB 875 would exempt permit holders from the following part of Texas law:
Texas Administrative Code, Title 30, Part 1, Chapter 101, Subchapter A, Rule 101.4, Environmental Quality, Nuisance
No person shall discharge from any source whatsoever one or more air contaminants or combinations thereof, in such concentration and of such duration as are or may tend to be injurious to or to adversely affect human health or welfare, animal life, vegetation, or property, or as to interfere with the normal use and enjoyment of animal life, vegetation, or property.
Industry's not so hidden agenda...
Industry advocates in the House of Representatives are exploiting the budget crisis to pursue the hidden agenda of the nation's biggest polluters -- including the mining industry.
Their agenda includes two assaults on the Clean Water Act -- assaults they've inserted into a spending bill -- assaults that have nothing to do with saving money and eveything to do with increasing corporate profits at the expense of clean water. They would:
prohibit the EPA from restoring Clean Water Act protections for certain wetlands, streams, lakes and headwaters that are vital for clean drinking water and wildlife
forbid EPA from rejecting projects that would cause "unacceptable adverse impact" on fisheries, wildlife, municipal water supplies or recreational areas.
Both of these attacks could have serious impacts on communities dealing with extraction issues in their backyard, including the fisherman and native communities surrounding Bristol Bay.
The Delaware River watershed spans nearly 14,000 square miles across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, and supplies drinking water to more than 15 million people.
But despite these high stakes, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) rushed to issue new gas drilling regulations last December.
They refused to wait for science and evidence from --
New York’s review of high-volume gas drilling,
the EPA’s study on the gas drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,”
and a possible federal cumulative impacts study of gas development on the River Basin.
Please use the form on the right to tell the DRBC to take more time to gather information to make critical decisions to protect water supplies, health, and the environment.
And the DRBC has cut corners by allowing only 90 days for public comment on its draft regulations (until March 16, 2011) and holding just three public hearings. No hearings are set to take place in New York City and Philadelphia, the state of Delaware, or other key regions within the watershed.
Please send a letter demanding that the DRBC provide a more open and accessible public process for decision-making on these critical regulations and the future of the Delaware River Basin.
We already know that the draft regulations missed the mark and include key shortcomings on gas development planning, setbacks from homes and public parks, wastewater treatment, and other issues.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Read the sample letter (at right) and edit it as you see fit. Customized letters with your own experiences and ideas have a greater impact!
Click "Send Your Message" to send your letter to the Delaware River Basin Commission.
Congress is considering a package of public lands bills that could be voted on in the last remaining days of this “lame duck” session.
Many of the pieces of legislation included in this package would create wilderness and protect wildlands from development.
Unfortunately, there is a poison pill in this legislation that would give a multinational mining company our public lands, allowing them to build a mine that would destroy a campground and many sites sacred to the Apache people.
This land exchange legislation, called the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act (S. 409), is an extremely controversial bill that would result in the destruction of not only an incredible and unique desert ecosystem, but the religious freedom of Native American tribes.
Devils Canyon near Oak Flat
Photo: Friends of Queen Creek
We need your help to strip this contentious piece of legislation from the rest of the package of public lands bills – bills that help conserve our public lands, not give them away to mining interests.
Congress is considering a package of public lands bills that could be voted on in the last remaining days of this “lame duck” session.
Many of the pieces of legislation included in this package would create wilderness and protect wildlands from development.
Unfortunately, there is a poison pill in this legislation that would give a multinational mining company our public lands, allowing them to build a mine that would destroy a campground and many sites sacred to the Apache people.
This land exchange legislation, called the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act (S. 409), is an extremely controversial bill that would result in the destruction of not only an incredible and unique desert ecosystem, but the religious freedom of Native American tribes.
Devils Canyon near Oak Flat
Photo: Friends of Queen Creek
We need your help to strip this contentious piece of legislation from the rest of the package of public lands bills – bills that help conserve our public lands, not give them away to mining interests.
On November 29, the New York Assembly voted by a wide margin (93-43) to suspend the issuance of permits to hydraulically fracture (or “frack”) natural gas wells in New York until May 15, 2011.
The State Senate passed this bill back in August. Now all eyes are on Governor Paterson to sign the fracking timeout into law.
The Governor has not committed to signing the bill, although he has publicly stated that fracking for gas shouldn't proceed if it puts our water or public safety at risk.
The fracking timeout is critical to provide lawmakers and Governor-elect Cuomo's administration the opportunity to understand what dirty gas drilling would really mean for New York’s communities and environment.
It gives the state time to address major flaws in its draft drilling guide -- such as no analysis of cumulative impacts, no plan to regulate massive water withdrawals, and not enough staff to oversee the gas industry – that both the Legislature and Governor Paterson have acknowledged.
A timeout on fracking in New York would send a strong signal to the gas industry that it’s vital to understand the true costs of fracking and shale gas development and put strong protections in place before permits are issued.
TAKE ACTION:
If you can, please CALL Governor Paterson TODAY at 866-374-0409 and ask him to sign the fracking timeout into law.
If you can't call, please send a letter to Governor Paterson asking him to sign the fracking timeout into law.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Enter your zip code in the blue box on the right (this alert is only open to New Yorkers).
Read the sample letter (at right) and edit it as you see fit. Customized letters with your own experiences and ideas have a greater impact!
Click "Send Your Message" to send your letter to Governor Paterson.
Urge President Obama to say no to dirty tar sands oil
President Obama couldn’t prevent the BP Gulf oil spill disaster.
But he can prevent the next one in the making: the Keystone XL dirty tar sands oil pipeline.
Big Oil (in the form of multinational energy company TransCanada) would build Keystone XL down from Canada through America’s heartland – endangering drinking water and the aquifer that irrigates America’s breadbasket.
President Obama and the State Department are now considering the permit for the pipeline, which would send millions of gallons of the world’s dirtiest oil through America – further delaying the U.S.’s transition to a clean energy economy.
