SolutionsVol. 35, No. 4 July-August 2004

Will the oceans survive as healthyecosystems? A lot depends on

people like Rich Young. Coming from afamily of fishermen, Young began trawl-ing off the California coast in the 1970s,when an average season yielded 250 tonsof rockfish and other groundfish. Butgradually, overfishing and pollution tooktheir toll, and by 1990 Young was find-ing it harder to survive in the fishery.

In 1992, the federal governmentcapped the number of boats and restrict-ed harvests in a futile attempt to halt thedeclines. This only resulted in more fren-zied competition among fishermen. “Imissed plenty of birthdays and holidaysbecause of fishing,” recalls Young.

The declines reached a crisis pointand, in 2002, the government closedmuch of the continental shelf off theWest Coast to trawling. Finding itimpossible to stay in business, Young andhis family made the wrenching decisionlast year to sell his boats.

What went wrong in the Pacificfishery finds echoes along the entire U.S.coastline. Now, a presidential commis-sion has found evi-dence that thedecline is systemic.The oceans havebeen sadly neglect-ed, the U.S. Com-mission on OceanPolicy concludes,but they areresilient, and thecommission sug-gests a road mapfor recovery.

“The com-mission’s recom-mendations are ablueprint foraction, a once-in-a-

Spotlight on the oceansIT’S TIME FOR A TEDDY ROOSEVELT OF THE SEAS.WILL THE WHITE HOUSE DELIVER IN 2005?

Where we stand 2

Mailbag 3

Regional update 6

News briefs 9

Action center 11

generation opportunity to reverse an eco-nomic and environmental disaster,” saysour oceans director David Festa.

Currently, 82 fish species are in trou-ble in North American waters. One majorcause of the decline is overfishing. Thecommission agrees with steps we havelong advocated: (1) Protect critical areaslike spawning grounds; (2) make science,not politics, the basis for setting of catchlimits; and (3) divide the allowable catchinto percentage shares for each fisherman.

POLLUTION CLOSES MANYOCEAN BEACHESEqually troubling is the deterioration ofestuaries and other coastal ecosystemsbecause of agricultural runoff and coastaldevelopment. As a result, each summerabout 12,000 beaches are closed or underpollution advisory. Compounding theseproblems is chronic mismanagement bythe tangle of federal agencies overseeingthe oceans.

This month, the commission’s report

Antibioticcampaignsizzles

Open seasonfor energycompanies

A bipartisancall for morehabitat

Cleaner airfor yourbackyard

Endangered:The nightsky

Consumershelp fightwarming

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Fisheries are crashing as hard as the waves but recovery is possible.

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Please seeCover Story, p. 2

candidates to issue explicit, meaningfulcommitments on the oceans. Whoever iselected in November can become the“Teddy Roosevelt of the oceans” by en-shrining protections for the seas that paral-lel Roosevelt’s national park initiatives.

America needs marine protectedareas to safeguard crucial habitat and van-ishing coral reefs. The president muststrengthen conservation law enforcementand encourage the use of market-basedtools for fishery management.

In California we are promoting asweeping Ocean Protection Act that willenact key recommendations of the com-mission. That’s where Rich Young comesin. Following his experience with disas-trous fishery management, Young teamedup with Environmental Defense, testifiedbefore Congress and accompanied ourscientists to workshops with fishermenalong the Pacific coast.

“We’re working to provide fisher-men with incentives to fish less wasteful-ly and to coordinate with each otherrather than compete,” he says. “Environ-

mental Defense was the first group torecognize the human dimension and finda solution that works not just for the fishbut for fishermen as well.”

WHAT YOU CAN DOSend a message to President Bush: Urgehim to take a stand as a champion of the

oceans and preserve this vital and fragile resource.Go to www.environmentaldefense.org/go/action.

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COVER STORY: A chorus grows for oceans reformwill go to President Bush for much-need-ed action. As The New York Times editori-alized: “It’s time for everyone to pay atten-tion [to the plight of the oceans].”

Environmental Defense has enlisteda wide range of allies to help implementmany of the commission’s recommenda-tions. But responsibility starts with thepresident. With all eyes on the presidentialrace, Environmental Defense will urge the

Continued from page 1

the Interior Department to protect cleanair in the West (see p. 8), launched anendangered species recovery campaignwith private landowners and met individ-ually with 14 Senators to build supportfor global warming legislation.

Today’s environmental challengesdemand that we be agile and ready to

use a variety of methods. We mustforge new partnerships and build anenvironmental majority that is abovepartisanship and ideology. Solutionsthat engage all sectors, enlisting thecreativity of entrepreneurs, are mostlikely to succeed.

The consensus reached aroundthe diesel rule was a breath of freshair. The New York Times called it “themost important clean air initiative tooriginate in and be brought to fruitionby the Bush administration.” It closeda loophole that had been responsiblefor close to half of all diesel particu-lates from mobile sources. The resultis a triumph for human health.

