The President and EPA are asking for your input - now's the time to tell them!

Dear James,

Stop Global Warming to Protect Our Water

We need to act now on global warming to build a new clean energy economy and reduce threats to our drinking water supplies from climate-related droughts, floods and saltwater contamination.

If you are interested in how we can work together to protect water resources by curbing global warming while transitioning to a clean energy economy, please take action today!

The good news is that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently made a formal determination that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare. The EPA's proposed findings state that "warming of the climate system is unequivocal…Overall risk to human health, society and the environment increases with increases in both the rate and magnitude of climate change."¹

For eight years the Bush administration resisted action on global warming, claiming that emissions of heat trapping gases were not pollution. But the Administration was wrong and this EPA, guided by the leadership of President Obama and EPA Secretary Lisa Jackson, is setting the record straight.

A decade of inaction has left our economy increasingly dependent on fossil fuels and at risk for climate-related disruption. We need to act now on global warming to build a new clean energy economy and reduce threats to our drinking water supplies from climate-related droughts, floods and saltwater contamination.

Please e-mail EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to ask her agency to begin the process of creating new programs and regulations to reduce global warming pollution from power plants, vehicles, fuels and other sources. The deadline for public comments is June 23rd, 2009.

Thank you!

Christine LeMieux
Global Warming and Energy Programs Coordinator

¹EPA Finds Greenhouse Gases Pose Threat to Public Health, Welfare / Proposed Finding Comes in Response to 2007 Supreme Court Ruling

UPDATED ACTION ALERT PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!

Malaysian Govt. Denies Well Documented Oil Palm Development Plans in Brazilian Amazon

By Rainforest Rescue with Ecological Internet's Climate Ark
http://www.regenwald.org/international/englisch/ & http://www.climateark.org/
May 21, 2009

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW:
http://www.climateark.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=amazon_oil_palm

In a startling yet welcome announcement, Malaysian government's land agency now denies plans to produce oil palm in the Amazon. While the prospect of a Malaysian government agency funding Amazonian oil palm has been dealt a serious setback, it is likely this project will re-emerge. Let's get formal commitment from the Malaysian government that this project is canceled, and to stop all Malaysian government and private industry funding of oil palm expansion overseas. Maybe, just maybe, we are winning this one!

BRIEF UPDATE:

In a positive yet puzzling development, a spokesperson for the Malaysian government's federal land agency (FELDA) now denies plan for Malaysian government controlled oil palm development in the heart of the Amazon ever existed. Wan Zaleha Wan Embong, from FELDA's Public Relations Department, has been responding to our network's protest emails, disavowing the plans and stating "for your info the project never take (sic) place." The sudden change of plans is either an attempt to save face, the project has been cancelled due to our protests and/or economic difficulties, or deceitful politics as the project is reorganized with private rather than government capital.
In July of 2008, Malaysia's own Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (then Deputy) announced the project. He is widely reported to have said Felda Global Ventures Brazil Sdn Bhd would invest some RM25mil (US$7.12mil) for a 70% stake in the project near the Amazon River in Brazil. He is quoted when announcing Felda's foray in South America as saying "Felda wants to emulate Petronas as a global player… As a start, 20,000ha in Tefe will be opened for oil palm planting. After that, between 3,000ha and 5,000ha will be opened yearly." As recently as March 25, 2009, Brazilian ambassador to Malaysia, Sergio Arruda, reportedly stated the oil palm cultivation project would commence this year.
Something has changed over the last 8 weeks. It appears our protest by 3,082 people from 78 countries, in which 101,611 protest emails were sent, seems to have deeply embarrassed the Malaysian government. Immediately after our alert launched, references to plans by Malaysia‘s federal land agency to establish up to 100,000 hectares of oil palm plantations in the heart of Brazil's Amazon rainforest were systematically removed from FELDA's Internet servers. And Streamyx, the monopoly Internet service provider in Malaysia, stopped delivering emails referring to Malaysia's global rainforest for oil palm land grab.

Subsequently it has become known that Sime Darby, a Malaysian palm oil producer, plans to invest $800 million for 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) of palm oil and rubber plantations in Liberia. FELDA already has large holdings at the expense of rainforests in Papua New Guinea, and oil palm biodiesel plant investments in the U.S. Please send/resend the updated protest email, asking for confirmation that FELDA will no longer consider developing oil palm in the Amazon or Papua New Guinea rainforests, and will stop private Malaysian industry from doing so as well.

TAKE ACTION NOW:
http://www.climateark.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=amazon_oil_palm

Hi JAMES,

Your immediate action is urgently needed now to prevent bills from being passed that will harm the environment and jeopardize the health and welfare of our citizens, endangered manatees, and our unique wildlife.

In a few days, Americans will be celebrating Earth Day, but with so much proposed legislation on the table that undermines environmental protection, we wonder if there will be anything to celebrate about! That's why we need your help.

