• Bush Signs Smaller Energy Bill Without Fanfare
  
• Oil Spill Fouls New York Waters
  
• EPA Urged to Adopt Renewables, Efficiency
  
• Water Crisis in North Dakota
  
• Peggy Shepard Wins $250,000 Heinz Environment Prize
  
• 100 Alaska Salmon Products Certified Sustainable
  
• New Jersey Launches Website to Save the Highlands
  
• Illinois Spends $75,000 on Keeping Beautiful
  

Bush Signs Smaller Energy Bill Without Fanfare

The energy and water bill signed Monday provides fiscal year 2004 appropriations for the Department of Energy (DOE), the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation, and several smaller agencies. This bill is $1.19 billion above fiscal year 2003 and $382 million above the President’s budget request.

Of the measure’s total appropriation, 60 percent is for defense activities, such as nuclear weapons research and production. The bill provides $580 million for the licensing and construction of a controversial permanent nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada over the protests of the Nevada Congressional delegation, both Republicans and Democrats. This funding level is $123 million more than fiscal year 2003.

The bill allocates $6.3 billion for nuclear weapons development - a $358 million increase over fiscal 2003. There is $7.5 million in the measure for the Energy Department to research and develop smaller nuclear bombs known as bunker busters, about half of what President Bush requested. Defense nuclear nonproliferation programs are funded at $1.37 billion.

Funding of $7.6 billion is provided for DOE environmental management cleanup activities, that are dealing with more than 50 years of radioactive contamination from the nation's production of nuclear weapons. This amount is $134 million less than the President's budget request and $2.16 billion over last year.

According to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young, a Florida Republican, this level of funding for cleanup at nuclear sites reflects the Bush administration's "commitment to accelerate cleanup schedules at contaminated sites throughout the country, thus reducing public health and safety risks as well as total life-cycle cleanup costs."

The legislation provides increases for nuclear weapons research while cutting money for Army Corps of Engineers water projects.

The Energy Department will receive $22 billion, a $1.2 billion increase over fiscal 2003. The U.S. Army Corps will receive $4.6 billion, about $127 million less than in fiscal 2003.

The measure includes $349.4 million for renewable energy programs, $104.8 million below the budget request and $80.1 million below fiscal year 2003.

Much of this apparent reduction represents a transfer to the new Office of Electricity Transmission and Distribution, as recommended by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.

Oil Spill Fouls New York Waters

The line connecting the Cyprus flagged freighter 'Brussel" and the tank barge Newark Bay ruptured this morning during a loading operation.

A containment barrier has been set up around the freighter and the barge. Crews are working to contain the oil in the location of the spill off northern Staten Island near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, but it has already been sighted about four miles away on the Norton's Point less than a mile from Coney Island Beach in Brooklyn.

Personnel from the U.S. Coast Guard Environmental Protection office and the New York Department of Conservation responded to the spill, and have sent teams to the area to monitor the spill.

The Coast Guard and the New York Police Department have launched an investigation into the cause of the incident, flying over the scene in a helicopter to assess the extent of the damage.

The freighter's operator, SMT Ship Management and Transportation Co. has hired Millers Environmental Services to assist in the cleanup, the Coast Guard said.

EPA Urged to Adopt Renewables, Efficiency

In a letter to the new EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt, the groups urged energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies as solutions to the nation’s environmental, public health, and energy import problems.

"Climate change caused in large part by emissions of carbon dioxide," should be the EPA's top priority, the groups wrote, urging that Leavitt "take the lead in designing and helping to implement a more ambitious goal for the administration's carbon intensity policy.

They warn that the Bush administration's current climate change policy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions per dollar of Gross Domestic Product by 18 percent over the next 10 years, will allow actual emissions to increase by 14 percent over that 10 year period.

The letter was signed by industry groups American Solar Energy Society and the American Wind Energy Association, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, among others.

They stressed the success of the EPA's Energy Star program, but warned that this program has been targeted for funding cuts. They quoted the government’s own figures, that show that in 2002 Americans, with the help of Energy Star, including the Ag Star program, saved enough energy to power 10 million homes and avoid greenhouse gas emissions from 12 million cars - all while saving $6 billion.

The groups recommend that the EPA seek to establish the Energy Star program as a separate line-item within the EPA budget and propose annual funding increases of 10 percent beginning in 2005 and continuing through 2008.

The U.S. Combined Heat and Power Association, an industry organization signed the letter, which urges Leavitt to actively implement the Combined Heat and Power Partnership, which works with industry, state and local governments, universities, and other institutional users to facilitate the development of efficient combined heat and power projects and has set a goal of doubling national combined heat and power capacity by 2010.

The coalition suggests using renewable energy in all EPA facilities, employing biomass based phytoremediation technologies for waste cleanup, and clearing the way for 22 percent ethanol automotive blends to help address evaporative emissions concerns.

The Sustainable Energy Coalition is a coalition of 65 national and state level business, environmental, consumer, and energy policy organizations which collectively represent several thousand companies, municipal utilities, and community organizations. Founded in 1992, the coalition works to promote increased use of energy efficient and renewable energy techologies.