When decision makers signalthey will take strong action andinvolve all stakeholders, as EPA didon diesel, the conversation thenturns to how, not whether, to act.The same approach should bedeployed on other urgent issues likeglobal warming and overfishing.There’s no time to lose.

If there is politicalwill, great thingsare possible. Thatthought crossedmy mind as Istood alongsideEPA administratorMike Leavitt thisMay to commend

him on new regulations that werehammered out to cut diesel air pol-lution from construction equipmentand other “nonroad” engines. Theadministration signaled early that itwould take strong action againstdiesel emissions. It worked withindustry, but it also listened tohealth experts and environmentalgroups until a consensus was built.

Different tasks take differenttools. In that same week in May, Envi-ronmental Defense filed suit against

Speak softly and carry a big toolkit

Environmental Defense Solutions

WHERE WE STAND

SolutionsEditor: Peter Klebnikov

Environmental Defense, 257 Park AvenueSouth, New York, NY 10010. Main number 212-505-2100.

Membership questions: Call 800-684-3322 oremail members@environmentaldefense.org

Mailbag: Mail to address above, call 800-242-3251 or email editor@environmentaldefense.org

©2004 Environmental Defense. Publishedbimonthly at New York, NY. ASSN 0163-2566

New York • Washington • Oakland Boulder • Raleigh • Austin • Boston

Project office: Los Angeles

Online at www.environmentaldefense.org

By Fred Krupp, President

‒‒‒‒‒Solutions that engage allsectors are most likely to

succeed.–––––

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Collapsing fisheries are bringing an end tofamily traditions for Rich Young and others.

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Dear Environmental Defense: I am a high school student writing toexpress my concern for the Bushadministration’s reaction to theKyoto accord on global warming. Iwould like to know what you feel theAmerican public can do to rectify thissituation. I am also curious to knowwhat your organization is doing. Mygeneration and I are very concerned.

Maria Zupan, Missoula, MT

Environmental Defense presidentFred Krupp responds:One way citizens can help is by doingprecisely what you are doing—mak-ing your voice heard. One thingEnvironmental Defense is doing isworking to pass the McCain-Lieber-man Climate Stewardship Act toreduce global warming pollution.

Let’s work together. To persuadeCongress to act, we are seeking onemillion “citizen co-sponsors” ofMcCain-Lieberman. Please visitwww.undoit.org to sign our petition,and encourage your classmates tosign it as well. Public pressure is aninvaluable part of the change process.

Dear Environmental Defense:I took your Clean Car Pledge, andnow I have fulfilled it. Like FredKrupp, I’m the happy owner of a newhybrid car.

Bill Moore, Pisgah Forest, NC

Fred Krupp now has over 47,000miles on his 2001 Toyota Prius. Oneby one, people are making a differ-ence for cleaner air, and you can,too. Take the Clean Car Pledge atwww.cleancarcampaign.org.

www.environmentaldefense.org

Environmental Defense257 Park Ave. SouthNew York, NY 10003

Member25 Main StreetAnytown, NY 11199

Conservatives whohave sometimesbristled at federalprotection of en-dangered speciesrecently gave an

enthusiastic thumbs-up to our newBack from the Brink campaign. Weare seeking to bring 15 imperiledspecies back from the brink of extinc-tion by working cooperatively withlandowners. Upon our announcementof the plan, Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) said, “This program exemplifiesthe progressive, results-oriented andrespectful approach to conservation.”

Speaking for the Bush adminis-tration, Interior Secretary Gale Nortonsaid, “We believe your Back from theBrink campaign can successfully joinour combined efforts to promote coop-erative conservation strategies.”

Such alliances are long overdue.Our Back from the Brink campaignrecognizes that most endan-gered species depend on privateland for their survival, and thatprotecting these species meansenlisting landowners of allpolitical stripes. In the past,landowners feared that helpingspecies would lead to newrestrictions on their land. Now,Safe Harbor, an approach pio-neered by EnvironmentalDefense and adopted by theFish and Wildlife Service, giveslandowners a guarantee thathelping species will not engen-der new restrictions.

Environmental Defensevigorously supports a strongEndangered Species Act.Launching Back from theBrink, we called on PresidentBush to remove the bald eagle

from the endangered list. The initialresponse has been favorable. Ournational symbol was saved by a ban onDDT that resulted from our efforts,and by its listing as an endangeredspecies. Today 7,678 pairs of eaglesroam the skies in the lower 48 states,and the number continues to rise.

THREATS IN CONGRESS Despite such successes, attacks on theEndangered Species Act continue.Representative Richard Pombo (R-CA)is championing a bill, supported by theadministration, to make it harder todesignate critical habitat for endangeredspecies, part of a larger trend of tryingto weaken the Act by a thousand cuts.

“The Endangered Species Act isundermined by the perception that itis broken and ineffective,” says ourwildlife specialist Michael Bean. “Thebald eagle’s recovery shows that theAct is working.”

Waiting for better days. The Southwestern willowflycatcher’s habitat is vanishing.

