Winter 2003 Newsmagazine Volume 33, Number 4

Showdown OverKeeping theWest Wild

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P R E S I D E N T ’ S C O L U M N

For the past 33 years Ihave worked to getCongress to pass impor-tant environmental laws.During this time I have

noticed a very disturbing trend. Aselections have become more andmore costly each decade, membersof the House and Senate spend farless time studying issues and moretime raising money for their reelec-tion campaign.

What this translates into, forexample, is a growing unwillingnessto challenge powerful corporateinterests in the chemical and energyindustries for fear of alienating amajor source of funding. In manycases, members of Congress havebecome less interested in informa-tion because their mind is alreadymade up.

Our ability to save the planetfrom increasing levels of pollution,ecosystem damage and habitatdestruction and to protect the healthof this and future generationsdepends upon electing, at everylevel, those leaders who are con-cerned about the health andwell-being of life on earth.

Some shocking surveys over thepast decade have revealed that mem-bers of prominent nationalenvironmental organizations vote nomore often than the general public. I am confident that Friends of theEarth members are far above thenational average for voter turnout.Indeed, I hope for 100 percentturnout from members like you.

You can do many things to helpget leaders who will protect the envi-ronment into elected office. Find outhow your elected officials rate on the

issues you care about. For example,read the League of ConservationVoters annual scorecard, which rateshow representatives and senatorsvoted on environmental issues.

You should also talk one-to-onewith neighbors about candidates,since statistics show that spreadingthe word can significantly affectvoter turnout. Organize a luncheonor an evening gathering and discussthe candidates’ records. And mostimportantly, don’t forget to registerto vote.

Our sister organization, Friendsof the Earth Action, is a non-taxdeductible group that can engage inunlimited lobbying and electoralactivity. Friends of the Earth Actiondelivers a strong message to electedofficials that environmental organi-zations will use the political processto protect our air, land and water. Tofind out more visit foeaction.org.

So please remember to do yourpart. Stay informed, inform othersand vote! It is important to electcandidates that care more about pub-lic health and the environment thantheir campaign coffers.

One example of how importantit is to have environmental champi-ons in Congress is the energy billdebate. With our strategically placedfull-page ads and work to raiseawareness with members ofCongress, we helped prevent thedirty energy bill from coming to afinal vote on the Senate floor (seepage 8).

Thank you for your continuedcommitment to Friends of the Earth.Best wishes to you and your lovedones for the holiday season and theNew Year.

Brent Blackwelder

Vote: Use It or Lose It“Some shocking

surveys over the pastdecade have revealed

that members ofprominent national

environmentalorganizations vote nomore often than the

general public.”

Winter 2003 • Volume 33, Number 4 3

Table of Contents

Volume 33, Number 4 Winter 2003

Friends of the Earth (ISSN: 1054-1829) is published quarterly by Friends of the Earth, 1717 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036-2002, phone 202-783-7400,fax 202-783-0444, e-mail: foe@foe.org, Web site: www.foe.org. Annual membership dues are $25, which includes a subscription to Friends of the Earth.

The words “Friends of the Earth” and the FoE logo are exclusive trademarks of Friends ofthe Earth, all rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted, articles may be reprinted without chargeor special permission. Please credit Friends of the Earth and the article author; send us a copy.Friends of the Earth is indexed in the Alternative Press Index. Periodicals postage paid atWashington, DC. cover photo credit: ©David Muench

Board of DirectorsAvis Ogilvy Moore, Chair; Dan Gabel, Vice Chair ;Marion Hunt-Badiner, Secretary; David Zwick,Treasurer; Ed Begley, Jr.; Jayni Chase; Harriett Crosby;Clarence Ditlow; Michael Herz; Ann Hoffman; DougLegum; Patricia Matthews; Charles Moore; EdwardoLao Rhodes; Arlie Shardt; Doria Steedman; Rick Taketa;Alicia Wittink

StaffBrent Blackwelder, PresidentNorman Dean, Executive DirectorSandra Adams-Morally, Membership AssociateLisa Archer, Safer Food, Safer Farms Grassroots

CoordinatorLarry Bohlen, Director, Health and Environment

CampaignsMichelle Chan-Fishel, International Policy AnalystHugh Cheatham, Chief Financial OfficerKeira Costic, Publications and Web ManagerLeslie Fields, Director, Global Sustainability InitiativeColleen Freeman, International Programs CampaignerRosemary Greenaway, Director of Membership and

MarketingLisa Grob, Executive AssistantVonetta Harris, AccountantDavid Hirsch, Program DirectorYasmeen Hossain, Program AssistantCheryl Johnson, Receptionist/Office AssistantDiane Minor, Chief Development OfficerSherri Owens, Office ManagerChris Pabon, Director of Foundation RelationsErich Pica, Director, Economics for the Earth ProgramJon Sohn, International Policy AnalystKristen Sykes, Interior Department WatchdogDavid Waskow, Trade and Investment Policy CoordinatorChris Weiss, Director of D.C. Environmental NetworkCarol Welch, Director, International ProgramSara Zdeb, Legislative Director

Publications StaffKeira Costic, EditorLisa Grob, Assistant EditorDesign by JML Design

InternsKatherine Hoff Jessica HoffmanSeth Landau Michelle LeeKate Linehan Chris MengesJessica Swadosh Tina Tin