We are about two weeks from the end of the Florida Legislative Session and developers, along with many legislators, are hard at work trying to weaken Florida's permitting process claiming government regulation is causing them economic hardship. However, a March 20th editorial in The Miami Herald had this to say, "Speculation-fueled development, not government regulation, is what caused Florida's economic downfall."

Our Tallahassee Advocacy Team is also hard at work trying to prevent these bad bills from becoming law, but this battle does not come cheap. Please make a donation now and be as generous as you can be so we can continue to be a strong voice for endangered manatee and habitat protection.

Developers have introduced bills that reduce their responsibilities for adverse impacts to the environment, leaving it to taxpayers to subsidize their profit-making actions. It will be the taxpayers who will pay for the cost of growth, like schools and roadways, if developers have their way. They want to make it easier to build more homes in wetlands, destroy more seagrasses, and put wildlife and water quality at greater risk, even though there are now more than 300,000 homes in Florida standing vacant.

For instance, many legislators are in favor of a bill introduced by Senator Mike Bennett (R-Bradenton) to weaken Florida's Department of Community Affairs (DCA), the chief agency in the state that regulates growth, by either abolishing or reorganizing the agency and cutting staff that review proposed changes to local growth plans. According to a March 23rd editorial in the Orlando Sentinel, "Far from being a cumbersome, redundant bureaucracy, DCA often is the only backstop to local governments running roughshod over those growth plans and other laws intended to guard the state's imperiled wildlife, watersheds, and environmental jewels."

Please click here for yet more bills that weaken natural resource protection.

This is not the first time -- nor will it be the last -- that developers have tried to "streamline" the permitting process so they can enjoy yet more profits from destroying environmentally sensitive lands with fewer regulations to safeguard our natural resources. "Streamlining" is really another word for "derailing" environmental protection!

Just in the last two years, with your financial support, Save the Manatee Club:

• Helped to defeat a bill limiting the protection of fresh water springs, and another bill that would have allowed a Naples, Florida developer to build a project that would have harmed many manatees.
• Opposed draft state rules for: general permits for dredging in Lee County, Florida; and for boat ramp development, both of which would have eliminated in-depth scientific reviews.
• Led efforts that stopped a 500-slip commercial marina from being built in a sensitive state aquatic preserve.
• Continues to review individual proposed permits for shoreline development to ensure that sufficient manatee and habitat protection measures are included in the permits.

1. Send an urgent online letter to Florida Governor Charlie Crist and let him know that you are depending on him to veto any bills that weaken environmental protection and/or state agencies that regulate growth. Please check back after the legislative session ends in early May for any further action you may need to take.

Hey There,

We didn't cause this economic crisis-but we sure are paying the price for the banks' mistakes. The biggest and baddest bank is Ken Lewis' Bank of America. With loans, credit cards and other products to almost half of all Americans, they played a central role in creating this recession - but have come out smelling like a rose.

B-of-A has survived because they took $45 billion in taxpayer bailouts, making us the single largest shareholders of the bank - and that gives us a chance to change their ways. So Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a big national union, and other progressive groups are forming a huge coalition to take down Ken Lewis.

Sign a proxy card demanding that Ken Lewis be fired, and that Bank of America support a fair finance system for us all.

http://act.truemajorityaction.org/p/7002/bluepetition?petition_KEY=118

Thanks!

Jim

Did you know that despite talk of a global water crisis, here in the United States we don't even know how much water we have, where it is, or how it is being used?  This Wednesday, Earth Day, Congress is voting on a bill that would implement a National Water Census that would help us find out.

I just asked my representative to support HR 1145 and National Water Census. You should, too.

Email your representative today and ask them to support HR 1145, the National Water Research and Development Initiative Act. 

Thank you,

Jim

P.S Don't forget to forward.

TAKE ACTION TO STOP HORSE SLAUGHTER IN THE UNITED STATES

An important step toward restoring balance and fairness to our economy was taken today--the Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Now that the fight has moved to the halls of Congress, we need to take our campaign to the next level--and give more workers a shot at the American Dream.

Congress will debate and vote on this important bill soon. Your senators and representative need to hear from people back home immediately--they're already hearing from corporate interests.

SEIU President Andy Stern and SEIU member Regina Schwartz recorded a video message for you about the Employee Free Choice Act.  Please click here to watch the video and ask your Members of Congress to actively support the Employee Free Choice Act.

With the most pro-working family Congress in years, and President Obama committed to the cause, this is our best chance yet to pass this bill. But it's not yet a done deal.

Corporate special interests are twisting arms, spending millions on misleading ads and spreading lies and propaganda to block the bill. We've got to put pressure on members of Congress who haven't signed on--and make sure those who support the bill stay strong.

There's not a moment to lose--watch our short video and email your Members of Congress right now!

The stakes couldn't be higher--giving more workers a fair chance to bargain for better pay, benefits and job security will help restore the struggling middle class and make the economy work for everyone.

Now that the bill has been introduced, it's time for your Members of Congress to hear directly from you.