Washington watchDespite attacks, endangered specieswin bipartisan support

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Fred Fuerte always checks the pollutionindex before venturing outside his

Fresno, CA, home. The slightest bump inozone causes his lungs to spasm and hisairways to swell. In 2001, the 52-year-oldmade 28 trips to the emergency room.Breathing on a smoggy day is like “drivingwith the parking brake on,” he says.

The number of Americans withasthma has more than doubled in thepast 15 years to more than 22 million. “Ithas reached epidemic proportions,” saysour health director Dr. John Balbus.Children are especially vulnerablebecause their lungs are still developingand because they tend to be active out-side during smog season.

Exactly what causes asthma is notknown for sure, but once a person hasasthma, air pollution can trigger attacks.

In Fresno, the trigger is pulled alltoo frequently. The valley’s bowl shapeand hot, windless climate create a perfect

smog trap. Thatmay explain, in part,why the county’schildhood asthmarate is more thantwice times thenational average.

“Of the manytriggers of asthmaattacks, air pollu-tion is one thing wecan clearly dosomething about,”says Balbus. Envi-ronmental Defense has set a goal of cut-ting air pollution from tailpipes andsmokestacks by 80% over the nextdecade. We’re pushing for tougher emis-sions standards, cleaner power plants andincentive programs to get immediatereductions.

The Environmental ProtectionAgency adopted stricter smog limits in

1997 but failed toimplement them,prompting Environ-mental Defense, theAmerican LungAssociation andallies to take jointlegal action. Envi-ronmental Defensespearheaded negotia-tions that resulted ina recent settlement.

Under theagreement, EPA hasdesignated 474counties in 31 statesas out of compliancewith the federalsmog standard,requiring them toprepare cleanupplans. “This decisionbrings millions more

Environmental Defense Solutions

Americans under the nation’s smog-pro-tection program, many of whom neverbefore have had the benefits of thesehealth protections,” says our attorneyJanea Scott.

VICTORY AGAINST POLLUTINGDIESEL ENGINESOne major source of harmful air pollu-tion is diesel exhaust—that unmistakableblack plume billowing from buses, bull-dozers and barges. Such exhaust containsmore than 40 cancer-causing com-pounds, ranking it among the most dan-gerous air pollutants.

Three years ago, we helped winstricter federal limits for diesel trucksand buses. Building on that victory, EPAfinalized new rules in May that will slashemissions from diesel-powered tractors,construction equipment and other non-road engines.

The new rules require refineries toproduce low-sulfur diesel fuel and enginemakers to cut diesel emissions by morethan 90%, a reduction that could prevent12,000 premature deaths every year. Theclean-fuel requirement also covers locomo-tives and marine transport, but they weregiven an additional two years to comply.

We are now pressing EPA to adoptstricter emission standards for commer-

Breathing easierNEW CLEAN AIR RULES WILL HELPNATION’S 22 MILLION ASTHMA SUFFERERS

New diesel rules will mean fewer smoggy mornings for 159 millionAmericans in Los Angeles and other counties.

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In depth

SmogbusterHaving grown up outside Denver, Janea Scott knows athing or two about smog. She also knows about themountain majesty of Colorado’s Front Range. Fulfillingher dream of becoming an advocate for environmentaljustice, Scott, an attorney, joined Environmental Defensein 2000. In her first assignment, she found herself as thelone environmentalist on EPA’s advisory group on non-road diesel. Undaunted,she worked with col-leagues to secure strongnational rules that willimprove air quality formillions of Americans.Now she has set hersights on remaining dieselloopholes: stationary gen-erators, locomotives andcommercial shipping.Polluters beware.

www.environmentaldefense.org

cial marine engines, whichare the dirtiest of the dirtyyet still remain under-regu-lated. Our new report, SmogAlert: How commercial ship-ping is polluting our air, shinesa spotlight on the problem.EPA estimates that by 2030marine vessels will produce25% of all smog-forming pol-lution from mobile sources, ifnot contained.

Because existing dieselengines can remain in use for

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Smog alert: Regional steps to curb pollutionOver half the U.S. population lives in areas with unhealthy levelsof smog (highlighted on map). Now EPA is requiring these areasto clean up their air. Environmental Defense is working with poli-cymakers, businesses and government officials to design innova-tive solutions.

Texas Transit buses in Dallasand garbage trucks in Houstonare being equipped with thelatest pollution controls, cut-ting their smog-causing emis-sions by 50% or more. This isthe result of legislation wehelped pass, creating a $650million incentive fund forcleaning up diesel engines.

The staterecentlypassedstricter lim-

its on emissions from highly pollutingdiesel-powered backup generators,which are frequently located nearschools. Spurred by an EnvironmentalDefense report, this action may pavethe way for nationwide rules.

Colorado Last year, theDenver area experienced thehighest smog levels in morethan 15 years. Cleaner sum-mertime gasoline, as EPA nowrequires in the area inresponse to our advocacy, willhelp solve the problem.