Water Crisis in North Dakota

Governor John Hoeven sent a letter last week to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwestern Division chief Brig. General William Grisoli demanding that the Corps recharge the upland reservoirs and include substantive drought conservation measures in its upcoming Annual Operating Plan and Master Manual.

On November 25, Hoeven proclaimed a water emergency on the Missouri River in response to the water shortage on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Emergency proclamations have now been issued for both Lake Oahe and Lake Sakakawea.

Hoeven issued an emergency declaration for Parshall on November 7 and for Fort Yates on November 25, which together encompass both of North Dakota’s major reservoirs, Lakes Sakakawea and Oahe. On Friday, the governor dispatched National Guard troops and Department of Transportation water trucks to Fort Yates with potable water for drinking and additional water for heating systems.

Also at risk are the communities of Cannonball and Porcupine, which receive water from a congested Lake Oahe water intake pipe, the suspected cause of the shortage.

Hoeven said the state continues to press the Corps to step up and fund a permanent fix, which could cost $3 to 4 million dollars in Parshall and entail extending the pipeline nine miles into deeper water.

The Army Corps Omaha District Monday received permission to design and award a contract to make the community of Parshall’s water intake pipe perational. The contract calls for the installation of two water pumps and a dredging operation.

Estimates to correct the Fort Yates intake are not yet in.

“Because of the Army Corps of Engineers’ management of the river, more than 5,000 North Dakotans are confronting a risk to the health and security of their drinking water supply," Governor Hoeven said. “Low water levels on both Sakakawea and Oahe are impacting not just our recreation industry, but also the vital drinking water supply of our communities."

A new Army Corps of Engineers proposal for drought conservation on the Missouri River does not go far enough to protect upper basin environmental and commercial interests, the governor says.

“For the first time, the Corps’ proposal includes drought conservation measures, but they just don’t go far enough in the near term,” Hoeven said. “They would have been more beneficial for both the environment and the recreation industry three years ago, when the reservoirs were higher and we had more water in the lakes to conserve.”

Hoeven said the plan must incorporate additional conservation measures and further shorten the navigation season to address fully the environmental and commercial concerns of the upper basin states.

Historically, the Corps has managed the flow of the Missouri River to accommodate the downstream barge industry at the expense of upper basin tourism, recreational and environmental interests, according to Hoeven. The recreation industry in the upper basin accounts for about $85 million in annual economic activity, whereas the barge industry accounts for $7 million.

In September 2001, Hoeven obtained the signatures of six of the eight Missouri River Basin state governors in support of increased conservation measures on the river.

"We will continue to pursue our current legal challenge to the Corps’ management of the river, said Hoeven, "and in addition we explore a new suit that their management practices are impacting a vital use of the Missouri River.”

Peggy Shepard Wins $250,000 Heinz Environment Prize

"The health and vitality of the Earth begins at the community level, in every community," Shepard said, "and we must be vigilant to ensure that environmental justice is dispensed fairly and vigorously across the diverse landscape of America."

Established by Teresa Heinz in 1993 to honor the memory of her late husband, U.S. Senator John Heinz, a Republican of Pennsylvania, the Heinz Awards, recognize outstanding individuals for their contributions in the areas of Arts and Humanities, Environment, Human Condition, Public Policy, and Technology, the Economy and Employment.

"Peggy Shepard raised her voice and later a veritable army against a systemic form of racism that wittingly or not, sacrifices the environmental health of poor urban areas," said Teresa Heinz, chairman of the Heinz Family Foundation. "Today, the systematic nature of the environment and ill health have made all of us, and particularly children, claw and fight for environmental justice."

Shepard began her career as a journalist, becoming the first African-American beat reporter for the "Indianapolis News" before moving to New York in 1971 to begin a publishing career.

In 1979, she took the first of several positions with the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, work that helped prepare her for a career in social activism.

In 1988, concerned about foul odors emitted by the North River sewage treatment plant, she helped to organize an act of civil disobedience. Shepard and six other community organizers put on gas masks for a demonstration against the plant, and garnered publicity when they were arrested for holding up traffic near the plant.

Shortly after the demonstration, Shepard co-founded West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. (WE ACT). Four years later, WE ACT helped win a lawsuit against New York City, resulting in the creation of a $55 million odor abatement plan and a $1.1 million settlement fund for the benefit of the West Harlem community.

A talented coalition builder, Shepard has turned a small group of volunteers into a professionally staffed environmental justice organization, both in northern Manhattan and nationally.

She rallied the support of political leaders and the Transit Workers Union in a public education campaign that is helping New York City make a transition to natural gas from gasoline powered buses and depots.

Shepard organized an academic community collaboration through Columbia University's Center for Children's Environmental Health to improve children's environmental health in northern Manhattan and the South Bronx.

She is the principal investigator of the Northern Manhattan Environmental Justice Partnership and a board member of the New York League of Conservation Voters, among numerous other posts.

Under Shepard's leadership, WE ACT operates programs in environmental health, environmental education, and community and youth empowerment. It also has cooperative partnerships with physicians and scientists at leading medical institutions, labor unions and environmental, public health and urban organizations.

