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No Room for Wildfire Funds in Supplemental Appropriations WASHINGTON, DC, August 4, 2003 (ENS) - The Senate passed a $983 million supplemental funding bill for federal disaster relief Thursday, despite concerns that the bill does not include money to fight wildfires.The Bush administration had requested an additional $289 million to fight wildfires, but the House did not include the money in its version of the bill. Both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are expected to run out of money for wildfire measures before September 30, 2003, when the fiscal year ends. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will also run short of money, but the agency can not borrow money from other funds, while the Forest Service and BLM can. This is why House leaders say they stripped the fire fighting money from their version of the bill on July 25, a move that put the Senate in a tight spot. If the Senate had changed the House bill, it would have delayed passage until after the August recess because the competing bills would have had to be reconciled by a conference committee. The House "put the Senate in the objectionable position of having to adopt or reject the House version because any effort to amend that bill would delay urgently needed disaster aid," said New York Senator Hillary Clinton, a Democrat. The Senate had originally passed a supplemental appropriations bill that included the fire fighting money, as well as funding for the investigation of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident and the AmeriCorps program. "This is no way to legislate," said Senator Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat. "The House leadership and its allies in the White House have turned a deaf ear to needs of the firefighters in the Western States, the requirements of the NASA investigation, and the 20,000 AmeriCorps volunteers." The National Interagency Fire Center reports 25 active large fires in the Western United States.
House Democrats Question President's Clear Skies Claims WASHINGTON, DC, August 4, 2003 (ENS) - House Democrats have stepped up criticism of President George W. Bush's air pollution plan, known as Clear Skies, and have called on Bush to retract a statement about the plan made in his State of the Union address.The letter sent to Bush by four House Democrats - Representatives Tom Allen of Maine, Frank Pallone of New Jersey, Lois Capps of California and Ed Markey of Massachusetts - specifically cites the statement in which the President said that his legislation "mandates a 70 percent cut in air pollution from power plants over the next 15 years." "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) analysis of the Clear Skies Initiative that was available before the State of the Union address reveals that this statement is simply not true," the members of Congress wrote. "Mr. President, we urge you to correct your statement or supply Congress and the American people with any additional analytical work upon which your statement was based." "Alternatively, you could direct EPA to modify the Clear Skies proposal to be in accordance with your statement. Although these actions would not ameliorate our concerns about the merits of the proposal, if we are to have a fair and honest debate, we must begin with accurate and complete information." According to the administration, Clear Skies will reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides and mercury by some 70 percent by 2018, and will achieve these benefits more efficiently than existing law. Many environmentalists and state pollution control officers believe the plan relaxes existing law. An analysis released by EPA in September 2002 found that the President's proposal would achieve slightly less than a 65 percent reduction in emissions by 2020. The EPA analysis further found that even 18 years after enactment, emissions reductions under the President's proposal would still fall approximately 945,000 tons of pollution short of a 70 percent reduction. "Under your proposal, a substantial majority of the emissions reductions would be achieved by reducing SO2 emissions," the Members said in their letter to the President. "Yet the cap of SO2 emissions would be attained so distantly in the future that EPA modelers refuse to identify a specific year that the three million ton annual emissions cap will be attained. At a congressional briefing, the EPA staff said the cap could be reached 'maybe in 2025.' This is startlingly different than your assurance that a 70 percent reduction would be mandated over the next 15 years, or by 2018."
U.S. Singapore Free Trade Act Weak on Illegal Logging WASHINGTON, DC, August 4, 2003 (ENS) - The Bush administration hailed the Senate's passage of the Singapore Free Trade Agreement last week, but critics say the accord does nothing to stop illegal timber imports routed through Singapore from flowing into the United States.Despite overtones by the administration to combat illegal logging, there is nothing in the substance of the agreement that "directly or indirectly addresses the issue," says Alexander von Bismarck, senior investigator with the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a non profit environmental group. EIA recently released a report documenting how illegal shipments of a threatened Indonesian tree species make their way into the United States via Singapore. Illegal logging is "conspicuously absent" from the free trade agreement with Singapore, von Bismarck says. The agreement, which supporters say will bolster global free trade and benefit U.S. exporters, does include a Memorandum of Intent on environmental concerns and a call for biennial meetings. But no action plan has been developed and without aggressive action, the illegal timber trade will continue to flow through Singapore, von Bismarck warns. The species that EIA's report documents - called Ramin - is illegally cut in Indonesia, laundered by smugglers in Singapore, and sold on the U.S. market as pool cues and picture frames. U.S. customs authorities at the Department of Agriculture have made more seizures of illegal Ramin shipments in the last year than any other product. EIA has documented that over a period of ten months from 2001 to 2002, 324 shipments of Ramin valued at $11,388,746 entered the US from Singapore alone. Eighty percent of Ramin shipments coming from Singapore were shown to be illegal. "The Singaporean government has the power to stop illegal trade, but they choose not to," von Bismarck said. The United States needs to engage in a bilateral enforcement initiative with Singapore, take concrete steps to coordinate enforcement efforts, and set up a task force to look into the illegal Ramin trade in the United States, von Bismarck said.