We recentlyissued a studyshowing thatmoving freight byrail can be twice

as clean as truck transport and would easetraffic congestion. We also partnered withferry companies to install pollution controlsand helped shape a citywide ordinance toclean up diesel machinery at city-sponsoredconstruction sites.

decades, EnvironmentalDefense seeks to acceleratetheir cleanup through retrofitprograms. For example, wehelped pass legislation inTexas creating an incentivefund for diesel retrofits (seebox) and are now promotinga national program.

Says Balbus: “A childborn today should not haveto wait until she is an adultbefore she can breathehealthy air.”

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Leave a legacy foreverYour retirement plan is a wonder-ful way to provide for yourfuture—and the health of theplanet. All you need to do is nameus as the beneficiary of yourretirement account. That’s all ittakes. This simple act on yourpart helps ensure that America’s treasured wilderness areasand clean water will be protected for generations to come.

For more information, call toll-free 1-877-677-7397, or writeAnne Doyle, Environmental Defense, 257 Park Avenue South,New York, NY 10010.

California

New York

Environmental Defense Solutions6

Regional update

Native Americans lit fires regularly to sustain theSchweinitz’s sunflower and other tall prairie grasses.

Rescued from the path of asteamroller

Joining ranks to protect athreatened global treasure

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The Northwest Hawaiian Islands reserve is the only mostlyintact large coral reef ecosystem left on the planet.

the reserve withoutEnvironmental Defense,”Agard says.

Unfortunately the pro-tections are far from secure.

As the CommerceDepartment finalizes a man-agement plan for the reserve,powerful political interestsare seeking to weaken keysafeguards. Our scientist Dr.Stephanie Fried traveled to

Washington this spring withlocal partners to argue forscience-based protections.Our Action Network mem-bers sent federal officialsmore than 25,000 messagesof support for a strong man-agement plan.

“I would like mygrandchildren to see themarine life I saw, withouthaving to read about it in abook,” says Agard.

When Uncle Buzzy Agard, arespected elder, first fished theNorthwest Hawaiian Islandsin the 1940s, he thought“This is nirvana! I could fishthis place forever!”

But soon he noticed thefish disappearing. “First themullets were gone, then thethread fins. I realized I washelping destroy this uniqueplace.” So Agard insteadbegan fighting to protect theremote archipelago, home tosacred Native Hawaiian sites,endangered monk seals andthousand-year-old coralforests.

We worked with Agardand other Native Hawaiianfishermen, activists and localenvironmental groups todevelop a conservation planfor this area, which PresidentTheodore Roosevelt had firstprotected. When PresidentClinton announced theNorthwest Hawaiian IslandsCoral Reef EcosystemReserve in 2000, Agardproudly joined him on stage.“We would never have won

In the decades that he’s worked 100 North Carolina acres,Boon Chesson has learned a lot. The loblolly pines he intro-duced, on U.S. Forest Service advice, have proved a badidea, no match for upland hurricanes and ice storms. Therare native longleaf pines on Boon’s land are another story,however. Hardier and prettier, with furniture-grade wood,their open canopy lets sunlight in, nourishing lush gladesand savanna—habitat once common in the Southeast.

Until farming and fire suppression choked them out,Carolina’s piedmont prairies were home to elk, bison andgrasses taller than a man: Indian grass, purpletop, beggarlice and the endangered Schweinitz’s sunflower. “I beganto think,” says Boon, “I’d like more of these native sons.”

Environmental Defense has long worked to secureFarm Bill conservation funds for good stewards of private

land. This spring, ourpolicy analyst DavidMcNaught and part-ners persuaded thegovernment to fundlandowners willing todo controlled burns

and thin forests in order to restore prairie habitat.Boon is now the proud father of 2,000 Schweinitz’s

sunflowers, rescued from the path of a road-pavingmachine. The yellow-headed beauties are flourishing onhis land—producing seed for other landowners—and rarebirds, butterflies and quail have moved in. Says Mc-Naught: “We’re trying to revive whole natural communi-ties so that many species now at risk can thrive again.”

–––––“I’d like more of thesenative sons,” says treefarmer Boon Chesson.

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‒‒‒‒‒“I realized I was

helping destroy thisunique place.”

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www.environmentaldefense.org 7

With their mud huts and lack of runningwater, the villages along the dusty road toChad’s Doba oil fields show few signs ofthis African nation’s newfound oil wealth.The World Bank backed the Exxon-Mobil-led oil project, touting its benefitsfor the poor. But Chad’s dictator-presi-dent spent the first oil millions onweapons, and jailed project opponents.

Chad is only the latest of manydevelopment casualties. A recent WorldBank-commissioned report failed toidentify a single oil, gas or mining pro-ject funded by the Bank that hadachieved its mandate of alleviatingpoverty. The report, the ExtractiveIndustries Review, urges the Bank toredirect about $800 million in annualinvestments to projects that promoterenewable energy and protect humanrights. The Bank’s board may vote on thereport’s recommendations this month.