"This is a cause that is closer to its beginning than its end," said Shepherd, "and I hope that this prestigious award helps to raise public consciousness for the need to accelerate our collective commitment toward improving the environmental quality of urban and rural areas alike. I want to thank the Heinz Family Foundation, whose own record of environmental achievement is itself impressive."

Past recipients of the Heinz Award for Environment include Love Canal activist Lois Gibbs and marine biologist Jane Lubchenco.

100 Alaska Salmon Products Certified Sustainable

The 100th salmon product to bear the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) logo is a new Alaska sockeye salmon burger created by Wildcatch, available in supermarkets across the country.

The Marine Stewardship Council was founded in 1997 by the World Wildlife Fund and Unilever as a way to reward responsibly managed fisheries. Today, the organization is independent of its founders and operates offices in London, Seattle and Sydney.

The international, nonprofit council awards its eco-label to fisheries meeting a strict environmental standard. The label is intended to give consumers a quick and easy way to identify seafood products which have not been overfished or harvested in ways which harm the marine environment.

The Alaska salmon fishery and all five of its salmon species earned Marine Stewardship Council certification in September 2000. Since then, more than 75 Alaska salmon suppliers have sought chain of custody or traceability certification.

“We are delighted to see so many salmon products carrying the MSC eco-label in just three years since the fishery was certified,” said Jim Humphreys, the MSC’s Americas regional director.

“Commercial and consumer preference for certified seafood products with the MSC eco-label is not only a way to reward well managed fisheries like Alaska salmon but it also provides great incentive for other fisheries to move toward more responsible management," Hunphreys said.

Whole Foods Market became the first U.S. retailer to promote its eco-labeled Alaska salmon products and continues to promote its growing line of MSC certified seafood products.

Xanterra Parks and Resorts became the first U.S. food service operation to use the logo in its restaurants. Other companies including SeaBear Smokehouse, Norm Thompson Outfitters, Wildcatch and Vital Choice offer eco-labeled Alaska salmon as do a number of European retailers and food service operations.

Seven fisheries have earned MSC certification: Alaska salmon, Western Australia rock lobster, Thames Blackwater herring, New Zealand hoki, Burry Inlet cockles, Western Handline mackerel, and Loch Torridon nephrops.

Eleven fisheries are in full assessment including Alaska halibut and sablefish and British Columbia salmon. More than two dozen fisheries are at other points in the MSC process. Overall, there are more than 180 MSC labeled seafood products in 14 countries.

The salmon fishery is an important part of the Alaska economy. The state Department of Fish & Game estimates the total value of the 2003 salmon fishery at $195 million.

New Jersey Launches Website to Save the Highlands

The region yields some 379 million gallons of water daily, but its drinking water sources and open space are experiencing tremendous pressure from population growth and development.

A new website located at: www.savethehighlands.org, will enable members of the public to share with state officials their priorities and suggestions for protecting the Highlands.

Governor James McGreevey said, “The new website gives New Jerseyans a quick and simple way to help us save the Highlands. It contains a survey and a comment form to allow individuals to provide input directly to our Highlands Task Force.”

The website contains educational and informational resources about the region and its importance to the state. It gives information about the Task Force and its goals as well as information on water quality, open space, farmland and smart growth.

McGreevey established the Highlands Task Force in September, with a charge of advancing conservation efforts and comprehensively reviewing measures that encourage land acquisition, regional planning and smart growth.

The panel will hold its first public on Thursday, December 4, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Cultural Center at Lewis Morris Park in Morristown.

McGreevey has made protecting open space and drinking water in the Highlands a top priority. The McGreevey administration has preserved 50 farms, including 4,589 acres of farmland in the Highlands, protected nearly 17,000 acres of open space in and around the Highlands, and applied C1 designation - the highest form of protection available - to seven waterbodies in the region.

This month, voters approved Public Question No. 1, which will provide $150 million toward the purchase of open space and farms throughout the state, including the Highlands region.

Illinois Spends $75,000 on Keeping Beautiful

Keep Illinois Beautiful is a part of Illinois First Lady Patricia Blagojevich's Beautification Initiative, which educates, promotes and encourages the public on the need for recycling and waste reduction.

“Regardless of whether you’re in school, at home or at work, people need to be aware of how they can help reduce the amount of trash going into our landfills,” Governor Blagojevich said. “Providing funding to these organizations for education on recycling and waste reduction will help keep our environment clean and support Illinois companies involved in recycling.”

Funding to the local units of government is passed through to locally certified Keep America Beautiful affiliates and has to be matched dollar-for-dollar locally. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), Bureau of Energy and Recycling administers the Keep Illinois Beautiful program.

“Recycling is a major industry in our state employing thousands of people,” said DCEO Director Jack Lavin. “When you take the time to recycle you are supporting these Illinois companies while being a steward of the environment.”

Funding provides support in four main areas: education for recycling and reducing solid waste; promoting recycling, litter and waste reduction; developing local markets for recycled content products; and, beautification projects.

Local initiatives include Adopt-A-Spot programs, recycling guides, classroom resources, and battery and Christmas tree recycling.