NRC Okays Restart of South Texas Nuclear Plant BAY CITY, Texas, August 4, 2003 (ENS) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) says that the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company has completed all necessary actions for the safe restart of South Texas Project Unit 1 following repairs to pipes in the bottom of the reactor vessel.The staff of the plant discovered leaks in two of the 58 pipes where instruments penetrate the bottom of the reactor vessel on April 12, when Unit 1 was shut down for a refueling outage. Small deposits of boron crystals were identified at two bottom mounted instrumentation penetrations, indicating a possible leak of reactor coolant. The water that circulates through a pressurized water reactor to cool the nuclear fuel contains a low concentration of boric acid. This borated water can potentially leak through flanges, pump and valve seals, and other parts of the reactor cooling system and cause corrosion. The NRC began an inspection at Unit 1 on May 5 to review the circumstances of the discovery, the licensee's root cause analysis and the adequacy of the licensee's repairs. The repair involved removal of the lower portion of the damaged pipe, replacing it with a new pipe that has improved resistance to corrosion, and welding it to the outside of the reactor vessel wall. NRC staff concluded that the repair was acceptable regardless of the cause of the leakage, which is still under investigation. "We believe that South Texas Project was proactive in identifying the leakage and was thorough and conservative in assessing the potential causes of the leakage and in completing repairs for the leakage," according to NRC Special Inspection Team leader Russ Bywater.
Wolverines Claw Closer to ESA Protection MISSOULA, Montana, August 4, 2003 (ENS) - A legal settlement announced last week calls for government biologists to make an initial determination whether the wolverine should be protected under the Endangered Species Act by October 15, 2003.The settlement, approved by a Montana federal court, jump starts a process under federal law that could yield new legal protections for one of the rarest wilderness wildlife species in the lower-48 states. "Wolverines need the protection of federal law," said attorney Tim Preso of the environmental law firm Earthjustice, who represented a coalition of conservation groups in the lawsuit that yielded the settlement. "Montana persists in allowing the trapping of wolverines, and the wolverine faces ever-increasing intrusions on its remaining wilderness habitat." The largest member of the weasel family, the wolverine is a bear-cub-sized forest predator that persists in small numbers in the last remaining big wilderness areas of the lower-48 states. It once ranged across the northernmost states from Maine to Washington, and south as far as the mountainous regions of New York, Arizona, New Mexico, and California. Although sporadic, unconfirmed wolverine reports continue in Oregon and California, today the wolverine is known to exist only in the northern Cascades of Washington and the Rocky Mountains of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Conservationists petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in July 2000 for the species to be added to the federal endangered species list. The Endangered Species Act requires the Fish and Wildlife Service to make a preliminary finding on the petition at the latest within one year of submission, but the agency has failed to take any action and the conservationists sued the service last October to force action on the petition. Under the settlement, the service must make an initial finding regarding listing of the wolverine by October 15 - if that finding is positive, the agency must undertake a full review of the wolverine's status, and must issue a final determination on listing the wolverine as an endangered species no later than February 2005.
Californians Eye More Wilderness Protection WASHINGTON, DC, August 4, 2003 (ENS) - Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, has introduced a new bill to designate some 2.5 million acres of public lands and 400 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers in California. The California Wild Heritage Act would also establish Salmon Restoration Areas, create the Sacramento River National Conservation Area and afford federal protection for the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest."The beauty of California is an integral part of our state identity," Boxer said. "As of last year, protected wilderness areas account for only 13 percent of the State of California. During the last 20 years, 675,000 acres of unprotected wilderness - approximately the size of Yosemite National Park - have lost their wilderness character due to all sorts of activities such as logging and mining." These areas would remain open for recreational activities including, horseback riding, fishing, hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, cross country skiing, and canoeing. Mining and drilling would be allowed to continue in areas where they are already occurring, but in the future such activities would be prohibited. "This wilderness bill preserves, prevents, and it protects. It preserves our most important lands, it prevents pollution and it protects our most endangered wildlife," said Boxer. "Now it is our turn to protect this legacy of wilderness for our future generations. It is our responsibility." Boxer says the legislation was developed after more than two years of consultation and research with local communities, ranchers, local leaders, elected officials, mountain bikers, businesses, youth camps, federal and state agencies, local property owners, and others. The bill could reinstate protections for some of the 35,000 acres of Wilderness Study Areas in California that lost protection in April, when the Bush administration settled a lawsuit over such designations. That settlement also prevented the Bureau of Land Management from considering its California lands for possible wilderness designation in its current planning processes. "This historic legislation will protect the future and prosperity of our state's rural economies," said Tim Alpers, owner of Owens River Ranch in Mammoth Lakes and former Mono County Supervisor. "The tourism industry in communities near our remaining wild places is supported by horse-back riders, anglers, hunters and countless others who are seeking recreational opportunities in the splendor of the great outdoors." The bill will be introduced in the House as two bills - the Northern California wilderness bill sponsored by Representative Mike Thompson and the Southern California wilderness bill sponsored by Representative Hilda Solis. Both Solis and Thompson are Democrats.
