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EarthWINS Daily 5.2
October 5, 2000
Contents
1. WISCONSIN: CRANDON MINE ALERT: E-mail Billiton
2. TEXAS: Austin's Radion One Forced off the Air - FCC
Cracks Down on Independent Media Eight Days before Fortune 500 Forum
3. OCT 17 Citibank day of action! Movements Unite!
4. MINNESOTA: Peat-mining project to get impact study
5. The Scoop on Oil
6. Farmers, environment victims of GOP
7. Mississippi Locks: Corps goes back to drawing board
on lock expansions
8. WISCONSIN: Fox River Cleanup Updates
9. Wetlands - WDNR says environmental concerns won't halt
school project
10. Nader Turned Away from Debate Door
11. Wisconsin: Lawmakers respond to ratings on environmental
issues
12. Job Opening at Project Underground
******************************************************************************************
1. WISCONSIN: CRANDON MINE ALERT: E-mail Billiton
Date: Thu, 05 Oct 2000 11:19:02 -0500
From: Zoltan Grossman <mtn@igc.org>
With the withdrawal of Noranda,
the London-based South African mining company
BILLITON is the only corporation left bidding
for Rio Algom, Ltd., the owner of the proposed
Crandon mine in northeastern Wisconsin. The deal
is not final until the shareholders vote, but the
deadline for the deal is this Friday night.
All opponents of the Crandon mine should today
e-mail Billiton executives in London, to let
them know that Wisconsin people will
not allow the Crandon mine to happen,
and that the doomed mine is a financial black hole
for any multinational mining company.
We see the change in companies as a good
opportunity for the new owner to drop
the risky investment. These e-mails can
actually influence the company's "political
risk assessment" of the project !
PLEASE E-MAIL THESE EXECS:
mgonsalves@billiton.com
eroutledge@billiton.com
agentil@billiton.com
mcampbell@billiton.com
FOR IDEAS:
*See our previous letters to Billiton
corporate officers, and their replies, at
http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/billiton_letters.html
*See how various international mining industry
journals have written of the "threat" of Wisconsin
anti-mine groups and our Internet sites:
http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/antimining.html
*See the track record of Billiton in
Southern Africa, South America, and Australia:
http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/billiton.html
*Background on the Crandon mine:
Midwest Treaty Network
http://www.treatyland.com
******************************************************************************************
2. TEXAS: Austin's Radion One Forced off the Air - FCC Cracks Down on Independent Media Eight Days before Fortune 500 Forum
Date: Thu, 05 Oct 2000 03:04:33 -0700
From: "getmelissa@uswest.net" <getmelissa@uswest.net>
Sender: owner-corporations@envirolink.org
Welcome to the USA, 2000 (er, "1984").
-melissa
<snip>
For Immediate Release:
October 4, 2000
Independent Media Center Austin
imc-austin@indymedia.org
Contact: Stefan Wray 476-3713
AUSTIN’S RADIO ONE FORCED OFF THE AIR
FCC CRACKS DOWN ON INDEPENDENT MEDIA
EIGHT DAYS BEFORE FORTUNE 500 FORUM
Austin, TX, Oct. 4, 2000 -- Radio One, a micropower radio station in
Austin operating at 94.3 FM, was forcibly taken off the air by federal
agents this morning.
According to Rob Wilson of Radio One, two FCC agents, one U.S.
marshall, and about six Austin police officers arrived at the premises
of Radio One at about 11:00 a.m.
Wilson said the federal agents served a warrant to search for and seize
equipment. Items confisicated included the radio transmitter, 2 CD
players, 2 turntables, 1 cassette player, 2 mixers, 1 boombox and 1
telephone. The entire process lasted for about an hour. Rob Wilson
can
be contacted for media interviews at 512-302-3709.
Another micropower radio station in Austin, Free Radio Austin operating
at 97.1 FM, remains on the air, but tensions are high with its sister
station being forced to shut down.
It should be noted that the timing of this is probably not coincidental.
Federal authorities operating in Austin are now preparing for a string
of protests taking place during the Fortune 500 Forum next week. A
new
national pattern of repression against activists has included going
after independent media outlets such as micropower radio stations.
<snip>
********************************************************************************************
3. OCT 17 Citibank day of action! Movements Unite!
From: "Patrick Reinsborough" <organize@ran.org>
Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2000 07:24:54 -0700
please forward!