“This will have ripple effects for

future fossil-fuel invest-ments,” says our interna-tional director BruceRich. “Oil and miningcompanies depend on theBank for credibility.Without it, they have aharder time convincingprivate investors to fundcontroversial projects.”

Oil companiesprotested the report, andBank management at firstrejected its recommenda-tions. But an internationalcoalition we helped build of environmen-tal, indigenous and labor organizationspressured the Bank to reconsider. Ourlocal partners in Africa and Indonesia andsix Nobel peace laureates joined our call,and the European parliament passed aresolution backing the recommendations.

“This review validates concerns we

have raised with the Bank for years,” saysRich. “It would be indefensible if theBank failed to carry out the recommen-dations of its own independent report.”

Send a message to World Bank PresidentJames Wolfensohn urging the bank toinvest in renewable energy at www.envi-

ronmentaldefense.org/go/action.

“WHEREAS, Many of our customers(including McDonald’s) arerequesting a decrease in antibioticsin animal feed....

“RESOLVED, The Iowa Pork ProducersAssociation urges all producers tovoluntarily discontinue the use ofall growth-promotant antibiotics inswine finishing rations.”

That resolution, passed in January, isthe latest demonstration of what happenswhen one of the world’s largest food com-panies changes its purchasing policy. Sincelast summer, when Environmental De-fense helped persuade McDonald’s to stopbuying poultry and pork that had been fedgrowth-promoting antibiotics, we’vegained a legion of partners in the effort tokeep these wonder drugs working.

The latest isHealth Care withoutHarm, an internationalcoalition of 450 hospi-tals and health-carefacilities, whose newpurchasing policies formeat, poultry, seafoodand dairy now requiresuppliers to forego theroutine use of medicallyimportant antibiotics.

As suppliers meetthis growing demand—already five of the coun-

try’s biggest poultry producers say theyhave greatly restricted antibiotic use—thebenefits to human health should be sub-stantial. Agricultural misuse of antibiotics,along with their overuse in human medi-cine, has caused many dangerous bacteriato become resistant, leading to untreatablestaph infections, fatal food poisonings inchildren and a sharp increase in deathsfrom infections among the elderly.

In May, the GovernmentAccounting Office called antibiotic resis-tance resulting from agricultural uses ofantibiotics “an unacceptable risk to thepublic health.” But the damage can bereversed. A report from the WorldHealth Organization reveals a decline inbacterial resistance in Denmark aftermost feed uses were banned in 1998.

Our scientist Dr. Rebecca Gold-burg explains how antibiotics regain theireffectiveness. “When there’s even a slightmetabolic cost for bacteria to resist anantibiotic, but no longer a survival advan-tage, the nonresistant bacteria win.”

Iowa pig farmers join campaign to keep antibiotics working

World Bank urged to drop harmful oil and gas projects

Antibiotics anyone? Our campaign would ban routine use ofhuman antibiotics in poultry and livestock.

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Casualties of greed: For these Bagyeli children fromCameroon, the oil pipeline’s wealth has not trickled down.

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protect the air of national parks and wilder-ness areas. Yellowstone National Park,Theodore Roosevelt National Park, theGrand Tetons and Wind Cave NationalPark will suffer, as will U.L. Bend,Fitzpatrick and Bridger wilderness areas.

“Unrestrained development like thiswill damage the water, landscape, wildlifeand air quality over a huge area,” says ourattorney Vickie Patton. “The impacts onvisibility alone are staggering.”

In assessing potential damagesfrom air pollution, BLM avoided study-ing the full impact by splitting the pro-ject in two parts and by ignoring pollu-tion from area power plants. BLM alsofailed to release its analysis on time,thereby thwarting public comment.Interior contends that state regulatorscan adequately remedy the pollution.

Ranchers, Indian tribes and envi-ronmentalists have united to oppose thenew “gold rush.” Our lawsuit comple-ments litigation by allies that focuses onthe threat to aquifers.

Says our Rocky Mountain regionaldirector Timothy Sullivan: “Legal actionwill force the federal government to ful-fill its responsibility of preserving thetreasures of the West.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO Send Interior Secre-tary Gale Norton an email message urgingher to stop the environmental damage

associated with coal bed methane projects. Go towww.environmentaldefense.org/go/action.

Environmental Defense Solutions

Nancy Sorenson’s life changed theday the “land men” came knocking

on the door of her ranch in the rollinghills of Wyoming’s Powder River Basinand surprised her by announcing theywould drill for natural gas there.

Soon her 1,200-acre ranch wascrawling with wildcat drillers. “We becamean industrial zone,” says Sorenson. “Wegot pipelines, power lines, generators, aradio tower, 54 wells and 19 differentdrilling agreements. The virgin prairie hasbeen ruined. It will never be the same.”

Worse yet, Sorenson has no legalright to stop energy com-panies from drilling.Under a split ownershiplaw, minerals beneath pri-vate land are owned by theBureau of Land Manage-ment (BLM). “There is noprotection for surface own-ers or regard for the envi-ronment,” says Sorenson.