TAKE ACTION
Send a letter (below) to President Obama urging him to the learn the lesson of the BP Gulf oil spill disaster and REJECT the Keystone XL dirty tar sands oil pipeline permit.
World's greatest sockeye salmon fishery is at risk
Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed supports the world’s largest remaining wild salmon fishery. Year after year, the salmon return to Bristol Bay in astounding numbers, like no other place on earth.
The Pebble Mine is a threat to salmon
A massive gold and copper mine - the Pebble Mine - is proposed for development at the headwaters of Bristol Bay. The mine is projected to be the largest in North America, generating as much as 10 billion tons of toxic mine waste and destroying salmon habitat.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has authority under the Clean Water Act to restrict mine waste dumping in the pristine waters and wetlands of the Bristol Bay watershed.
New York is home to some of the nation’s greatest water resources.
From the Hudson River to the Great Lakes, our rivers, lakes and streams are the backbone of our economy and essential to our identity.
But hydraulic fracturing, called “fracking,” for natural gas could decimate these precious resources and endanger drinking water across the state.
The State Senate has acted to protect our water from the dangers of fracking by passing a “timeout” on permits to fracture wells in New York. They also took action to protect our water from wasteful withdrawals.
Now it’s up to the Assembly.
TAKE ACTION: Ask your Assembly Member to protect New York’s water when they return to the state capital.
Because when he or she gets to Albany, two bills to protect our water will be waiting.
Please ask your Assembly Member choose clean water not dirty drilling.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Enter your zip code to the riigh to identify your Assembly member (NOTE: this alert is only open the residents of New York state).
Read the sample letter (at right) and edit it as you see fit. Customized letters with your own experiences and ideas have a greater impact!
Click "Send Your Message" to send your letter to your representative in the Assembly.
UPDATE: DEC Commissioner Grannis was recently fired because he spoke the truth about the risks of welcoming the gas industry without the personnel and systems in place to monitor and regulate it. This decision now leaves the agency even less prepared to protect our land, water, and air--and makes it even more important that DEC and policymakers hear from you!
In September, the Department of Environmental Conservation issued a “draft” plan to manage New York’s forests. And in that plan, New York State gives the green light to the gas industry to drill by means of hydraulic fracturing, often called fracking, in state forests.
Time is running out! The deadline for comments on the Plan is Friday, October 29.
Use the form at right to tell the Department of Environmental Conservation to protect New York’s forests from fracking.
Drilling for gas on State Forest lands is permitted under New York State law. But just because it’s allowed doesn’t mean it should happen—not if it’s going to degrade and destroy the very forests that the Forest Plan is supposed to protect.
New York’s leaders and our environmental agency need to hear from you today. Modern-day natural gas drilling—using high-volume hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling in deep shale—is different than anything New York has seen before. It’s a high-impact, risky business that has devastated drinking water supplies and landscapes in other parts of the country.
Please act now! Use the form at right to send a letter to the Department of Environmental Conservation to consider the facts and recognize the environmental cost of drilling on State Forest lands.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Read the sample letter (at right) and edit it as you see fit. Customized letters with your own experiences and ideas have a greater impact!
Click "Send Your Message" to send your letter to the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Barrick Gold is mining for gold at Mt. Tenabo in Nevada’s Crescent Valley, a mountain sacred to the Western Shoshone in part because of the springs it contains. Each spring has its own unique spirits tied to the spring’s source.
When Barrick was given the go-ahead, a court limited groundwater pumping (necessary to keep the mine's pit dry) to protect Mt. Tenabo's springs. The court directed the federal Bureau of Land Management, which permits and regulates the Barrick mine, to come up with a plan that would permanently protect the Western Shoshone's sacred waters.
BLM recently released its new plan. In a nutshell: it doesn’t protect the springs. Instead, it allows them to be depleted so long as Barrick can bring water in from elsewhere.
In other words, BLM’s plan ignores what makes the springs sacred to the Western Shoshone who have continuously inhabited the region for thousands of years -- it ignores the reason that the court protected the springs in the first place.
The largest open pit mine in North America could be built at the headwaters of the world's largest remaining wild salmon fishery -- Alaska's Bristol Bay. The mine would generate as many as 10 billion tons of harmful mine waste.
Year after year, the salmon return to Bristol Bay in astounding numbers, like no other place on earth. The fishery is the region's economic engine, generating $400 million and supporting 10,000 jobs.
Bristol Bay communities are asking all jewelers to support their efforts to protect Bristol Bay, their source of sustenance and livelihood.
Jewelry retailer gold demand represents 80% of annual global mine production. Over 50 jewelry retailers, including Tiffany & Co and Zales, have already signed the Bristol Bay Protection Pledge.
The Signet Group (owner of the Kay and Jared brands) was one of the first to sign the Golden Rules – a comprehensive set of principles for more responsible gold sourcing.
Now we're asking Signet to apply those principles to the Pebble Mine to protect the world's richest wild salmon fishery.
That's why we took out a full page ad in the Nov. 14th western edition of the New York Times urging Signet to sign the Pledge. And we're asking you to chime in as well.
In a major, nationwide effort, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is studying the relationship between hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and drinking water.
It's important that this study is scientifically sound. Communities across the country, including state and local government, are anticipating its guidance.
So the study must include real, on-the-ground impacts of hydraulic fracturing... and its consequences on drinking water and human health across the country.
For EPA's study to contribute to the protection of people and the environment, it should look at all the data, not just the use of hydraulic fracturing technology itself. Affected communities need to know the full impact of fracking.
Speak up! Tell the EPA to conduct the hydraulic fracturing study so that it gives citizens in oil and gas producing states real knowledge of all its potential impacts.
Buried Secrets, Propublica's groundbreaking investigative series on the risks posed by the drilling boom.