Consultants/ AdvisorsBrian DunkielBill FreeseJohn W. JensenDorothee KrahnGreg Smith

Member GroupsArgentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium,Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria,Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Colombia,Costa Rica, Croatia, Curacao, Cyprus,Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, ElSalvador, England-Wales-NorthernIreland, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia,Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Haiti,

Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan,Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia,Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Nepal, Netherlands, NewZealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Papua NewGuinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Scotland,Sierra Leone, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea,Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia,Ukraine, United States, Uruguay

AffiliatesAfrica: Earthlife Africa; Australia: Mineral PolicyInstitute; Australia: Rainforest Information Centre;Brazil: Amigos da Terra Amazonia - AmazôniaBrasileira; Brazil: Grupo de Trabalho Amazonico; CzechRepublic: CEE Bankwatch; Japan: Peace Boat; LatinAmerica: REJULADS; Middle East: Friends of theEarth (Israel, Jordan and Palestine); Netherlands: Actionfor Solidarity, Equality, Environment and DevelopmentEurope; Netherlands: Stichting De Noordzee (North SeaFoundation); Netherlands: Corporate EuropeObservatory; United States: International RiversNetwork; United States: Project Underground; UnitedStates: Rainforest Action Network

Showdown Over the West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pg. 4

Special Interest Energy Bill Put on Ice . . . . . . . . . . .Pg. 8

Push for Fair Global Trade Rules . . . . . . . . . . . .Pg. 10

Better Options Than More Roads . . . . . . .Pg. 11

The Case Against the Inter-American DevelopmentBank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pg. 12

Do You Have a New Year’s Resolution? . . .Pg. 13

Earth Friendly Design of Our New Offices . . . . . .Pg. 13

Breast Milk – A Canary in the Coal Mine . . . . . . . .Pg. 14

Our Mission:Friends of the Earth defends theenvironment and champions ahealthy and just world.

Friends of the Earth is printed with soy ink on 100% recycled paper, 30% post-consumer content. Bleached without chlorine.

Friends ofthe EarthInternational

UNIONBUG

Earth Share giving campaigns allowyou to designate a donation to Friendsof the Earth. Federal employees candonate through the Combined FederalCampaign by marking #0908 on theirpledge forms. To set up an Earth Sharecampaign at your workplace, contactRosemary Greenaway at 202-222-0722.

By Andrea Peacock

Squint your eyes. From anairplane, the Powder RiverBasin country looks as wildas any in the lower 48states: It’s an endless rolling

landscape of breaks, dry streams,sparse groves of trees stretching acrossnortheastern Wyoming and southeast-ern Montana. The buffalo are gone buttheir range remains, still populated bydeer and elk, prairie dogs and antelopeby the tens of thousands. Open youreyes now. You see a pattern below,roads traversing the beige terrain,going nowhere at regular intervals,dead-ending in the scars of drillingrigs.

These “footprints,” visible from30,000 feet, only hint at the effects ofthe coalbed methane craze sweepingthrough this arid region: dried-upaquifers, dead trees and ruined creeks.Last spring, the Bureau of LandManagement (BLM) finalized its planto allow a massive drilling project inthe Powder River Basin. According toa lawsuit filed by a coalition of conser-vation groups, the BLM’s planapproves 77,000 coalbed methanewells here, with an attendant 26,000miles of roads and 53,000 miles ofpipeline, to recover about 25 trillioncubic feet of gas from the Wyomingportion of the basin alone.

This is Ground Zero for the Bushadministration, which has targeteddomestic natural gas as the “center-piece” of its energy plans. Locals arewatching the same scenario play outall across the Rocky Mountain west,where government whistleblowers,ranchers and conservationists findthemselves unlikely allies fighting anoil and gas takeover of the AmericanWest.

Powder River Basin: A Rancher Corrals aMining CompanyThe Interior Department is supposedto be the nation’s principal conserva-tion agency, protecting lands like thePowder River Basin. However, withpeople like J. Steven Griles beingappointed to high-power positions atthe Interior, the agency seems to havelost track of its mission.

Deputy Secretary of the InteriorGriles is a former lobbyist for over 40coal, oil, gas and electric companies.Through a Freedom of InformationAct Request, Friends of the Earthobtained Griles’calendars that showedhe met with former clients while work-ing at the Interior Department, eventhough he signed an ethics agreementstating he would not. People who want

to protect Western lands have had totake matters into their own hands.

In Wyoming, one rancher raidedhis life savings to slow down damagecaused by one of Griles’ formerclients. Ed Swartz, who runs a cattleoperation near Gillette, watched aswater from methane wells drilledupstream slowly killed off the treesand vegetation along the creek thatsustains his family’s ranch. The culpritwas a Denver-based company calledRedstone (which recently changed itsname to Fidelity Exploration andProduction).

Coalbed methane mining is a rela-tively new business. Wyoming’s boomgot started in the early 1990s. Toextract natural gas, a company digs awell into a coalbed where water pres-sure has trapped the gas, and pumpsthe water out, capturing the gas. Eachwell produces an average of 13,000 to

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Showdown Over the West

Friends of the Earth caught Deputy Secretary of the Interior J. Steven Griles violating hisrecusal agreement after he attempted to pressure the Denver Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) to change its analysis criticizing a coalbed methane project in the PowderRiver Basin. The EPA did not change its analysis.