Before the InteriorDepartment opened upthe West for development,there were fewer than 1,000 coal-bedmethane wells dotting the pristine land-scape of the Powder River Basin.

Now BLMplans some100,000 gas andoil wells on theprairie, more thanfive per squaremile. Sprawlingacross one millionacres of Wyo-ming and Mon-tana, it will be thebiggest energydevelopment inthe lower 48states. More than23,000 miles ofroads and 52,000miles of pipelinesand power lineswill be erected.

Remote wilderness ecosystems likeUpper Frozen Lake are likely to acidify,and pockets of spectacular natural beautylike Yellowstone National Park and theGrand Tetons will be assailed by harmfulair pollution.

Building on two decades of workprotecting western air, EnvironmentalDefense teamed up with the NationalWildlife Federation, the National ParksConservation Association and theMontana Environmental InformationCenter and filed suit against the Depart-ment of the Interior and BLM in May.

We charge thatInterior approved themassive coal-bed methanedevelopment withoutadequately examining ormitigating its serious airpollution impacts. At drillsites, heavy machineryspews out carbon monox-ide, nitrogen oxides, sulfurdioxide, sooty particlesand volatile organic com-pounds.

Furthermore, we charge, InteriorSecretary Gale Norton failed in herresponsibility under the Clean Air Act to

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The sprawling Powder River Basin development threatens migra-tion routes and habitat of the pronghorn antelope (above), the sagegrouse and other wildlife.

Gas companies in Wyoming and Montanacan drill right out from under ranchers’ feet.

Up for grabs: One millionunspoiled acres.

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Environmental groups team up with ranchers to fightmassive Wyoming gas development

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When a New York Times story called forthe renewed global use of DDT,Environmental Defense health directorDr. John Balbus knew a response waswarranted. We were founded, after all,expressly to end the use of DDT. Ourscientists brought the original lawsuit in1967, won a nationwide ban in 1972 and

brought the peregrine falcon and baldeagle back from the brink of extinction.

The new DDT advocates arguethat the U.S. ban put out of reach themost effective response to a resurgentmalaria that now kills two million peo-ple a year. But to attribute the rise inmalaria worldwide to the U.S. ban iswrong, says Balbus. The primary caus-es have been the decline of publichealth systems, political instability inmalaria-ravaged countries and increas-ing resistance of mosquitoes to pesti-cides and drugs.

Environmental Defense supportsthe 2001 Stockholm convention onPersistent Organic Pollutants, whichallows limited, carefully monitoredindoor use of DDT for public healthpurposes until “safer, affordable andeffective alternatives are made available.”

You might not notice that your McDon-ald’s fry container feels a bit lighter, butthe environment will. The companyrecently reduced the weight of the paperused in its fry cartons and increased thepost-consumer recycled content of itsnapkins. These improvements, amongothers, helped McDonald’s meet a com-mitment to offset the adverse environ-mental impacts of packaging changesthe company made last fall. Thosechanges included moving several of itssandwiches from paper wraps to rigidcontainers and switching to bleachedwhite carryout bags.

After discussions with Environ-mental Defense, McDonald’s agreed tooffset the impacts of those changesthrough packaging improvements else-where. We monitored the company’sprogress and confirmed in May that thecompany had offset the impacts and thensome, achieving additional improvementsbeyond our targets.

“These actions show that with hardwork and a little ingenuity, companiescan optimize both their business andtheir environmental performance,” saysour program manager Gwen Ruta.

Following a storm ofprotest from Envi-ronmental Defenseand others, the U.S.Agriculture Depart-ment has dropped

sweeping changes that would haveundermined the nation’s organic foodstandards.

The agency had announced newdirectives in April allowingthe use of pesticides andantibiotics in organic cropsand dairy cows. The changesalso would have allowedfarmed and wild fish, personalcare products and pet foods tobe labeled organic, eventhough no production stan-dards exist for these items.

Environmental De-fense protested the changes,as did the Organic TradeAssociation, the KeepAntibiotics Working coali-

Collapsing public health systems are respon-sible for a surge in malaria cases.

Update: McDonald’spackaging

Should DDT’s use be expanded? A globalperspective

Government backs off changes to organic foodtion and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who authored the organic stan-dards law.

In response, Agriculture SecretaryAnn Veneman rescinded the decision anddirected her department to consult withthe National Organic Standards Board,which originally developed the standards.Our scientist Dr. Becky Goldburg sits onthat board. “I’m delighted the Agriculture

Balancing act: McDonald’s has offset theimpacts of its switch to bleached bags.

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Consumers need to know whether they can trust theorganic label.

Department has committed itself to pro-tecting the integrity of the nation’sorganic food program,” said Goldburg.“Consumers need to know they can trustthe organic label.”