Points the EPA needs to consider:
Thoroughly analyze the impacts of the high-pressure injection of enormous amounts of fluids and chemicals into underground formations.
Not be limited to just underground pollution or impacts in the well hole itself. The study must also consider the full lifecycle impacts of the chemicals used, from transportation to wastewater treatment.
Focus on a broad set of data collected from currently available public information, including from organizations and citizens living with gas development, as well as state and local records and industry data.
Include an analysis of the risks and consequences of water contamination.
Be thorough, scientifically rigorous, and expeditious to advance the protection of water quality and human health.
Lessons Learned? Friday, the House of Representatives will decide how to apply the lessons learned from the Gulf Oil Spill disaster. They're going to vote on H.R. 3534, the Consolidated Land, Energy and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act, which also contains two long overdue protections for onshore oil and gas drilling.
The Gulf disaster -- and its root causes -- prove that Big Oil (and gas) needs close supervision and better management. The CLEAR Act fills this need by:
creating new safety standards,
establishing higher liability limits, and
closing the revolving door between government and industry.
Onshore Lessons Too. Along with improving regulations offshore, the CLEAR Act includes several critical provisions which bring better balance to onshore energy development, including:
Eliminating a threat to rivers and streams by closing the oil and gas construction loophole in the Clean Water Act.
Eliminating shortcuts and ensuring science-based review of environmental impacts at drill sites.
TAKE ACTION
Please take a minute to use the sample below to send a letter to your Representative in support of the CLEAR Act. Urge your Representative today to SUPPORT the CLEAR Act and to OPPOSE weakening amendments.
INSTRUCTIONS
FIRST Enter your zip code below so we can find your Representative.
SECOND
Using the sample letter that results as a guide, urge your Representative to support the CLEAR Act and oppose weakening amendments.
THIRD
Make sure they urge her to take a comprehensive approach to protect public safety and the environment from energy development -- wherever it occurs.
MORE INFO
EARTHblog: read our policy director, Lauren Pagel's EARTHblog on what's at stake and what we're asking for.
Tell Costa Rican President Chinchilla: gold mining ban should apply to Crucitas mine too
Canadian mining company Infinito Gold is pushing for Costa Rican government permission to start the Crucitas open-pit gold mine in northern Costa Rica.
Forests, rivers, communities, endangered species threatened If built, the mine would destroy tropical forest that hosts endangered species like the Great Green Macaw and Geoffrey’s spider monkey in the Agua y Paz Biosphere Reserve. The mine could also threaten communities’ agricultural livelihoods and the San Juan River on the border with Nicaragua with toxic spills.
End special treatment for the Crucitas proposal The new President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, decreed a ban on all gold mining as she came into office this past May. But her decision has not stopped the Crucitas project that was declared of “national interest.” She needs to do more to protect Costa Rican communities and biodiversity from gold mining’s destructive impacts.
TAKE ACTION Please write to President Laura Chinchilla and urge her to stop the planned Crucitas mine! Our allies in Costa Rica have requested YOUR help. Please write now.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Read the sample letter on the right.
Customize the subject and letter text -- personalized letters have greater impact
Click "Send Your Message" at page bottom to send your letter to Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla
Photo: A Gulf oil slick "burn-off"
Credit: Greenpeace
OR
Photo: The Delaware River watershed is threatened by irresponsible drilling
Credit: Tracy Carluccio
In the wake of the continuing Gulf oil spill disaster, Congress is poised to act.
They face a stark choice, however.
Focus narrowly on the the Gulf of Mexico
or
Take the lessons learned from the Gulf disaster and apply them nationwide in a comprehensive plan to modernize our Nation’s energy policies.
Our current energy policies put communities and the environment at risk everywhere energy development occurs.
If Congress focuses solely on the Gulf with this bill, they're deciding, in Ben Franklin's terms, "we'd rather pay for the pound of cure, than the ounce of prevention." Although if Franklin were alive today, he'd probably make it "1 oz prevention = 1 TON cure".
TAKE ACTION We need your help by Friday July 23rd to push for a comprehensive solution to the disaster in the Gulf, and energy development nationwide.
INSTRUCTIONS
FIRST Enter your zip code below so we can find your Representative.
SECOND
Using the sample letter that results as a guide, urge your Representative to call House Speaker Pelosi.
THIRD
Make sure they urge her to take a comprehensive approach to protect public safety and the environment from energy development -- wherever it occurs.
MORE INFO
EARTHblog: read our senior policy advisor, Cathy Carlson's EARTHblog on what's at stake and what we're asking for.
Our state is home to some of the cleanest drinking water and best fishing streams in the country, but natural gas drilling could decimate these precious resources and endanger communities across New York.
The choice:
Issue permits for gas development too soon -- and risk dirty drilling that could pollute our drinking water,
or
Take the time necessary to understand the potential impacts of gas development on our water, air, health, and communities.
It is critical that drilling not occur unless and until we're ready. Meaning...
We know enough to protect our drinking water from gas development;
Strong rules and regulations require drillers to behave themselves so that our drinking water is protected;
Qualified staff in adequate numbers are in place to enforce those rules and regs.
On August 3, the New York State Senate voted overwhelmingly in a bipartisan vote to pass a bill that places a moratorium on permits for hydraulic fracturing until May 15, 2011. This victory was possible because of the never-ending hard work and commitment of citizens like you.
Now it’s time to bring that same energy to the New York Assembly! To become law, the companion bill must be passed by the Assembly, and then signed by the Governor.
Even though the legislative session is officially over, the Assembly is likely to return to Albany for a special session in the coming weeks. When they do, it’s imperative that members of the Assembly vote on the moratorium bill.
Our state is home to some of the cleanest drinking water and best fishing streams in the country, but natural gas drilling could decimate these precious resources and endanger communities across New York.
New York has an important choice to make -- and we have to make it now, before the Legislature adjourns for the year.