Thanks for all you do.

In solidarity,

Michael Whitney
Change that Works
SEIU.org

Dear JAMES,

What's your vision for our national parks? The National Parks Second Century Commission is made up of nearly 30 national leaders, experts and thinkers drawn from a broad range of backgrounds, including scientists, historians, conservationists, academics, business leaders, policy experts, and retired National Park Service officials. The commission is examining the role of the national parks today and will articulate a bold vision of a future where national parks continue to enrich and ennoble this nation and its citizens. 

Here's where you come in. Share with the commission your vision for the national parks.

Between now and March 6th, the commission will be holding public meetings and soliciting feedback from Americans on what they want to see for the national parks. The commission has come up with a set of questions to solicit from the public, and any additional thoughts on these, and other topics are welcome:

• How can national parks become more relevant to everyone in America's increasingly diverse population?
• How should national parks and the programs at national parks change to meet emerging interests in the future?
• How can the National Park Service better lead and assist our nation's citizens and communities in preserving important historic and material culture outside the national parks?
• What role should national parks play in our society to help address issues such as climate change and the massive loss of plant and animal species predicted for the 21st century?
• How do you envision the National Park System fitting into a national network of protected areas, including areas managed by other federal agencies and private landowners? 
• What is the role of the national parks in American education and life long learning? 

Over the next few weeks, the commission will be analyzing your comments, and we would love to have you share your thoughts with the commission. Write them today and let them know what you want to see for the future of our parks. Don't wait, you only have until March 6th to weigh in. Send your comments today!

Dear colleagues,
The press release and alert regarding Canada's Tar Sands
may be the most important climate alert we have ever done.
Please send the alert at:
http://www.climateark.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=obama_tar_sands

It would be a global disaster if tar sands were exempted
from future global warming regulation. Please forward the
release and alert to friends and media in your area.
For the Earth,
Dr. Glen Barry
**************************

PRESS/SOCIAL MEDIA RELEASE
President Obama Urged to Say No to Canada's Tar Sands

- Canadian government wants special treatment for the
world's dirtiest oil. In first international trip,
President Obama must stand strong on clean energy and
sufficient climate policies.

February 16, 2009
By Earth's Newsdesk, a project of Ecological Internet
http://www.ecoearth.info/newsdesk/
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org

(Seattle, WA) -- On February 19, President Barack Obama
travels to Canada on his first international trip as
President, where he will face pressure from the
Government of Canada to support production of Alberta's
filthy tar sands oil. An international network of
environmental groups has launched the "Obama2Canada"
campaign[1] urging President Obama to stand strong on his
new energy economy agenda and reject entreaties from
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to shelter the
dirtiest oil on earth from global warming regulation.

"Tar sands oil is the dirtiest form of energy in the
world. It has no place in President Obama's plans for a
clean energy economy," said Sierra Club Dirty Fuels
Campaign Coordinator Pat Gallagher. "Tar sands oil
accelerates global warming. It destroys forests. It
endangers public health. Instead of importing this
expensive, dirty oil, we can invest in clean energy that
will create millions of much-needed, sustainable jobs."

Called oil sands by proponents, tar sands are the very
dirtiest of fossil fuels. Producing oil from tar sands
emits three times the global warming pollution as
conventional oil, requires excessive amounts of energy
and fresh water, and destroys huge swaths of ancient
boreal forest. Given its massive carbon footprint, tar
sands would almost certainly prove unviable under any
reasonable climate change regulations. Along with ending
the use of coal and old growth forest destruction,
stopping tar sands is essential global climate policy
required to maintain an operable atmosphere.

### MORE ###

Ecological Internet's Earth Action Network has launched
an independent affinity email protest campaign[2]. There
global citizens can let the new President know how
seriously they take climate change, urge him to reject
tar sands, and support further immediate urgent action in
pursuit of sufficient climate change policies.

"This may be our most important climate campaign ever.
Tar sands development is the most ecologically
destructive project in the world. When fully developed,
tar sands will indefinitely continue North America's
addiction to climate destroying fossil fuels, ensuring
abrupt and runaway climate change exceeds safe levels.
There is virtually no chance of minimizing climate change
and achieving global ecological sustainability should tar
sands production continue or expand," says Ecological
Internet President Dr. Glen Barry.

### ENDS ###

[1] Obama2Canada Contacts:
Kristina Johnson, Sierra Club (415) 977-5619
Jennifer Foulds, Environmental Defence Canada, (416) 323-
9521 x 232
Lisa McCrummen, Obama2Canada: (206) 321-9461

More information, including photos, B-roll video and
other campaign materials are available on
http://www.obama2canada.org/

[2] TAKE ACTION:
Urge President Obama to Say No to Canada's Filthy Tar Sands
http://www.climateark.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=obama_tar_sands

DISCUSS RELEASE:
http://www.climateark.org/blog/2009/02/release-president-obama-urged.asp