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17,000 gallons of waste-water per day.The water can be treated or injectedback into the ground, but generally iseither dumped onto the surface whereit flows downhill along traditionalstreambeds, or stored in holding pondswhere whatever doesn’t evaporate per-colates back into the ground. Theproblem, says rancher Swartz, is thatthe water is so saline, it ruins whatevervegetation lies in its path.

Swartz ranches land his grandfa-ther settled in 1904. He runs about 350cattle on more than 14,500 acres ofcombined private and public lands, anoperation he says is possible becauseof an ephemeral stream named WildcatCreek.

“When we do get a heavy rain,snow melt, I irrigate my meadows,grow a tremendous amount of hay,” hesays. “And by growing that hay, itmakes this a very efficient operation.Two families have made a living on it,sometimes more than that, in my life-time. And that’s just almost unheardof.”

After the BLM leased mineralrights upstream of Swartz’s ranch toRedstone, Swartz says the companybegan dumping its salty waste-waterdown his creek in October 1999. By2002, a third of his box elder treeswere dead, another third were dying.

“Once the creek’s full of[methane] water, its killed the nativevegetation. Then, after there weren’tany roots to hold the soils, the nextwinter it started washing the creekbanks out and eroding,” he says.“Instead of having a creek you cancross on horseback or foot or with cat-tle most anywhere, we’ve got straightcut banks.”

Swartz says the damage wasenough to threaten the small margin bywhich his ranch had been profitable.He dug into his savings, hired a lawyerand sued the Wyoming agency that hadissued Redstone its permits. The casewas settled out of court last September.While Swartz says he can’t talk about

the details of the settlement, the stateannounced that from then on, it wouldconsider the cumulative impacts toWildcat Creek from the permits itissues.

That’s good news for other ranch-ers, says Jill Morrison of the PowderRiver Basin Resource Council, a con-servation-minded ranchers’ groupSwartz helped to start. “We’re hopefulnow,” she says. “Nobody else hastaken it to court because nobody canafford to. Ed spent his retirement, butmost people just can’t afford to andindustry knows that. So we all try to

band behind one or two people like Edand take this issue on.”

While the state of Wyoming maynow work more cooperatively withranchers, people like the Swartz familystill have a formidable opponent in theBLM, which issues most of the leases,and has closer ties to industry than itdoes to family ranchers.

Of the five members of the so-called Powder River Basin Companies,three are former clients of Griles,according to Senate lobbying disclo-sure forms. A fourth, BarrettResources, is owned by the Williams

(continued on page 6)

When EPA Administrator Leavitt was the governor of Utah in 2002, he attempted to declarethe San Rafael Swell a national monument, but not for the right reason. He intended toswap the land out of the Swell for land rich in minerals from the federal government. Utahwould then reap all the profits from drilling and mining the public land.

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Company for which Interior DeputyAssistant Secretary Patricia Morrisonserved as in-house council for 12years. And, Interior Assistant SecretaryRebecca Watson had to recuse herselffrom coalbed issues because sheworked for Redstone in her former lifeas a Montana lawyer.

According to Friends of the Earth’s“Power Politics” publication, coalbedmethane developers gave $4.1 millionto elected officials during the 2002election cycle. Andarko Petroleum andMarathon Oil (both Powder River play-ers) gave $345,000 alone.

In addition, Griles is still receivingannual payments on $1.1 million heearned from selling his lobbyingfirm—complete with his old coalbedmethane clients—to his formeremployer, National EnvironmentalStrategies. Although he recused him-self from involvement in coalbedmethane issues because of these ties,Griles nonetheless wrote a letter to theDenver Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) in April 2002 pressur-ing the agency not to issue a negativeenvironmental rating on the PowderRiver Basin project. Ultimately theEPA did not listen to Griles and issued

the worst possible environmental ratingfor the project.

San Rafael Swell: A Whistleblower Breaks a Bad DealThen Utah governor, and now adminis-trator of the EPA, Mike Leavitt’srequest in 2002 of Deputy Secretary ofthe Interior Griles must have soundeduncharacteristic at first. Leavitt wantedthe Bush administration to declare theSan Rafael Swell a national monu-ment. Presidents have the power todeclare irreplaceable natural areasnational monuments to protect themfor future generations. After all, manyof Leavitt’s constituents were still hav-ing fits over former President BillClinton’s similar declaration for Utah’sGrand Staircase-Escalante region.

But Leavitt’s logic became clearwhen the State of Utah School andInstitutional Trust LandsAdministration, an independent agencythat manages 3.5 million acres of Utahtrust land, proposed a land swap aspart of the deal: The state would giveup 108,000 acres in the proposednational monument area, and in turn

the BLM would hand over 137,000acres of federal land. The problem,according to BLM appraiser KentWilkinson, was that the parcels werepresented as being of relatively equalvalue, when in fact the federal govern-ment stood to lose somewhere around$100 million swapping out acres richin oil and gas for the state’s non-min-eral land.

The State could drill for the oiland gas on these lands and the profitwould go to Utah. Wilkinson and atleast five other BLM employeesrepeatedly pointed out the inequity, buttop BLM officials paid no attention.

“There are strong ties in Interiorand the BLM to Utah,” Wilkinsonexplains. “A lot of times what comesfrom the top down is to get the dealdone. It’s not the first instance whereyou see information that’s being sub-mitted by staff as supposedly the goodscience that they’re supposed to use inmaking these decisions, you know, getdoctored or modified in ways thataren’t appropriate because they don’tsell the deal that’s being proposed bythe politicians or the people in powerat Interior.”