**OCT 17!****OCT 17!****OCT 17!****OCT 17!****OCT 17!****OCT 17!**OCT17!**
organizing packets available! www.ran.org contact Rainforest Action
Network
415-398-4404/1-800-989-RAIN organize@ran.org
JOIN THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE WORLD’S MOST DESTRUCTIVE FINANCIAL
INSTITUTION: CITIGROUP
October 17th - International Day of Action against CITIGROUP
From South Africa to the South Bronx, from Brazil to San Francisco
Communities are rising up and telling Citigroup - WE WANT OUR PLANET
BACK!
“The financial realm constitutes the commanding citadel of the global
system - the benefactor that provides essential capital, the enforcer
that
disciplines multinational corporations as well as nations. Its
imperious
attitudes and amoral operating assumptions are embedded in every aspect
of
globalization and implicated in every complaint, from inhumane working
conditions to environmental wreckage, from the erosion of national
sovereignty to the gross and growing inequalities.“
--William Greider THE NATION, April 24, 2000
The destruction of fragile ecosystems, sweatshops, oil spills, the genocide
of indigenous peoples, the growing disparity between the rich and the
poor,
genetic engineering, the exclusion and then exploitation of low income
communities and communities of color, climate change, corporate
prisons…these are some of the many faces of the corporate global economy.
Who makes it all possible? The private finance industry
- the small group
of mega-banks and investment houses that dominate the global financial
system. First and foremost among them: CITIGROUP.
Comprised of Citibank,
investment house Salomon Smith Barney and Traveler’s Insurance, Citigroup
is
the big boy of Wall Street. With operations and customers in
134 countries
around the world, Citi is one of the key powerbrokers and central
planners
of the corporate global economy. Because of this,
more and more
organizations and individuals are joining up to confront Citigroup
and the
private finance industry.
These are exciting times. Over the past year we’ve seen an unprecedented
coalition of groups and movements unite to confront corporate power.
Students, human rights advocates, environmentalists, trade unionists,
anarchists, farmers, people of faith and many more took to the streets
to
confront the World Trade Organization, the World Bank/IMF and the
corporate-controlled political party conventions in Philadelphia and
Los
Angeles.
We’ve all seen the power of the cross-movement alliances built in tear
gas-filled streets over the last year. If we are interested in continuing
this momentum, we must ask ourselves an important question. How
do we
create common sustained campaigns to fight corporate globalization
that meet
the needs of all of our different communities and movements while
strengthening the coalitions that made Seattle to Prague possible?
Unfortunately for Citigroup, they answer this question for us.
The private
financial system has a destructive impact on every community and ecosystem
on the planet, and the perfect example of private finance’s destructive
power is Citigroup. A company born itself out of an illegal merger
that
required $18 million in political pay-off to get the law changed, Citigroup
is a true cornerstone of the corporate global economy.
Citi’s global reach is more specifically a global attack on communities
and
vulnerable ecosystems everywhere. Citigroup is at the heart of
the system
of global destruction that put the interests of a small group of corporate
elites ahead of the well-being of local communities, workers, farmers,
the
environment and democratic decision-making.
>From a partnership with Maxxam Corporation to destroy the California
Redwoods, to helping the World Bank and Exxon-Mobil build an
oil pipeline
through the rainforests of Africa, Citigroup profits from environmental
devastation.
>From genetically engineering trees for Chilean pulp mills to funding
global
warming with its ongoing investment in fossil fuels, Citigroup benefits.
>From mining the Amazon rainforest to the displacement of millions
for China’
s massive Three Gorges Dam, Citigroup is underwriting the deal.
>From bank branch closings, followed by predatory lending in US inner
cities
to strangling the global South with crippling debt payments,
Citigroup
thrives off economic injustice.
>From laying off 10,000 workers to bankrolling strikebreaking to creating
the
investment climate that fosters sweatshop exploitation, Citigroup attacks
working people everywhere.
In fact, Citigroup is everywhere we don’t want them to be, including
college
campuses and communities around the world. Therefore we have
a unique
opportunity to confront them with powerful and creative action!
Of the
small cartel of mega-banks and investment houses who run the global
economy,
none rely as heavily on their consumer presence and brand name as much
as
Citigroup. This makes them uniquely vulnerable to grassroots
pressure, and
offers activists around the world an incredible opportunity to focus
our
collective energies on a single corporate target while campaigning
on a
variety of issues and mobilizing the diversity and energy needed for
truly
systemic change.
The time has come to go beyond “think globally- act locally” to
“think
structurally- act specifically” Because Citi is a global player,
involved
in every aspect of global finance, this campaign is an opportunity
to
tangibly confront the system in a way that makes actual gains and educates
ourselves and the public about how the global financial system creates
and
maintains social, economic and environmental injustice. To this
end a
growing number of organizations and individuals are turning our attention
to
CITIGROUP.