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Environmental Defense Solutions10

Guest columnist Jim Motavalli is editor of E/The Environmental Magazine (for subscription information: 800-967-6572 or www.emagazine.com). Opinions are the author’s and not those of Environmental Defense staff.

cities who have never seen the stars.”Unnecessary lighting also has prac-

tical consequences. Unwanted light tres-passes across property lines, wastes ener-gy and money (an estimated $1 billionannually in the U.S. alone), affects sleeppatterns and, because of preventableglare, causes traffic accidents.

But aren’t we safer with ubiquitousnight lights? Studies in the U.S. andGreat Britain show no significant linkbetween crime rates and extra lighting,and motion detectors and shields can putthe light where it’s needed.

Here are some ways you can take astand against light pollution.

• There ought to be a law. Nine statesalready have strong laws to control lightpollution, and bills are pending in tenmore. Arizona’s law requires all outdoorlight fixtures above 150 watts to be shield-ed (except airport navigational lights andsome streetlights), which means no lightcan rise above the bottom of the lamp.New Mexico gives residents and businesses

Bring back the nightLIGHT POLLUTION BEWILDERS BIRDS, WASTES ENERGY AND ERASES STARS FROM THE SKY

Only eight generations ago, ourancestors were able to see an esti-

mated 11,000 stars in the cloudless nightsky. Today, because of “skyglow” causedby misdirected nighttime illumination,two-thirds of all Americans no longercan catch a glimpse of the Milky Way. Inmany urban areas a combination of airpollution and excessive artificial light hasreduced visible stars to less than 100.

“Light pollution” is caused byunnecessary nighttime commercial anddomestic illumination that invades ourprivacy and interferes with nature’s time-less patterns. For instance, birds confusedby artificial light now sing at night inmany locations.

Such light trespass not only has thepower to render 100-inch telescopes use-less for serious astronomy, but also hasimportant implications for ordinaryhuman life. Dr. Arcadi Nebolsine, a cul-tural historian at Drew University, feels “avery important environmental relation-ship for mankind” is being lost. “Sadly,”he says, “we have children growing up in

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For thousands of years, humans have found wisdom and mystery in the night sky.

Light busters

The largest group fighting lightpollution is the InternationalDark-Sky Association, with 41chapters in the U.S. and branch-es in 17 countries. It publishes anewsletter and offers memberdiscounts on night-friendly light-ing and other products. Individualmemberships are $30. 3225 N.1st Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719 (520-293-3198; www.darksky.org).

A related organization, the DarkSky Society, can be joined for freeat www.darkskysociety.org.

An excellent overview of light pol-lution is found at www.sierra-club.org/longisland/lightpollu-tion.html.

PRODUCT SOURCES

Sea Gull Lighting’s Dark SkyOutdoor Wall Lantern is availableat 301 West Washington Street,Riverside, NJ 08075 (866-449-2821; www.seagulllighting.com).

Other companies that make sky-friendly consumer lightinginclude Spring City ElectricalManufacturing Company, P.O. Box19, Spring City, PA 19475 (610-948-4000; www.springcity.com)and Hadco, P.O. Box 128, 100Craftway, Littlestown, PA 17340(717-359-7131; www.hadcolight-ing.com).

Order the GlareBuster directly for$79.95 from Affordable Lighting,727 Boston Post Road, Guilford,CT 06437 (800-548-8714;www.theglarebuster.com).

Motion sensor lights in a varietyof styles are available atwww.darksky.org/fixtures/mot-sensec.html

Too slick: Stop ExxonMobil’s globalwarming disinformation campaign ExxonMobil continues its cynical effort to spread doubtabout the science of global warming and derail governmentaction on greenhouse gas emissions. Its strategy was madeclear six years ago in a confidential oil industry memo, say-ing that “victory will be achieved when uncertainties in cli-mate science become part of the conventional wisdom.”

ExxonMobil has since provided millions of dollars toorganizations that energetically voice skepticism about glob-al warming, often using misleading statistics. Who are these“experts” and why do you so rarely hear where their moneycomes from? Follow the money trail at www.environmen-taldefense.org/go/exxonmobil.

Other energy companies including BP, Entergy,Ontario Power Generation, Shell International and SuncorEnergy have joined with Environmental Defense in recog-nizing the overwhelming scientific evidence that humanactivities are contributing to global warming and have takenaction to rein in their own emissions.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Send ExxonMobil CEO Lee R. Raymond anemail message urging that he halt the misinformation campaignand join the market leaders working to slow global warming. Go

to http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/exxonmobil.

Support better transportation solutionsA House-Senate panel will spend the smoggy months ofsummer reconciling their pending bills governing thenation’s highway and mass-transit construction programs.When complete, the Transportation Equity Act will deter-

mine the allocation of hundreds of billions of your tax dol-lars to projects around the country over the next six years.

Both current versions contain provisions that will weak-en the Clean Air Act and increase pollution that contributesto asthma, heart disease and cancer. Both will increase trafficand urban sprawl; damage communities, parks, wildlife refugesand historic sites; and reduce opportunities for the public andlocal officials to shape transportation priorities.