The Bush administration is pushing for oil and gas development in Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front, one of the last, best refuges in the lower48 states for grizzly bears. If Bush gets his way with the Rocky Mountain Front, then what’s to stop him from breaking into the Arctic?

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Wilkinson nonetheless persistedwith his criticism, drawing the ire ofUtah Republican Rep. Chris Cannonwho told a Washington Post reporter inAugust 2002, “I want to make surethey get slapped hard because they’reacting inappropriately.” To The SaltLake Tribune he added, “One of theseappraisers lied about the project. Thatappraiser is going to be asked somevery tough questions.”

Realizing his job might be on theline, Wilkinson took his concerns to theU.S. Office of Special Counsel, wherehis testimony prompted an investiga-tion by the Interior Department’sInspector General. The ensuing reportconcluded that Wilkinson was correctin his assessment of the lopsided deal,and blamed several mid-level BLMofficials for the scam.

But the report did not entirelyexonerate Griles or BLM ChiefKathleen Clarke. Although Clarke toldinvestigators she had “orally recused”herself from participating in the deal,Clarke’s ties to Utah are as close asthey come. She worked as an aide forLeavitt and for former Utah RepublicanRep. Jim Hansen, another proponent ofthe land deal. Prior to joining the Bushteam at Interior, Clarke headed up theUtah Department of Natural Resources.Ultimately, Interior Secretary GaleNorton called off the swap. Accordingto the Tribune, the Inspector Generalhas targeted Clarke and Griles for fur-ther investigation.

Rocky Mountain Front:Bush’s Dirty Answer toOur Energy NeedsThe mountains of Montana’s RockyMountain Front force an abrupt end tothe high plains and prairie country. It’sa visible fortress that provides one ofthe last best refuges in the lower 48states for grizzly bears, and shelters thenation’s largest bighorn sheep herd. Agreat span of wilderness totaling 5 mil-lion acres that stretches from the state’s

capital in Helena to the Canadian bor-der, the Front includes a region calledthe Badger-Two Medicine, sacred tothe Blackfeet Tribe.

Various oil and gas companieshave been itching to drill the Badgerand other portions of the Front foryears. Government geologists estimatethere could be as many as 1.8 trillioncubic feet of natural gas, though con-servationists have long argued much ofthat may not be economically efficientto extract.

Chevron and Fina made the lastbig push during George Bush senior’sadministration, but were shut out in amaelstrom of public opposition. In1997, then Forest Service supervisorGloria Flora announced a moratoriumon new leases on the Front. But underthe pressure of three executive ordersfrom the Bush White House (includingone which, according to TheWashington Post, was written by theAmerican Petroleum Institute, anotherof Grile’s former clients) urging fed-eral agencies to expedite oil and gasproduction, the BLM is pushing todevelop a series of existing leases onthe Front.

Now retired from the ForestService and working with a coalitionof groups to protect the region, Flora

expects the BLM to begin anEnvironmental Impact Statement onthe drilling proposal in early 2004, andsays she believes the Bush administra-tion intends to leave a sweeping legacyhere.

“Every major species of plant andanimal that was present at the time ofLewis and Clark is present now, withthe exception of free-roaming bison,”she says. “So we have this tremendoustreasure trove, this little tiny percent-age of land that’s left, that can give ussome idea of our history, our culture,of what it used to be like.

“Why is the Bush administrationputting the Rocky Mountain Front intheir crosshairs? Why are they puttingthe Arctic National Wildlife Refuge intheir crosshairs?”

Flora says, “I think the answer ispretty easy: They’re doing it becausethey know if they can get to ANWR, ifthey can get into the Rocky MountainFront in Montana, there can be noother case made for lands that aremore ecologically, socially or cultur-ally sensitive than those lands. Theyget in there, they’ve got free reign toget in anywhere from this point for-ward regardless of who’s president.”

In the Bush administration’s pushfor more energy, some of our moststunning and irreplaceable Westernlands are on the chopping block.Unfortunately, the assault of these awe-some landscapes is no surprise withevery key environmental post filledwith former energy lobbyists. Butthere is hope. Friends of the Earth isdefending these areas through ourwork to end industry subsidies in theenergy bill, our exposés of corporatepaybacks by Bush political appointeesand our alliances with grassrootsactivist groups in the West.

Andrea Peacock is the author of“Libby, Montana: Asbestos and theDeadly Silence of an AmericanCorporation.” She lives south ofLivingston, Montana. ■

After our research exposedDeputy Secretary of the InteriorJ. Steven Griles’ ethics violations,three books on the New YorkTimes top 10 best-seller list high-lighted our work, including:

■ “Bushwhacked” by MollyIvins and Lou Dubose

■ “Lies and the Lying Liarsthat Tell Them: A Fair andBalanced Look at theRight” by Al Franken

■ “The Great Unraveling:Losing Our Way in the NewCentury” by Paul Krugman

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By Sara Zdeb

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) calledcongressional energy leg-islation the “leave nolobbyist behind” bill.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)called it the “Hooters and polluters”bill, because its giveaways wouldbenefit everyone from ExxonMobilto a Louisiana mall housing aHooters restaurant. After failing tomuster the votes needed to pass it,Senate leaders shelved the energybill until next year.