We need to raise our collective voices and demand that Citigroup stop
funding the destruction of communities and the environment around the
planet. We have the power to reassert citizen control over Citigroup
and
set the standards by which the global economy will operate. Dare
to imagine
a global economy based on social equality and ecological sanity!
This campaign has already attracted attention from students, farmers,
environmentalists, organized labor and human rights activists, debt
relief
organizations, fair trade activists, groups from the global South,
community
activists, and others. But in order to tackle a Goliath
like Citi, we need
more committed activists, more visions of a better world, more diverse
communities, and stronger coalitions. We must work together to
draw the
links between one another’s work and Citigroup’s impact on all of our
issues
and communities.
Let’s start talking to other activists and the public about what Citigroup
is doing to our communities.
Find your local Citi subsidiary at :
Websites for Citibank : http://www.citibank.com/branches
Salomon Smith Barney http://www.smithbarney.com/abt_sb/brnchloc.html
Rainforest Action Network and Citiaction are willing to serve as information
clearinghouses and help coordinate a decentralized campaign.
We can
provide organizing packets with adaptable materials as well as help
connect
you with other activists in your area.
Check out www.ran.org, www.innercitypress.org/citi.html,
and
www.citiaction.org.
We’d like to hear from you with your questions, ideas, strategies, tactics
or local research. To learn more, get involved, or endorse this
campaign,
contact us:
Rainforest Action Network
1-800-989-RAIN/415-398-4404 or
email Patrick: organize@ran.org
or Beka: beka@ran.org
Citiaction
(206) 312-8975 or info@citiaction.org.
Vanessa Lee: v_mijo@yahoo.com
or Steph Sherer: assherer@cs.com
DON’T BE AFRAID TO THINK BIG. OUR TIMES DEMAND IT.
********************************************************************************************
4. MINNESOTA: Peat-mining project to get impact study
From: "Ray Fenner" <fenner@peoplepc.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Mailing-List: list swan@earthwins.com; contact swan-owner@earthwins.com
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 09:35:38 -0500
Some of the most diverse, undeveloped areas in MN and the rest of the
Great
Lakes region are located in these peat lands. They cover large areas
of
northern MN and have basically been left alone because industry, farmers
etc
didn't have much use for them (luckily). It now appears that has changed.
Peat is formed at a very slow rate. Each metre of peat represents about
a
1000 years of growth. Peat bogs also store carbon dioxide, a greenhouse
gas.
There is a movement in Britain to ban commercial extraction of peat
in that
country because of the damage that has been done. It's only beginning
here.
Local politicians are pushing the jobs issue (gee, what a surprise).
Now
loggers who clear-cut our forests in the wintertime can have a second
job
ripping up peat bogs the rest of the year.
Although it surprises me that they are doing an EIS on this project
(according to this article, they have to), I can almost guarantee the
Minnesota DNR will rubber stamp this project, they always do.
Does anyone on this list have any more information on peat mining? I
looked
up a web site that said 75% of the 1 million hectare Pocosin Forested
Bogs
in the southern part of the U.S. has been wiped out by commercial timber
companies. If anyone has dealt with this or knows someone who has knowledge
of this subject, please post it or send me the info.
Thanks,
Ray Fenner
SWAN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peat-mining project to get impact study
September 29, 2000
Peat-mining project to get impact study
Duluth, MN - News Tribune
The proposed peat-excavation site and processing plant in the
heart of the Pine Island State Forest peat bog west of Big Falls will
be the subject of a full-fledged environmental impact study, the
Department of Natural Resources announced Thursday.
The study is mandatory because of the acreage involved and will
lookat how water quality, nearby fisheries, sensitive species and
otherareas might be affected by the sphagnum peat mine.
The proposed peat-mining project has been pushed by politicians
anddevelopment officials, who say it could bring several jobs to an
area overly dependent on seasonal logging.
But opponents say the bog will attract development, expensive
newoad construction, electric utility lines and congestion to an
otherwise quiet, environmentally sensitive area.
Peat, which is used in gardening, is created in bogs over
thousands of years. It lies just beneath the otherwise damp surface
of
many bogs in northern Minnesota. Mining it requires the entire
surface to be removed.
Opponents say the cost to taxpayers in incentives and new roads
and utilities is too high for the jobs expected to be created. Most
peat operations in Minnesota employ fewer than 20 people.
Berger Horticultural Products Ltd. of Quebec was encouraged to
develop the project by Koochiching County Development, DNR and
state peat promoters. Company officials hope to get permits and start
construction next year if the project is approved.