Alaska Conservationists Urge Protection of Wildlife Refuges KENAI NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Alaska, August 4, 2003 (ENS) - Alaskan conservationists took to the air Saturday to protest the Bush administration's efforts to open Alaska's National Wildlife Refuges to oil and gas exploration and drilling."Alaskans Say Don't Drill Our Refuges!" read a banner towed behind a small plane circling overhead the Refuge Centennial events at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. A broad coalition of conservation groups from across the state echoed that message, reminding Secretary Gale Norton of her responsibility to protect all of the sanctuaries in America's national wildlife refuge system from exploitation by corporate special interests. "These refuges belong to all Americans, but they are especially important to us here in Alaska," said Randy Virgin, executive director of Alaska Center for the Environment. "Secretary Norton needs to understand that the things she is proposing will do real harm to these spectacular places, and that all Alaskans - not just commercial oil companies - deserve to be listened to when these decisions are made." Much of the debate over oil and gas drilling has centered on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) but conservationists say even more is at stake than just ANWR. They note that a 1999 determination by Kenai National Wildlife Refuge staff found oil and gas development to be incompatible with the purposes for which the Refuge was created, and a 2001 Contaminants Assessment by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service scientists documented hundreds of spills affecting habitat and wildlife in the Kenai Refuge. "The sorry legacy of heavy industry in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge underscores exactly why we should not drill in other refuges in Alaska," said Bob Shavelson of Cook Inlet Keeper. "The Bush administration's 'drill everywhere policy' ignores a central reality: when the oil and gas are gone, so are the jobs for Alaskans. All we were left with are toxic waste sites, big clean-up bills and denuded habitats." The administration says that modern oil and gas drilling techniques can minimize the environmental impacts and has lobbied hard to open ANWR. The Senate rejected a measure to open ANWR earlier this year, but such a provision remains in the House energy bill.
Green Tea's Cancer Fighting Allure Intrigues Scientists ROCHESTER, New York, August 4, 2003 (ENS) - Scientists have discovered that chemicals in green tea shut down one of the key molecules in tobacco that causes cancer. The finding indicates that green tea's ability to fight cancer is more potent and varied than previously suspected and could explain why people who drink green tea are less likely to develop cancer, the researchers report.The discovery by scientists at the University of Rochester's Environmental Health Science Center appears in the July 21 issue of Chemical Research in Toxicology, published by the American Chemical Society. While green tea has been noted for its anti-cancer effects as well as other purported abilities such as preventing rheumatoid arthritis and lowering cholesterol, just how the substance works has been a mystery. Scientists do know that green tea contains chemicals that are anti-oxidants and quench harmful molecules, but this study is the first to thoroughly evaluate its effects on a molecule known as the aryl hydrocarbon (AH) receptor. This molecule frequently plays a role in turning on genes that are oftentimes harmful and University of Rochester professor Thomas Gasiewicz has previously shown how both tobacco smoke and dioxin manipulate the molecule to cause havoc within the body. For this latest study, Gasiewicz and graduate student Christine Palermo isolated the chemicals that make up green tea and found two that inhibit AH activity. The two substances, epigallocatechingallate (EGCG) and epigallocatechin (EGC), are close molecular cousins to other flavonoids found in broccoli, cabbage, grapes and red wine that are known to help prevent cancer. The study found that the chemicals shut down the AH receptor in cancerous mouse cells, and early results indicate the same is true in human cells as well. "It is likely that the compounds in green tea act through many different pathways," says Gasiewicz, professor and chair of Environmental Medicine and director of Rochester's Environmental Health Science Center. "Green tea may work differently than we thought to exert its anti-cancer activity." In the laboratory the AH-inhibiting effects of green tea become evident when EGCG and EGC reach levels typical of those found in a cup of green tea. But the scientists say that how green tea is metabolized by the body is crucial to its effectiveness, and that results in the laboratory don't necessarily translate directly to the dinner table. "Right now we do not know if drinking the amount of green tea that a person normally drinks would make a difference, but the work is giving us insight into how the proteins work," says Palermo, who enjoys cold green tea herself. "There are a lot of differences between various kinds of green tea, so a lot more research is needed."
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