Defeat of the energy bill thisyear represents a major victory forenvironmental groups, and a majorsetback for the Bush administration.The bill was the final, legislativeproduct of the secret Bush-Cheneyenergy task force, which released anenergy plan two years ago aftermeeting with industry allies. Andwhile proponents of the bill havevowed to revive it in January, thedelay will only give senators and thepublic more time to uncover themany new handouts to special inter-ests buried in the bill.

The bill emerged from a House-Senate conference after three monthsof negotiating, during which staff forchairmen Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.)and Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) wrote a final conferencereport behind closed doors. Theresulting bill included a number ofprovisions not passed by either theHouse or the Senate, including one

that would weaken clean air stan-dards by delaying importantpollution control measures for citieswhose air quality fails to meet CleanAir Act standards.

The bill also would haveexempted producers of the toxicgasoline additive MTBE, which haspolluted water supplies across thenation, from product liability law-suits. This would leave taxpayers tofoot an estimated $29 billion cleanuptab, while cutting off numerous law-suits that states and communitieshave filed. Between this provisionand a host of tax breaks and spend-

ing subsidies, the bill would providemore than $60 billion to America’sworst polluting industries.

Other objectionable provisions inthe final bill would exempt the oiland gas industry from clean waterlaws, make it easier for dangerousnuclear material to fall into thewrong hands and prioritize oil andgas drilling over all other uses of ourWestern public lands. The bill alsoballooned with the addition of pork-barrel projects aimed at securing thevotes of wavering senators: forexample, support for a coal plant inMinnesota was added for the benefit

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of Sens. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.)and Mark Dayton (D-Minn.).

Despite Senate DemocraticLeader Tom Daschle’s (D-S.D.) sup-port of the bill, environmentalistswere able to forge a winning, biparti-san coalition of senators whoopposed the bill’s environmental roll-

backs and its steep price tag.Republican Sens. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), John Sununu (R-N.H.),Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.), SusanCollins (R-Maine) and OlympiaSnowe (R-Maine) joined McCainand a number of democrats inupholding a bipartisan filibuster.

The Bush administration and thebill’s congressional sponsors haveannounced plans to consider the billagain in January. Between now andthen, environmentalists will continueworking to ensure that this fall’s vic-tory remains permanent. ■

During consideration ofcongressional energylegislation, Friends ofthe Earth launched amajor paid media

campaign to defeat it. The ads high-lighted some of the bill’s mostegregious giveaways to pollutingindustries, and urged readers to con-tact their senators.

The campaign included a full-page ad in the national edition ofUSA Today (circulation: 2.2 million),charging energy committee chair-men with delivering pollutingpaybacks to powerful energy compa-nies. The ad featured an image ofoil derricks on the west lawn of theU.S. Capitol, under a headline thatread “The New Energy Plan:Drilling for Dollars.”

The campaign also included aseries of ads targeted at undecidedsenators whose votes were needed tohelp sustain a filibuster of the bill.The ads ran in the ArkansasDemocrat Gazette, Concord Gazette,Indianapolis Star, ManchesterUnion-Leader, Philadelphia Inquirerand Portland Press Herald (com-bined circulation: 1.3 million).

Each of the ads criticized thebill for providing billions in taxpayerhandouts to the oil, gas, coal andnuclear industries. They also high-

lighted provisions that wouldshield producers of the chemicalMTBE from liability lawsuits,exempt the oil and gas industryfrom clean water protections andweaken clean air standards.

Ad Campaign Helps Defeat Bill

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By David Waskow

Global trade policy willnever be the same. OnSept. 14, World TradeOrganization (WTO)negotiations in

Cancún, Mexico, collapsed over a bit-ter dispute between developingcountries and rich countries, includingthe United States. Then, in November,the major summit in Miami to negoti-ate President Bush’s trade plan for theWestern Hemisphere resulted in a hol-low agreement with no real substance.

Negotiations CollapseAs the collapse of the WTO talks tookplace, more than 20 Friends of theEarth analysts and campaigners fromaround the world were there to advo-cate for a fair and environmentallysustainable trading system.

Following Cancún, the WTO stillexists, but the critical fault lines thatemerged – primarily on two key issues,multinational investment and agricul-ture – will not go away.

Developing countries refuse toaccept an expansion of WTO rules tonew areas, which would provide exten-sive rights to multinationalcorporations for their internationaloperations – but would place no envi-ronmental or social obligations onthose corporations.

During the Cancún talks, the poor-est countries also refused to accept anexpansion of agricultural trade policiesthat allow agribusiness to dump largequantities of foodstuffs into developingcountries, placing an intense economicsqueeze on small farmers and peas-ants. Friends of the Earth believes thatan environmentally sustainableapproach to agricultural trade musthave the interests of small farmers atits center, not factory farms and

agribusiness corporations. Developingcountries rightly said that no deal isbetter than a bad deal.

What happened in Cancún was amajor victory for all those working forinternational trade that is consistentwith the needs of poor people and theenvironment. The task ahead is to turnthe opportunity created by the rejec-tion of bad trade policies intomomentum for a proactive and positiveresponse to the realities of a globaleconomy.

A Hollow AgreementTrade ministers from 34 countries metbehind closed doors in Miami to negoti-ate the Free Trade Area of the Americas(FTAA) trade agreement. Friends of theEarth was there, too, with a coalition ofenvironmental, labor, farmer, consumerand religious groups to call a halt to thesecret negotiations.