The study will be completed by April when a draft environmental
impact study will be available. A final study is expected by
June.
Comments should be sent to Rebecca Wooden, Minnesota DNR, 500
Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155 or call (651) 297-3355.
NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material
is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in
receiving this information for research and educational purposes.
SWAN: Listserv and forum for discussing environmental issues in the
Great Lakes region.
Archives at http://www.superiorwild.org
********************************************************************************************
From: crebuff@aol.com
Mailing-List: list swan@earthwins.com; contact swan-owner@earthwins.com
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 05:19:13 EDT
Sept. 26, 2000 / Star Tribune / op-ed page
By Bonnie Erbe
Read on if you want to learn what neither side will tell you about the
current problem with high oil and gas prices.
Vice President Al Gore's quick fix solution is to release some of the
Strategic Oil Reserves. Texas Gov. George Bush's quick fix is to allow
drilling in one of the nation's last pristine nature preserves, the
Arctic
National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) in Alaska.
Neither man's answer is ideal. An ideal solution would end, once and
for all,
American dependence on foreign oil or, for that matter, on oil, which
is a
non-renewable resource.
It's not as if this is a new problem. As one who lived through and covered
the OPEC oil crunch and the interminable gas lines of the late 1970s,
I had
hoped American politicians would have learned from that experience.
Apparently not. As a result, there is plenty of bipartisan finger-pointing
to
go around.
It's somewhat laughable to hear Gov. Bush blame the Clinton administration
for today's woes. His father's administration and the two Reagan
administrations before that, had plenty of time to develop a cohesive
energy
policy to prevent lingering U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Which leads
us
back to the current dilemma: whose solution is best: invading the Strategic
Petroleum Reserves or drilling in ANWR?
Vice President Gore says releasing a fraction of the nation's small
store of
oil will get home heating oil flowing back into markets - particularly
in the
Northeast - where supplies have dried up. Those predictions have already
proven true and caused prices to drop just a bit. On the other hand,
Gov.
Bush's claim that the U.S. can open up the Arctic National Wildlife
Reserve
to oil drilling in an "environmentally sensitive" manner is one of
the great
political untruths of our time.
The oil industry, from which Gov. Bush hails, loves to point to Prudhoe
Bay,
Alaska, as an example of how it has drilled in that state without damaging
the environment. And yet oil spills in Prudhoe average 500 a year -
hardly an
exemplary record. The oil industry's definition of "environmentally
sensitive" also differs quite radically from yours and mine. How can
thousands of caribou, polar and grizzly bear, eagles, birds and other
species
who survive in what has been dubbed, "America's Serengeti," coexist
with
hundreds of miles of roads and pipelines for the dozens of oil fields?
Those
roads and pipelines would block the movement of wildlife from one part
of
habitat to another. Toxic wastes would leak from pipelines onto the
fragile
tundra, contaminating wetlands. You call that "environmentally sensitive?"
I
don't.
According to the Wilderness Society, rivers and streambeds, key habitat
for
wildlife, would have to be stripped of millions of tons of gravel for
roads,
airstrips and construction. How are fish, birds and bears supposed
to outlive
that incredible invasion? They might as well be crated and dumped into
midtown Manhattan. If that does not do them in, then certainly construction
of living quarters for thousands of workers and the air pollution oil
companies move into the middle of ANWR will spell certain death for
these
stunning creatures.
Now, here's the part I really love. Oil companies have been battling
environmental groups for more than a decade for the right to drill
in the
ANWR. But what they don't tell you is they already have the right to
drill
along 95 percent of the North Slope for oil and gas exploration. That
95
percent is not enough. They want the whole enchilada. And better yet,
a 1987
Department of Interior Report (issued while corporate friend President
Reagan
was in charge of the department) found there's less than a one-in-five
chance
of discovering recoverable oil under Alaska's coastal plain. That report
also
noted if oil were found, it would probably only satisfy about one percent
of
U.S. oil needs or a total of 90 days worth of oil.
Still, Gov. Bush sides with the oil companies, and gives them carte
blanche,
which affords voters tremendous insight into how he would operate as
president. So too with Vice President Al Gore. Bush sides with corporate
interests to the detriment of consumers and the environment. Gore sides
with
consumers, but really needs to develop a long-term approach. You decide
who
represents your interests.
----------------------------------------------
Bonnie Erbe, host of the PBS program "To the Contrary," writes this
column
for Scripps Howard News Service. E-mail bonnieerbe@CompuServe.com.
NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material
is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in
receiving this information for research and educational purposes.