The House’s version, says our transportation directorMichael Replogle, is “a less toxic brew.” And there’s stilltime to seize this opportunity to improve transportationchoices, air quality and the use of public money and land.

Let Congress know that you want a transportation bill that pro-tects public health and the environment. Take action atwww.environmentaldefense.org/go/actioncenter.

www.environmentaldefense.org 11

There’s still time to choose parks, transit and clean air.

the option of shielding night lights orshutting them down at 11 pm. Otherstates, like Connecticut, Maine and Texas,regulate state-funded lights only.

• Shield it. Although only about 1% ofoutdoor lighting fixtures are sky-friendly,the market is growing. You can replaceunshielded outdoor lights with alterna-tives like the fully shielded Glare-Buster($60 to $80), which directs all lightdownward, away from the sky and neigh-bors. Sea Gull Lighting’s Dark SkyOutdoor Wall Lantern ($210) recesses itsbulb in the upper part of the fixture, pre-venting light leakage. The Parshield ($20;parshield.com) fits onto existing flood-lights, making them night-friendly.

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE ACTION CENTER

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•Use motion detectors. Your outdoorlights can be fitted with sensors thatdetect movement by large objects. Offmost of the time, these lights turn onconveniently as you enter your yard atnight and can play an important part in

any home security system. Installed withexterior flood or spotlights, motion sen-sors also save energy and money.

• Reclaim the night sky. A Virginia highschool student and amateur astronomer,Jennifer Barlow, founded National DarkSky Week (www.ndsw.org) when sherealized that the light haze around ourplanet was cutting us off from the rest ofthe universe. For this year’s week, cele-brated April 19-26, Barlow recommend-ed turning off unnecessary lights, spread-ing the word, going to star parties andobservatories, and seeing “the greatestshow the universe has to offer.”

By Jim Motavalli

The unbearable lightness of evening.

on water bottles, reminding people tohelp keep the earth a cool place. Silk willhand out Undo It postcards at Race forthe Cure events they sponsor all sum-mer. Organic Valley, a farmer-ownedcooperative, will hand out postcards atfarmers’ markets in states that are criticalto the vote on McCain-Lieberman.

“Global warming is a huge issuethat can seem paralyzing,” says Stony-field Farm CEO Gary Erickson. “Wewant to educate people about the waysevery one of us can contribute to solvingthe problem.”

If you’ve been en-joying StonyfieldFarm yogurt lately, or

Clif bars, Odwalla juice, Silk soy milk,Trinity spring water or Organic Valley but-ter and eggs, you may be seeing our GlobalWarming: Undo It logo in your sleep. OurUndo It campaign aims to win passage ofthe McCain-Lieberman Climate Stew-ardship Act to cut global warming pollu-tion nationwide. Now these six brands—through their packaging, web sites andevents across the country—are urging theircustomers to help us reach our goal of onemillion “citizen co-sponsor”petition signatures and a Senatemajority on this critical bill.

At sports events andgreen festivals throughout thesummer, from Grandma’sMarathon in Duluth, MN, tothe Hotter-n-Hell cycling racein Wichita Falls, TX, Clif Barwill gather petition signatures.On the Stonyfield Farm website, Gurt the Cow puts a bighoof print on our petition andurges everyone else to do thesame. Trinity will hang a tag

Partners spread the word on warming

The Day After Tomorrow: A preview of coming attractions?

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What they’re saying aboutEnvironmental Defense

“The emissions trading project hasbeen tremendously successful so far.This experiment needs to beexpanded now.”

—China’s minister of the envi-ronment Xie Zhenhua, commenting

on the program we helped design tocut sulfur dioxide pollution across

heavily industrial regions of China.

How to tell factfrom fiction? You canlearn the true storyon the hazards ofglobal warming fromThe Heat Is On, ournew, comprehensivesurvey of the issue atwww.environmen-taldefense.org/go/theheatison.

Giant hailstones kill dozens in China!Seventy-five tornadoes in the UnitedStates kill 36 in one day! Scenes fromthis summer’s much ballyhooed globalwarming movie The Day After Tomor-row? No, these are real-life weatherevents that occurred during the makingof the film.

Life seemed to imitate art in eerieways as the movie took shape. In 2002, aRhode Island-sized ice shelf in Antarc-tica disintegrated, weeks after themovie’s creators wrote the opening scenedepicting its collapse. “We joked thatwe’d better start shooting soon or we’dbe making a documentary,” said directorRoland Emmerich.

With its flash-freezing super-storms that wreak havoc on Manhattan,the movie is far from realistic. None-theless, the script is based partly on fact.

“The theory of abrupt climatechange is real, but even gradual changecan have serious consequences,” says ourclimate scientist Dr. James Wang. “Thecharacters in the movie fail to connectthe dots and they don’t act fast enoughto prevent disaster. That’s a Hollywoodending I hope we can avoid.”

Time to do something about global warming?

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