The FTAA threatens naturalresources and environmental laws fromAlaska to Chile. It will lower barriersto trade and give new rights to corpo-rations, without including anymeasures to protect the environment.

To the dismay of the Bush admin-istration, the leaders could only agreeon a watered down declaration for theproposed FTAA proposal. With thetrade agenda in disarray, we have somereal opportunities ahead to work onalternatives to fundamental problemswith the global economy, such as thelack of disclosure by U.S. companiesof their environmental, labor andhuman-rights practices abroad.

Read David Waskow’s dailyupdates for Grist Magazinefrom the FTAA Ministerial

meeting www.foe.org/camps/intl/green-trade/ftaa. ■

Pushing for Fair Global Trade RulesG R E E N I N G T R A D E

The Corporate Giant and Friends of the Earth activists catalyzed the collapse of the WorldTrade Organization negotiations in Cancún, Mexico.

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Better Options Than More RoadsBy Greg Smith

The U.S. House andSenate have untilFebruary to act on amassive and highly con-troversial transportation

spending bill. This bill is the secondlargest discretionary funding packageconsidered by Congress – second onlyto the military budget. Whatever theamount Congress and the administra-tion decide upon, that money could doa tremendous amount of good or anincalculable amount of damage.

Known as TEA-3 (TransportationEquity Act – 3) this bill will fund thenext six years of surface transportationprograms – roads, bus and rail transit,pedestrian and bicycle facilities andrelated environmental programs.

Members of Congress are feelingintense pressure to channel transporta-tion dollars to their states, and thehighway lobby is already working tosell TEA-3 as a massive jobs bill, theanswer to the nation’s job woes, apotent election-year argument.

At the heart of an increasinglyfierce debate are two complex issues.The first issue is how much money tospend and where to get it. And thesecond issue is whether to pave overthe nation’s fundamental environmen-tal laws such as the NationalEnvironmental Policy Act and CleanAir Act in the rush to build highways.

How Much and What’s at Stake?The Bush administration is asking forroughly $250 billion, about 25 percentmore than Congress approved in the1998 transportation bill. Senate lead-ers are lobbying for a $310 to $320billion package, with roughly $250billion going towards roads.Historically, 80 percent of the funding

goes towards highways and transit isleft with the remaining 20 percent.

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), chairof the House Transportation andInfrastructure Committee, is shootingfor $375 billion, nearly double theamount authorized by Congress in1998. To get his $375 billion, Youngwould have to convince his congres-sional colleagues and theadministration to support either ahefty hike in the gas tax or pile ontothe already huge and rapidly growingnational debt.

Completely absent from thedebate and draft bills so far is anyserious discussion of the nation’stransportation plan as it relates to ourenergy policy and global climatechange despite the fact that transporta-tion accounts for roughly 75 percentof U.S. oil consumption and one-thirdof U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Instead, the highway lobby, withits friends in Congress and the admin-istration, are determined to fill thehighway pork barrel and dismantlefederal laws that provide essential pro-tections to public health and theenvironment.

The Better Option1. Increase funding for new transit, to

maintain and better accelerate theincreased rider ship seen over recentyears.

2. Increase funding for other benefi-cial programs such as bicycle andpedestrian facilities, wildlife under-passes and renovations of historictrain stations.

3. Provide substantial, reliable fundingfor Amtrak and other rail programs.

4. Repair, modernize or replace thehundreds of billions of dollars-worth of roads, bridges and railsystems.

5. Address the huge effect our trans-portation infrastructure has onglobal warming and our nation’saddiction to oil.

Take ActionTell your members of Congress tofund transportation programs that pro-tect the environment and promotemass transit. Visit www.foe.org/action. ■

T R A N S P O R T A T I O N

Congress is preparing to work on the massive TEA-3 bill that will cover transportation fund-ing for the next six years. The highway lobby is grabbing for its pork, while also attemptingto dismantle federal laws that protect the environment.

12

I N T E R N A T I O N A L F I N A N C E

By Jon Sohn

The Inter-AmericanDevelopmentBank’s (IDB)decision in

September 2003 tofinance the controversialCamisea gas pipeline inPeru has revealed theinstitution to be one of themost environmentally andsocially irresponsibleinternational financialinstitutions. While otherpublic institutions refusedto support this project, theIDB provided $135 mil-lion in financing. Theproject cuts through pro-tected forests and awetland, and will expose uncontactedindigenous peoples to the outsideworld.

The IDB was established in 1959to “accelerate economic and socialdevelopment in Latin America andthe Caribbean.” Today, 46 nations aremembers of the IDB. Like the WorldBank, voting power at the IDBdepends on member nations’ finan-cial contributions to the institution.The United States has the largest per-centage of voting rights, withapproximately 30 percent control,giving the United States significantinfluence. The U.S. contribution isappropriated by Congress. All toooften, however, our tax dollars areused by the IDB not for sustainabledevelopment as its mission directs,but to finance environmental disas-ters like Camisea.

Other public international institu-tions, such as the World Bank and

U.S. Export-Import Bank, have estab-lished environmental and socialsafeguards and environmental impactassessment policies that while imper-fect, have stopped some of the worstprojects and thereby helped protectindigenous peoples and environmen-tally critical habitats. Private bankslike Citigroup are even starting tovoluntarily adopt World Bank safe-guard policies. Yet the IDB is miredin the past; its environmental policiesremain broad and vague.