SWAN: Listserv and forum for discussing environmental issues in the
Great Lakes region.
Archives at http://www.superiorwild.org
************************************************************************
6. Farmers, environment victims of GOP
Oct 4 Green Bay News Chronicle
Farmers, environment victims of GOP two-step
http://www.greenbaynewschronicle.com/page.html?article=104416
************************************************************************
7. Mississippi Locks: Corps goes back to drawing board on lock expansions
Oct 3 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
http://www.jsonline.com/WI/100300/wi--corpscontroversy100300221635.asp
********************************************************************************************
Note: For more information about paper industry PCB contamination of
the Fox River visit
http://www.cwac.net/index.html
Firms in botched PCB dredging are still bickering
Paper mills say they've paid the bill, so the dispute isn't their business
Oct 5 Green Bay News Chronicle
http://www.greenbaynewschronicle.com/page.html?article=104450
Undue optimism may have led to PCB dredge disaster
One project manager says the intent was never to remove all of the
polluted sediment
Oct 5 Green Bay News Chronicle
http://www.greenbaynewschronicle.com/page.html?article=104449
Officials say PCB dredging is on schedule near Fort James
More than 1,000 truckloads of dried sediment has been taken to a landfill
Oct 4 Green Bay News Chronicle
http://www.greenbaynewschronicle.com/page.html?article=104427
River sediment removal going swimmingly, officials say
Oct 4 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
http://www.jsonline.com/WI/100400/wi--pcbcleanup100400184847.asp
********************************************************************************************
9. Wetlands - WDNR says environmental concerns won't halt school project
Oct 5 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
http://www.jsonline.com/WI/100500/wi--wetlandsschool10050001927.asp
********************************************************************************************
10. Nader Turned Away from Debate Door
Oct 3 WISCTVChannel 3
http://www.channel3000.com/sh/election2000/stories/election2000-20001003-203301.html
********************************************************************************************
11. Lawmakers respond to ratings on environmental issues
Oct 3 Green Bay Press Gazette
http://www.pressgazettenews.com/archive/articles/0010/1003fratings.html
********************************************************************************************
12. Job Opening at Project Underground
From: Project Underground <cbaldi@moles.org>
Date: Wed, 04 Oct 2000 19:21:43 -0700
Dear Friends, Project Underground has an opening for a Development
Coordinator position. Please pass this on to friends and allies
and
distribute widely.
Thank You
Job Opportunity at Project Underground, Berkeley, California
Position: Development Coordinator
Closing Date: October 12th, 2000
Organization Overview
Project Underground is a non-profit human rights organization dedicated to building community power in the face of abuse by the mining and oil industries. We currently have eight staff and a position managed jointly with the Indigenous Environmental Network. We are a strong, closely-knit team emphasizing a collaborative approach to program and organizational development over top-down decisionmaking. For more information, please check out our website: www.moles.org.
Job Concept
The Development Coordinator works on all aspects of fundraising for the organization, seeking funds from both foundations and individuals, especially high donors. An important goal for this position is to build and diversify our individual supporter base in conjunction with a relatively new Outreach Program.
She/he partners with the Director in much of the work of the Program
and
coordinates all staff involvement in grant writing and other fundraising
efforts.
Responsibilities include:
Grantwriting and grants management
(including reports)
Maintaining foundation files
and relationships
Building and maintaining
relationships with individual donors
Recruitment of new major
donors and other outreach work
High donor event planning
Involving program staff
and the board in fundraising
Strong communication skills, both written and oral, are required.
Grantwriting and other fundraising experience is desired (some training
can be provided). We seek
candidates with strong organizational and project management skills,
as well as working knowledge of MS Word
and Filemaker Pro. We also seek someone with imagination and energy,
to build on our existing
fundraising program and create new development strategies. A commitment
to the protection of human rights,
indigenous rights, and the environment is essential to work at Project
Underground.
The Development Coordinator will also be involved in office and administrative support work, as are all staff. This includes sharing duties like answering phones, filing, and other office tasks.
The position is full-time with a competitive salary, plus excellent medical and dental benefits and four weeks vacation per year.
Project Underground is a progressive organization with an explicit commitment
to ending racism, sexism, and all forms of oppression while working in
support of communities threatened by the resource industry. People of color,
women and l/g/b/t persons are strongly
encouraged to apply.
How to apply:
Please send a letter of interest, resume, writing samples and the contact information for three references to:
Project Underground,
Attn: Search Committee
1916 A Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
Or by fax, at (510) 705 8983, or email, at project_underground@moles.org
Disclaimer
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