Our choice:
Start issuing permits for gas development soon -- and risk dirty drilling that could pollute our drinking water,
or
Take the time necessary to understand the potential impacts of gas development on our water, air, health, and communities.
Stand Up New York!
It's critical that drilling does not occur unless and until we're ready. "Ready" means:
We know enough to protect our drinking water from gas development
Strong rules and regulations require drillers to behave themselves so that our drinking water is protected
Qualified staff in adequate numbers are in place to enforce those rules and regs.
We need your help TODAY!
If New York Senate Majority Leader John Sampson would bring the issue to a vote, the legislature would vote to protect New York’s drinking water from the dangers of dirty gas drilling by enacting a ‘time out’ on drilling permits. Any sensible time out would last until the Environmental Protection Agency finishes its study of the issue, and New York updates its drilling laws, regulations and number of regulators.
Although Sampson hasn't brought it up, he's wavering. Take Action!
Our state is home to some of the cleanest drinking water and best fishing streams in the country, but natural gas drilling could decimate these precious resources and endanger communities across New York.
New York has an important choice to make -- and we have to make it now, before the Legislature adjourns for the year.
Our choice:
Start issuing permits for gas development soon -- and risk dirty drilling that could pollute our drinking water,
or
Take the time necessary to understand the potential impacts of gas development on our water, air, health, and communities.
Stand Up New York!
It's critical that drilling does not occur unless and until we're ready. "Ready" means:
We know enough to protect our drinking water from gas development
Strong rules and regulations require drillers to behave themselves so that our drinking water is protected
Qualified staff in adequate numbers are in place to enforce those rules and regs.
We need your help TODAY!
If New York Senate Majority Leader John Sampson would bring the issue to a vote, the legislature would vote to protect New York’s drinking water from the dangers of dirty gas drilling by enacting a ‘time out’ on drilling permits. Any sensible time out would last until the Environmental Protection Agency finishes its study of the issue, and New York updates its drilling laws, regulations and number of regulators.
Although Sampson hasn't brought it up, he's wavering. Take Action!
Toxic Release Inventory Overhaul
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to rewrite the rules surrounding how and what the mining industry reports to the Toxics Release Inventory program, also known as the TRI program. The primary purpose of the TRI program is to inform communities and citizens of the chemical and toxic pollution released in their areas.
EARTHWORKS was instrumental in getting the mining industry added to the TRI reporting program in 1998. Since then, the mining industry has sued the EPA to avoid reporting some of their toxic releases and we still don’t know everything that is being emitted at many mines.
Mining Industry is the Largest Emitter of Toxic Chemicals
Despite the fact that the mining industry is not reporting all the toxic chemicals they release each year, they remain the largest toxic polluter in the country, with 1.1 billion pounds of chemicals released in 2008. This includes 1.8 million pounds of arsenic, 5.5 million pounds of mercury, and 420 million pounds of lead.
We have been fighting for changes to the reporting rules, and we now have an opportunity to make sure the mining industry is reporting more of their toxic chemical emissions.
TAKE ACTION:
Your help is needed to make sure that citizens know what toxic chemicals are being released; how much is released; and where that pollution is going. Please write the EPA and ask them to improve how the metal mining industry reports their chemicals under the TRI program.
Instructions:
Read the sample letter at the bottom of this action page. Customized letters have greater impact.
Click "Send My Message" to send your letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
ELEVEN more jewelers have signed the Bristol Bay Protection Pledge, endorsing protection for the world's largest remaining wild sockeye salmon fishery.
The jewelers have vowed not to source gold from the Pebble Mine - proposed at Bristol Bay's headwaters. This mine would destroy wild salmon habitat, and jeopardize the fishery that sustains the region.
Toby Pomeroy, Blair Lauren Brown, Reflective Images, Michaels Jewelers, Security Jewelers, Ingle & Rhode, Alberto Parada, Real Jewels, CRED Jewellery, Open Source Minerals, and Fair Trade in Gems and Jewelery all signed the pledge. Together with the rest of the Bristol Bay Pledge signers, these jewelers represent over $6 billion in sales! These jewelers have taken this action at the invitation of local communities, commercial fishermen, Alaska Native groups, and conservation groups.
Drilling is risky. Always.
The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico cruelly demonstrates that drilling – even when federally regulated, even when industry employs "failsafe" technology – risks catastrophic damage to the environment and the communities that rely upon that environment.
There's a drilling boom onshore.
Thanks to a drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, natural gas is newly accessible in heavily populated watersheds of New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere around the country. Accessing the gas requires drillers to bore through underground drinking water aquifers. After which they inject toxics at high pressures to fracture shale rock, which releases the gas.
When drillers decide, drilling is dangerous.
But unlike other phases of drilling, hydraulic fracturing is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act. Furthermore, drillers are exempt from disclosing the toxics they use. So drillers are in the drivers seat: and it's impossible to monitor their operations – because you can't measure what they won't tell you about.
May 4th imagery of oil slick - click to enlarge
Credit: Skytruth
A mobile phone shouldn't cost people their lives
Yesterday, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs advanced a bill that would help prevent human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo… and give you the chance to purchase conflict-free electronics products.
The conflict in eastern Congo is fueled by mining and trade in metals used in our electronic products - "blood" gold, coltan, tungsten, and tin. Because of this conflict, more than five million people have died and hundreds of thousands of women have been raped over the past decade.
The Conflict Minerals Trade Act needs support
If signed into law, HR 4128, the Conflict Minerals Trade Act will identify goods imported into the United States that contain conflict minerals. This transparency would be a significant step toward breaking the links between metals mining and human rights abuses in Congo.
Newsflash:
Zales, the 2nd largest U.S. jewelry retailer, has signed the Bristol Bay Protection Pledge, endorsing protection for the world's largest remaining wild sockeye salmon fishery.