Nor does the IDB have any poli-cies to protect the livelihoods andrights of indigenous peoples, eventhough these rights are recognizedunder international law. The IDB’s“Independent Inspection Mechanism”is often dismissive of or unresponsiveto the concerns of local communities,making it a useless mechanism tohold the institution accountable. Ifsupport for the Camisea project is a

trend of increased IDBinvestments in oil, gas andmining extraction in LatinAmerica’s tropical forests,the failure to evenacknowledge the existenceof indigenous peoples willthreaten these forestdwellers and cast severedoubt on the IDB’s legiti-macy as a publicinstitution.

Friends of the Earthwill target the IDB in thecoming months, including:■ Monitoring the

Camisea Loan. Ifenvironmental condi-tions attached to theCamisea loan are notfulfilled, we will call

on the IDB to revoke the loansand halt the project.

■ Stopping Future“Replenishments.” The IDB peri-odically calls on membergovernments to replenish the bankwith billions in public taxpayerdollars. Unless sweeping reformsare taken by the IDB’s board ofdirectors that protect the environ-ment and indigenous peoples, wewill lead efforts to block newfunds to the institution.

■ Blocking CongressionalAppropriations. To implementreplenishments, Congress appro-priates U.S. taxpayer dollars to theIDB. A public institution thatlacks sound environmental, socialand accountability mechanismsshould not receive appropriationsfrom the U.S. Congress. ■

Financing Destruction: The Inter-American Development Bank

The U.S. Export-Import Bank, the U.S. Overseas Private InvestmentCorporation and Citigroup have all pulled out of the Camisea projectdue to violations of indigenous peoples’ rights and the destruction torainforests. Despite these negative consequences, the IDB provided$135 million in financing to the project. The Camisea pipeline is only100 meters away from this Shimaa community’s school (above).

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Winter 2003 • Volume 33, Number 4 13

L I V I N G W I T H A L I G H T E R S T E P

Earth Friendly Design of Our New OfficesReduce, Reuse, Recycle

Do You Have a New Year’s Resolution?

By Lisa Grob

Friends of the Earth hasmoved to a new space. Weare now located near his-toric Dupont Circle inWashington, D.C. In the

design of our new offices, we foundmany ways to address environmentalconcerns. Existing materials such asdoors, hardware, light-fixtures and

ceiling tiles were reused wherever pos-sible. Some materials from ourVermont Avenue location such as theshelving units in the library have beenreused in the new space. The materialsgenerated in the demolition process,which would normally be sent to thecity dump, were recycled instead.“Environmentally preferable” low-VOC paint was used on the walls. Thekitchen and copy rooms’ flooring tiles

are composed of natural materials.Materials for our built-in furnishings,like the receptionist desk and adminis-trative stations are formaldehyde-free.

Greener building practices arebecoming more accepted in the build-ing industry. And, even with a modestbudget we were able to make a differ-ence. ■

It’s that time of year againwhen you start thinkingabout your New Year’sResolution. How can you bea better person for the new

year? Have your past New Year’sResolutions only lasted a month ortwo? Well, here at Friends of theEarth, we thought of a great resolu-tion – become a better friend of theEarth! You’ll feel good and so willthe planet.

1. Eat Free Range,Not Factory Farmed

Eat meat from free-range, organicallyraised animals, or choose meat alter-natives. Buy locally-grown, organic,sustainably-raised food. Visitwww.foe.org/factoryfarms for more infor-mation.

2. Use Cloth, Not Paper or Plastic

U.S. annual plastic bag consumptionrequires an estimated 12 million bar-

rels of oil – do your part to lessenAmerica’s addiction to oil. Visit ouronline store www.foe.org or go to page 15 and order your Friends of theEarth tote bag made of organic cot-ton.

3. What Goes Around,Comes Around

Would you like your friends and fam-ily to know about a charity you careabout, and provide them with achance to support them in your namein place of a birthday, anniversary,christmas or bar mitzvah gift? Nowyou can with whatgoesaround.org. Inless than five minutes you can createa ‘wish list’ of your favorite charities,then let your friends know that theycan go to whatgoesaround.org and makea gift in your name to one of thecharities you support. It helps a goodcause, and cuts down on the clutter inyour closet!

We’ve only listed a couple ways tolive better but there are plenty more,such as recycling, reusing, not litter-ing and reminding friends to dolikewise. ■

14

By Lisa Archer

Of the estimated 85,000synthetic chemicalscurrently registered foruse in the UnitedStates, more than 90

percent have never been tested for theireffects on human health. Many of thesechemicals, including dioxins, poly-chorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and DDT,have been linked to cancer. Shockingly,recent studies have detected more than200 of these synthetic chemicals in oneof the last places they should be –human breast milk.

The most recent of these studies,one released by the EnvironmentalWorking Group and one by theUniversity of Texas, found a toxicchemical used as a flame retardant forconsumer goods in the breast milk ofAmerican women. Levels of this classof chemicals, known as PBDEs (poly-brominated diphenyl ethers), are 10 to100 times higher in the breast milk ofAmerican women compared to that ofEuropean women.

