June 30, 2009: Volume VII, #25
"Global warming is the defining environmental issue of our time." |
In this issue
1) Take Action: Don't Let Toxic Waste Slip Through the Cracks! |
1) Take Action: Don't Let Toxic Waste Slip Through the Cracks!
With one of its last pen strokes, the Bush Administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exempted 1.5 million tons of hazardous waste from vital laws that safeguard our communities while excusing thousands of companies from complying with rules that protect human health and the environment. Just some of the hazardous waste that could slip through the cracks includes mercury, lead, and arsenic -- which are potent neurotoxins and carcinogens. The Obama administration must act now!
The EPA will consider withdrawing this dangerous rule and is asking the public to submit comments.
Tell the EPA to restore vital public health and environmental safeguards!
2) Take Action: Don't Drill in Alaska's Bristol Bay
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is currently reviewing existing and new Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leasing programs that call for a massive expansion of drilling leasing in our nation’s Arctic waters, including the fish-rich Bristol Bay and southeast Bering Sea.
Now is the height of the salmon season and millions of sockeye and red salmon are returning to their home streams to spawn. These fish recently swam through waters that are currently slated for leasing, which threatens the multi-million dollar fishing industry and the thousands of people that rely on the salmon runs.
Write to Secretary Salazar and tell him to permanently remove Bristol Bay from the OCS Leasing Program.
3) Victory: Coal Ash Sites Disclosed
On Monday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released information regarding the locations of 44 "high hazard potential" coal combustion waste facilities (or coal ash impoundments), previously kept a secret from the public. On June 19, Sierra Club and its allies filed a Freedom of Information Act request to force EPA to make these sites known to the public.
We've mapped all these sites on Google Maps for you to utilize, so take a look now to see how close you might be to a high-hazard coal ash site.
Now that EPA has compiled this list of "high hazard potential" sites, the next step is to clean these sites up expeditiously, so that they no longer present a hazard to downstream communities.
4) Energy Independence: Celebrate July 4th
This Saturday is America’s birthday, so why not take this Independence Day as a starting point to work on becoming a little more energy independent yourself? Wish a real happy birthday to the U.S. by becoming energy efficient. Use our page of energy efficiency tips to give the gift that keeps on giving with energy bill savings and less impact on our planet.
Have a happy, safe and efficient 4th of July!