In so doing, the company has vowed not to source gold from the proposed Pebble Mine - proposed at Bristol Bay's headwaters. This mine would destroy wild salmon habitat, and jeopardize the fishery that sustains the region.
Zales joins over twenty other jewelers who have signed the pledge. Altogether these jewelers represent over $6 billion in sales! These jewelers have taken this action at the invitation of local communities, commercial fishermen, Alaska Native groups, and conservation groups.
Tell President Obama: don't addict us to dirty tar sands oil
The world's dirtiest and most expensive oil is Canadian tar sands oil.
And it's fueling the U.S. oil addiction at a time when money should instead be invested in clean energy and clean energy jobs.
President Obama campaigned on a new energy economy: one that would create new jobs, one that would give us a cleaner, healthier environment.
But if he doesn't reject the permit for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, he will increase our addiction to this dirtiest of oils.
TAKE ACTION: Use the form below to send a letter to President Obama. Tell him there's no place in the clean energy economy for the Keystone XL pipeline, or dirty tar sands oil.
Anglo American CEO Cynthia Carroll
Source: World Economic Forum (via Wikipedia)
Cynthia Carroll promised to back out of the Pebble Mine project if communities opposed it.
"I will not go where people don't want us. I just won't. We've got enough on our plate without having communities against us." --Anglo American CEO Cynthia Carroll in Fast Company online magazine
Communities do oppose it.
80% of Bristol Bay residents oppose the mine. These are the communities whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by the Pebble Mine.
Show your support for the local people of Bristol Bay in resisting the mine.
Blood Gold coming to a jeweler near you?
So how can you be guaranteed that you’re not buying Blood Gold? Many jewelers do not trace where they get their gold and do not have strong sourcing policies. Could you be buying gold jewelry linked to violent conflict in the DRC or other conflict zones?
A number of jewelers have signed the Golden Rules and committed to work towards responsible sourcing of precious metals. But other retailers have yet to even sign the Golden Rules, an important first step in cleaning up their gold sourcing and protecting human rights. Several of these jewelers are also supporting the development of a third-party certification process for developing standards and verification of cleaner mining practices through the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA).
TAKE ACTION: This holiday shopping season -- tell jewelers you don’t want Blood Jewelry Tell jewelers that are dragging their feet -- Target, TJ Maxx, Harry Winston -- that they need to say no to Dirty Gold! Tell them to sign the Golden Rules for responsible sourcing of precious metals.
As these retailers gear up for their biggest sales period of the year, let them know that you care about the conditions under which their products were mined and produced.
Instructions:
Read the sample letter below and edit it if possible. Customized letters have greater impact.
Click "Send My Message" to send your letter to the leaders of Target, TJ Maxx, and Harry Winston.
Newsflash:
This week Sears/Kmart, Blue Nile and Ultra Stores signed the No Dirty Gold campaign's "Golden Rules" for more responsible mining.
This brings the total number of jewelry retail signatories up to 60. Altogether, these jewelry retailers represent over $1.3 billion in annual US jewelry sales, or nearly a quarter of the total.
Sears, others take a step towards certified gold
The jewelers have signed on to the Golden Rules at a time when discussions are advancing on third party certification of more responsible mining practices through the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA). The Golden Rules signatories have committed to seeking such third party certification of responsible sourcing when it becomes available.
"The No Dirty Gold campaign is a great initiative that pushes for sustainability and ethical sourcing on gold," said Sears' Senior Vice President Michelle Pearlman. "Sears strives to be a green company and we will continue to work to build lifetime relationships with our customers starting from the mines up."
Salazar Temporarily Protects The Grand Canyon
Recently, we asked you to urge Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to withdraw nearly a million acres around the Grand Canyon from mining for 20 years. Thanks to the thousands of you that responded.
Although Salazar has yet to protect the canyon for 20 years, the area is withdrawn for the next two years.
The Grand Canyon
Grijalva Introduces Permanent Protection
While temporary withdrawal from mining is important, Congress needs to act to permanently protect the area.
Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) has introduced H.R. 644, The Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act, which would permanently withdraw a million acres of public land within the watersheds of the Grand Canyon from mineral exploration under the 1872 Mining Law.
An increase in uranium claim staking, exploration and mining threatens the Grand Canyon – one of our most beautiful national treasures. Industrial activity around the park could upset the ecological balance of the area or contaminate the Grand Canyon Watershed.
TAKE ACTION!
Please act now and urge your Representative to sign on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 644 to help protect this irreplaceable landscape.
Instructions:
Read the sample letter below and edit the letter text and subject header if you are able. Customized letters have a greater impact!
Click "Send My Letter!" to send your letter to your representative.
For More Information:,
Read a report on the threat of uranium mining in Grand Canyon National Park.
More jewelers support protecting Bristol Bay from mining
This week, four more jewelry retailers and designers representing $1 billion in sales announced they won't buy gold from Anglo American's proposed Pebble mine. Birks & Mayors, Herff Jones, Commemorative Brands, and Hacker Jewelers took this step at the invitation of local Alaskans by signing the Bristol Bay pledge. "Birks and Mayors proudly joins other responsible jewelers denouncing the proposed mining of precious metals at Bristol Bay," said John Orrico, Senior Vice President of Birks and Mayors. "We trust that the jewelry industry will stand in support of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery".
The Pebble mine would irreparably harm Bristol Bay
The jewelers join over a dozen other prominent retailers, including Tiffany & Co. and Helzberg Diamonds, who have vowed not to buy gold from the Pebble mine, a massive gold and copper mine proposed at the headwaters of Bristol Bay. Some of the most productive salmon-spawning rivers on Earth flow into Bristol Bay, which supports the world’s biggest commercial sockeye fishery. The mine is projected to be the largest in North America, generating billions of tons of mine waste and using 35 billion gallons of water per year.