PDBEs are chemical flame retar-dants found commonly in furniture,computers, automobiles and animalfats. While researchers haven’t deter-mined the precise manner in whichthese chemicals are entering the humanbody, they continue to appear in largeamounts. Scientists haven’t definitivelydetermined how PBDEs affect humans,but animal studies have shown thatthey can damage the developmentalnervous systems of a fetus.

How Did it Get There? Breast Milk and Body Burden Breast milk has become yet another“canary in the coal mine” – an indica-

tor of the pervasive pollution in ourbodies and our environment. Syntheticchemicals including solvents, pesti-cides, fuels and flame-retardants, aswell as toxic heavy metals accumulatein water, air and soil. From there theywork their way up the food chain andeventually are consumed by humans.These chemicals accumulate in bodyfat and can remain in breast tissue fordecades. The level of personal chemicalcontamination is referred to as an indi-vidual’s “body burden.”

Studies show that all women carrya body burden of persistent pollutantsin their blood, breasts and other fattytissues. As mothers breastfeed theirbabies, some of these pollutants entertheir babies’ systems. Despite these

findings, scientists still consider breastmilk the best nutrition for infantsbecause of immunologic and neurologi-cal benefits.

What Can We Do?While this news is extremely disturb-ing, there is hope. Reducing oreliminating exposure to chemicals thatpersist in the environment or bio-accu-mulate in the food chain is animportant first step.

Europeans began eliminatingPBDEs years ago, which may accountfor the difference in the levels betweenAmerican and European women’sbreast milk. Many countries havebanned the use of organochlorineinsecticides (such as DDT), which hasresulted in significant decreases ofinsecticide levels in breast milk overthe last two decades. This demonstratesthat eliminating the production or useof a persistent, hazardous chemical canmake a significant difference in expo-sure levels and the attendant healthrisks.

In addition, industry should berequired to prove the safety of a chemi-cal before it is put on the market andchemicals already on the market shouldbe proven safe for human health andthe environment.

Friends of the Earth and partnergroups are currently working todevelop a cancer prevention effort thatwill seek to eliminate the preventablecauses of cancer, such as exposure topersistent environmental pollutantsthrough our food, consumer products,air and water. Stay tuned for moreinformation on this important effort asit develops. ■

Breast Milk – A Canary in the Coal Mine

C A N C E R P R E V E N T I O N

Flame retardants plus 200 other syntheticchemicals are appearing in Americanwomen’s breast milk. These dangerouschemicals are passed to their infants dur-ing breast feeding.

F R I E N D S O F T H E E A R T H M E R C H A N D I S E

“Getting More FromLess” T-Shirts$15 members, $18 non-membersThis v-neck tee reminds us, “the lesswe need, the less we use, the less dam-age we cause.” It is made from fairlytraded Indian organic cotton that feelslike silk. Available in sizes mediumand x-large.

Anti-SUV Bumper Stickers

$2 each, $5 for threeShow the world how you feel abouthigh-polluting sport utility vehicles.The slogans came from a contest heldat www.suv.org.

Large Tote Bags$10 members, $15 non-membersFriends of the Earth’s roomy, organiccotton canvas bag features a largeFriends of theEarth logo. It isa perfect alter-native to paperor plastic.

Checks, Labels and HempCheckbook Covers200 Single Checks $14.95240 Labels $9.95Hemp Cover $14.95Let people know you’re a friend of the earth with each check you write.Order at http://www.foe.org and click on the storelink or calltoll free 800-243-2565.

New Look! ReuseEnvelope Labels $5 members, $7 non-membersSave trees! Reuse your envelopeswith Friends of the Earth’s labels. Juststick the 3” x 5” label over the oldaddress and you can reuse envelopes,reducing the amount of waste that youproduce. 50 labels per pad.

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Allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery.Contact info: Make checks payable to “Friends of the Earth” and mail to Friends of the Earth Merchandise Department, 1717 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Suite 600,Washington, DC 20036-2002. To expedite your order, call 202-222-0715 or order online from our secure web page at www.foe.org.

Shipping costs: $0 - $5.99: $2$6 - $9.99: $3

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Your Contributions Are Working to Protect the Planet.

Friends of the Earth On the Working Assets Ballot for 2004!

Join Friends of theEarth today and get10 of our BushChronologies to handout to friends and

family. The more people knowabout Bush’s nonstop assaulton our environment, thestronger the movement willbecome to protect our air, water, health and wildlife. Become a mem-ber by filling the form out on the back of this page. ■

If you use Working Assetslong-distance service or havea Working Assets credit card,please keep Friends of theEarth in mind when you fill

out your customer ballot in 2004.Your vote makes a big difference tous!

For those of you not familiarwith Working Assets, it is a companythat gives more than $1 million annu-ally to non-profit organizationsacross the country. It directs 1 per-cent of profits from these services tocharities working for the environ-

ment, civil rights, internationalpeace, education and eco-nomic and social justice.Since 1985, Working Assetshas given more than $35 mil-lion in grants and support.

Working Assets cus-tomers nominated Friends of theEarth to be one of the groups on theballot. Then, an independent founda-tion chose 50 groups out of the pool,and Friends of the Earth was one ofthose groups. Now it is the customersturn to vote again on how the money isdistributed among the chosen groups.

For more information aboutWorking Assets, please call 1-800-788-8588, or go towww.workingassets.com. Don’t forget to vote! ■

Our FY2003 Expenditures