A different kind of Tiffany & Co. advertisement
And in October, Tiffany & Co. will be running an unusual advertisement in National Jeweler, stating that "[d]espite the best of intentions, 175 years of experience sourcing gemstones and precious metals tells us that there are certain places where mining cannot be done without forever destroying landscapes, wildlife and communities. Bristol Bay is one such place."
The Obama administration recently took emergency action to temporarily halt new mine claimstaking around Grand Canyon National Park.
The Grand Canyon
This stopgap measure has temporarily protected one of our most valued national treasures. However, it is still threatened by an increase in uranium mining claims, and an outdated 137-year-old Mining Law.
Now the interior department wants to know whether new mining in the area should be prohibited for the next 20 years.
Please send a letter to Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar. Thank him and the Obama administration for taking action. Offer your support for the proposed 20 year withdrawal of 1 million acres from around Grand Canyon National Park.
Also, please ask the Secretary to work with Congress to pass 1872 Mining Law reform. Real mining law reform will ensure that our nation's special places are truly protected.
TAKE ACTION! Urge Secretary Salazar to withdraw 1 million acres around the Grand Canyon from mining claimstaking.
Instructions:
Read the sample letter below and edit the letter text and subject header if you are able. Customized letters have a greater impact!
Click "Send My Letter!" to send your letter to Secretary Salazar.
For More Information:
Read a report on the threat of uranium mining in Grand Canyon National Park.
More jewelers support protecting Bristol Bay from mining
This week, four more jewelry retailers and designers representing $1 billion in sales announced they won't buy gold from Anglo American's proposed Pebble mine. Birks & Mayors, Herff Jones, Commemorative Brands, and Hacker Jewelers took this step at the invitation of local Alaskans by signing the Bristol Bay pledge. "Birks and Mayors proudly joins other responsible jewelers denouncing the proposed mining of precious metals at Bristol Bay," said John Orrico, Senior Vice President of Birks and Mayors. "We trust that the jewelry industry will stand in support of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery".
The Pebble mine would irreparably harm Bristol Bay
The jewelers join over a dozen other prominent retailers, including Tiffany & Co. and Helzberg Diamonds, who have vowed not to buy gold from the Pebble mine, a massive gold and copper mine proposed at the headwaters of Bristol Bay. Some of the most-productive salmon-spawning rivers on Earth flow into Bristol Bay, which supports the world’s biggest commercial sockeye fishery. The mine is projected to be the largest in North America, generating billions of tons of mine waste and using 35 billion gallons of water per year.
A different kind of Tiffany & Co. advertisement
And later this week, Tiffany & Co. will be running an unusual advertisement in National Jeweler, stating that "[d]espite the best of intentions, 175 years of experience sourcing gemstones and precious metals tells us that there are certain places where mining cannot be done without forever destroying landscapes, wildlife and communities. Bristol Bay is one such place."
In February President Obama made his first international visit after taking office, to Canada. We urged President Obama to resist Prime Minister Stephen Harper's sales pitch for Big Oil -- and the President delivered.
On September 16th, Prime Minister Harper is returning the visit, and he'll be pushing Canada's dirty tar sands oil when he comes.
Who is Harper?
He's the head of Canada's Conservative Party, and one of the biggest shills for Big Oil. Like President Bush, Prime Minister Harper first denied climate change. He has since opposed strong action on global warming. And now he'd like to see the United States continue our destructive dependence on dirty tar sands oil from Canada.
We need you to help us welcome Prime Minister Harper to the White House and let President Obama know he shouldn’t fall for Harper’s oil-slick pitch.
Canada is our largest supplier of oil, and there is no oil dirtier than oil from their tar sands. The billions of dollars handed to Big Oil every year could instead be creating President Obama's clean energy economy by supporting new clean energy jobs.
We need to let President Obama know that we still want a clean energy economy, and we're not buying what Prime Minister Harper is selling.
TAKE ACTION
Use the form below to contact President Obama and let him know that clean energy jobs in the United States should come before dirty oil from Canada.
Please customize the letter and subject if you can -- personalized letters have greater impact.
In February President Obama made his first international visit after taking office, to Canada . We urged President Obama to resist Prime Minister Stephen Harper's sales pitch for Big Oil -- and the President delivered.
On September 16th, Prime Minister Harper is returning the visit, and he'll be pushing Canada 's dirty tar sands oil when he comes.
Who is Harper?
He's the head of Canada's Conservative Party, and one of the biggest shills for Big Oil. Like President Bush, Prime Minister Harper first denied climate change. He has since opposed strong action on global warming. And now he'd like to see the United States continue our destructive dependence on dirty tar sands oil from Canada.
We need you to help us welcome Prime Minister Harper to the White House and let President Obama know he shouldn’t fall for Harper’s oil-slick pitch.
Canada is our largest supplier of oil, and there is no oil dirtier than oil from their tar sands. The billions of dollars handed to Big Oil every year could instead be creating President Obama's clean energy economy by supporting new clean energy jobs.
We need to let President Obama know that we still want a clean energy economy, and we're not buying what Prime Minister Harper is selling.
TAKE ACTION
Use the form below to contact President Obama and let him know that clean energy jobs in the United States should come before dirty oil from Canada.
Please customize the letter and subject if you can -- personalized letters have greater impact.
"[Climate change] is a threat that is global in scope but also local and national in impact.... No issue we face today has broader long-term consequences or greater potential to alter the world for future generations." -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, April 27, 2009
Two months ago you joined more than 16,000 others in asking Secretary Clinton not to permit the expansion of dirty tar sands via the Alberta Clipper pipeline. Last month the State Department issued a permit for the pipeline that will bring the world's dirtiest oil into America, increase global warming pollution, and support the destruction of important forest and bird habitat.
We're going to challenge the State Department's decision in court, but we need you to let Secretary Clinton know that by allowing this destructive project to move forward, she is failing to protect our national interest. More proposed pipelines, like TransCanada's Keystone XL project, are seeking State Department approval as oil companies plot how to continue our over-dependence on their dirty product. Secretary Clinton needs to hear, loud and clear, that the State Department made a mistake on this one.
At a time when concern is growing about the national security threat posed by global warming, increasing pollution and our dependence on oil is the last thing we should be doing. While the rest of the Obama administration is working to create millions of new clean energy jobs, the State Department is helping oil companies lock our economy into decades of dependence on dirty and outdated infrastructure.
Two months ago you joined more than 16,000 others in asking Secretary Clinton not to permit the expansion of dirty tar sands via the Alberta Clipper pipeline. Last week the State Department issued a permit for the pipeline that will bring the world's dirtiest oil into America, increase global warming pollution, and support the destruction of important forest and bird habitat.
We're going to challenge the State Department's decision in court, but we need you to let Secretary Clinton know that by allowing this destructive project to move forward, she is failing to protect our national interest. More proposed pipelines, like TransCanada's Keystone XL project, are seeking State Department approval as oil companies plot how to continue our over-dependence on their dirty product. Secretary Clinton needs to hear, loud and clear, that the State Department made a mistake on this one.
At a time when concern is growing about the national security threat posed by global warming, increasing pollution and our dependence on oil is the last thing we should be doing. While the rest of the Obama administration is working to create millions of new clean energy jobs, the State Department is helping oil companies lock our economy into decades of dependence on dirty and outdated infrastructure.
Snowbird Ski resort owner proposes coal strip mine
Richard Bass, owner of the world-famous Snowbird ski resort in Utah, has formed PacRim Coal, LLC, to build what would be Alaska's biggest coal mine.
Bass's mine would threaten wild Alaskan salmon
Bass's Chuitna coal mine is proposed in the Cook Inlet watershed, one of Alaska's most productive salmon fisheries. It would directly mine through 11 miles of salmon spawning habitat in tributaries of the Chuitna River. If built, 7 million gallons of waste per day would be dumped into the Chuitna watershed -- irreversibly damaging the watershed, destroying the salmon fishery, and threatening the livelihoods of local fishermen.
The Chuitna River. Photo: Damion Brook Kintz
Bass's mine would threaten the world's climate.
The Chuitna mine would produce more than 12 million tons of coal annually, most of which would be exported to China and other Pacific Rim countries. That amount of coal would emit more than 27 million tons of carbon dioxide when burned. Snowbird, and all ski resorts, rely on cold, snowy winters. As global average temperatures rise, these are in increasingly short supply, so that many ski resorts have urged action on legislation that would address climate change.
Bass's mine would undermine previous environmental stewardship.
Snowbird has been a leader among ski areas in addressing global warming. The resort is an active participant in the National Ski Area Associations Sustainable Slopes program, receiving their top award in 2007. Investing in coal mining is not compatible with the environmental values Bass espouses, or the sustainability awards being heaped on Snowbird.
TAKE ACTION! Urge Richard Bass to remain true to his demonstrated commitment to environmental stewardship and withdraw from the Chuitna coal strip mine proposal.
Instructions:
Read the sample letter below and edit the letter text and subject header if you are able. Customized letters have a greater impact!
Click "Send My Letter!" to send your letter to Richard Bass c/o Snowbird's public relations director.
A globally important fishery.
Alaska's Bristol Bay Watershed is one of the most productive salmon ecosystems on Earth. It supports the world’s largest remaining wild sockeye salmon fishery, with tens of millions of salmon surging upstream to spawn each and every year.
Declared open to mining by the Bush administration.
Despite the importance of the fishery, and the many communities and businesses who depend upon it, the BLM wants to open over one million acres of federal land in the Bristol Bay Watershed to mining.
Under the Bush Administration, the BLM issued a decision which did not recommend protective designations for Bristol Bay lands. Instead, the BLM selected Alternative D, which opens over 99% of the planning area to mineral development.
Bristol Bay watershed--threatened by mining
In a situation where mining almost always pollutes water.
A survey of major mining operations permitted over the past 40 years shows that -- in areas similar to the Bristol Bay watershed where the mine would be close to surface and ground water-- they polluted nearby water resources 85% of the time.
TAKE ACTION
There’s still time to protect the fishery. Please send a letter to Bob Abbey. Urge Director Abbey to require the BLM to develop a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement based on sound science that adopts the strongest possible protections for the lands and waters of Bristol Bay.
Instructions:
Read the sample letter below and edit the letter text and subject header if you are able. Customized letters have a greater impact!
Click "Send My Letter!" to send your letter to BLM Director Bob Abbey.
For More Information:
Our Bristol Bay is all about the Pebble mine proposal and the threat it consitutes to Alaskan (Bristol Bay) fisheries and the communities that depend upon them.
A recent Supreme Court ruling actually encourages the production of dirty gold. It poses a severe threat to our nation's lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands, and reverses over three decades of responsible mining policy.
The June ruling exempts toxic mine waste -- classified as "fill" -- from certain regulations under the Clean Water Act: legalizing its dumping in our precious waters.
Ruling is absurd, and unnecessary
Congress enacted the Clean Water Act in 1972 to protect our waterways from being used as waste disposal sites. However, in 2002, the Bush administration redefined "fill" to include industrial waste, permitting mining companies to dump toxin-laden waste material into our nation's waterways. It's unnecessary! For three decades, mining companies have been operating successfully without this type of irresponsible mine waste disposal.
Salmon. Now threatened by the 'Clean' Water Act
Ruling threatens salmon at Pebble, fisheries nationwide
This misguided decision has implications for clean water all over the country. Most immediately, to the proposed Pebble Mine in southwest Alaska, where mining giant Anglo American wants to build the nation's largest copper and gold mine at the headwaters of the world's largest wild sockeye salmon fishery! If applied in this case, the consequences to the fishery – and all who depend on it - would be devastating.
Our Bristol Bay is all about the Pebble mine proposal and the threat it consitutes to Alaskan (Bristol Bay) fisheries and the communities that depend upon them.
A recent Supreme Court ruling poses a severe threat to our nation's lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands, and reverses over three decades of responsible mining policy.
The June ruling exempts toxic mine waste -- classified as "fill" -- from certain regulations under the Clean Water Act: legalizing its dumping in our precious waters.
Ruling is absurd, and unnecessary
Congress enacted the Clean Water Act in 1972 to protect our waterways from being used as waste disposal sites. However, in 2002, the Bush administration redefined "fill" to include industrial waste, permitting mining companies to dump toxin-laden waste material into our nation's waterways. It's unnecessary! For three decades, mining companies have been operating successfully without this type of irresponsible mine waste disposal.
Salmon. Now threatened by the 'Clean' Water Act
Ruling threatens salmon at Pebble, fisheries nationwide
This misguided decision has implications for clean water all over the country. Most immediately, to the proposed Pebble Mine in southwest Alaska, where mining giant Anglo American wants to build the nation's largest copper and gold mine at the headwaters of the world's largest wild sockeye salmon fishery! If applied in this case, the consequences to the fishery – and all who depend on it - would be devastating.
Our Bristol Bay is all about the Pebble mine proposal and the threat it consitutes to Alaskan (Bristol Bay) fisheries and the communities that depend upon them.
Help move mining reform through the Senate
For the first time in more than 10 years a legitimate mining reform bill has been introduced into the Senate, thanks to Energy and Natural Resource Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman. (Chairman Rahall introduced a House version earlier this year.) Now we need your help to move the bill through the Senate.
S 796, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009, begins the dialogue needed in the Senate to finally reform the 1872 Mining Law in order to:
create green jobs by cleaning up the hundreds of thousands of abandoned hardrock mines,
give a fair return to the taxpayer, and
protect communities and precious western water resources.
A lot of work is needed to make sure real and meaningful 1872 Mining Law reform becomes law this Congress, and Senator Bingaman's bill is a good first step in that process.
TAKE ACTION
To build momentum so that it eventually passes, Senator Bingaman's bill needs support from as many different Senators as possible. Please email your Senator now and ask him or her to join Senator Bingaman as a sponsor of this legislation.
Communities across the U.S. living closest to refineries want the promise of clean, sustainable energy to reach them. Instead, tar sands crude moves in the wrong direction by --
increasing pollution in already overburdened refinery communities, often low income and people of color, with greater risks of childhood asthma, cancer, and neurological disorders
A delegation of Alaskan Native leaders and fishermen flew from Bristol Bay to London this week to take on mining industry giant Anglo American at the company’s April 15th shareholders meeting. They brought with them their communities' concerns about the massive Pebble mine project Anglo has proposed in the headwaters of Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska. EARTHWORKS staff accompanied the Alaskans.
You can follow their progress at a new website, ak2uk.com.
Bristol Bay is irreplaceable
Some of the most-productive salmon-spawning rivers on Earth flow into Bristol Bay, which supports the world’s biggest commercial sockeye fishery. London-based Anglo American has failed to grasp the depth and breadth of the opposition to the Pebble mine, which would irreparably damage the salmon fishery and cultures that depend on it for survival. Britain is also the largest consumer of Bristol Bay canned sockeye salmon.
Everett Leroy Thompson, Bristol Bay fisherman
Credit: ak2uk.com
UK Jewelers support Bristol Bay
As the Alaskans traveled to London, six prestigious British jewelry retailers and designers representing 260 stores announced they won't buy gold from Anglo American's "Pebble" mine. Goldsmiths, Beaverbrooks, Mappin & Webb, Watches of Switzerland, Fifi Bijoux and April Doubleday took this step at the invitation of local Alaskans by signing the Bristol Bay pledge.
Mining reform creates jobs.
Nowadays, jobs are as precious as gold. Fortunately, mining reform doesn't force a choice between the two.
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall has re-introduced mining reform this year. It would require, for the first time in 135 years, that mining companies pay a royalty on hardrock minerals (like gold and copper) they extract from federal lands owned by American taxpayers.
The money from that royalty would pay for abandoned hardrock mine cleanup. And based upon government estimates, abandoned mine cleanup creates thousands of new jobs.
Mining reform has a better chance at passage this year...
HR699, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009 is unchanged from last year's bill. But the new presidential administration is much more favorable to environmental reforms. If Congress passes mining reform, it's likely to become law.
...with your help. TAKE ACTION!
Urge your Representative to support mining reform today -- ask him to cosponsor HR699, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009.
In tight economic times, some Representatives think we can't afford mining reform... despite record high gold prices. Your member of Congress needs to hear from you that HR699 will help create jobs -- as well as protect clean water, fish & wildlife habitat, and other special places.
Thank you very much for joining the Cleaning Crew, the action list of EARTHWORKS' No Dirty Energy campaign. You can access your member page at EARTHWORKS' action center.
Now you can take your first concrete step in support of the campaign to clean up Dirty Energy:
Use your consumer power!
Declare that the dirty energy industry needs to clean up its act. Sign the No Dirty Energy pledge!
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At the request of Rio Tinto (doing business as Resolution Copper), a bill is moving through the state legislature that would raise the number of hours miners could work underground. The bill would also remove the provision in Arizona’s statutes that says that underground mining is dangerous.
An hour east of Phoenix and west of the San Carlos Reservation lays an ecological haven that is not only a sacred site critical for religious freedom, but a recreational Mecca.
They're famous for their Thanksgiving Day parade, "Black Friday" deals, and last-minute Christmas sales. 
This legislation, the Uranium Resources Stewardship Act (HR 1452), is the first step towards comprehensive federal regulation and oversight of uranium mining to protect both uranium-impacted communities and the environment.
Sears, others take a step towards certified gold
