Action Center: See Action Results

Throughout the spring of 2002 more than 9,000 of you sent messages urging the Bush administration not to weaken key provisions of the Clean Air Act. The admininistration nevertheless decided to revise the act's "new source review" program in ways that will make it easier for older power plants, factories and refineries to pollute more, and on New Years' Eve 2002, the EPA quietly began putting the administration's plans in motion. Nine northeastern states immediately filed a lawsuit challenging the new rules (which represent the most sweeping rollback of the Clean Air Act in its 30-year history), and NRDC will file a similar suit in 2003. In the meantime thanks to all of you who attempted to persuade the Bush administration not to move forward with these harmful changes.

In June 2001 thousands of you sent official comments urging the EPA to strengthen regulations for factory farm pollution. (The EPA continued to delay issuing new rules for these huge livestock operations, but a consent decree between NRDC and the EPA compelled the agency to finalize new rules by December 15, 2002.) So in the midst of the holiday rush, the EPA announced on December 16 that instead of adopting rules that would keep animal waste out of rivers and lakes and hold corporate livestock owners responsible for spills and leaks, it was issuing rules that legalize contaminated runoff into nearby waters and shield corporate livestock owners from the environmental damage they cause. The new rules are widely viewed as a political payback for President Bush's campaign contributors (during the 2000 election, agribusiness contributed more than $2.6 million to the president's campaign, including more than half a million from the livestock industry alone). NRDC's attorneys are reviewing the rules' details and will consider legal action.

Since the Bush administration took office, NRDC Earth Activists have sent more than 10,000 messages urging it to uphold the landmark conservation rule issued in the final days of the Clinton administration that bans logging and roadbuilding in more than 58 million acres in our national forests. The administration, however, has done nothing but attempt to systematically weaken the rule, and declined to appeal a federal court ruling blocking the rule's implementation in a suit brought by Boise Cascade Corporation and the state of Idaho. NRDC and other environmental groups intervened in the case, however, and on December 12, 2002, a federal appeals court reversed the lower court and ruled that the "roadless rule" complies with federal law and should be enforced. While the court's decision is a resounding victory for the last wild portions of our national forests, the question remains whether the Bush administration will now begin enforcing the rule or continue trying to weaken and gut it. [See 2003 Action Results for later developments.]

In the spring of 2002 we asked you to send official comments urging the Bush administration to adopt National Park Service recommendations to eliminate snowmobiles in Yellowstone, Grand Teton and other national parks. Even though your response was overwhelming (NRDC activists sent more than 66,000 of the 360,000 total comments received during the comment period), the administration bowed to pressure from the snowmobile industry and on November 13, 2002, announced it will reverse the Park Service ban and instead actually increase the average daily number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone by 35 percent. The administration's decision ignores both widespread public support for phasing out snowmobiles (a whopping 80 percent of responders during the comment period advocated for the Park Service ban) as well as 10 years of research detailing the machines' harmful impacts on the health of the parks' air, water, wildlife and employees. The administration's new policy will need to go through another public comment process (most likely in February 2003), and the issue will also be raised in the 108th Congress, so we'll be calling on you to speak out on this issue yet again in the coming months. In the meantime, thanks to all of you for your amazing response.

In February 2002 we asked our California Activist Network to send messages to the Pacific Fishery Management Council, urging it to ban deadly longlines in west coast waters. Longlines are mile-long fishing lines baited with hundreds -- sometimes thousands -- of hooks that indiscriminately kill turtles, seabirds and fish that are not yet fully grown. The council received more mail on this issue than any other in its 26-year history (NRDC activists alone sent 1,700 messages) and, on October 29, 2002, adopted a final management plan that immediately prohibits longlines and includes several other measures that will help protect Pacific fish, turtles and other marine life. This is a tremendous victory, and we couldn't have done it without your help -- Thank you!

During two-and-a-half years beginning in the spring of 2000, NRDC's online activists sent more than 33,000 messages urging the creation of marine reserves within the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. On October 23, 2002, the California Fish and Game Commission finally voted to set aside 12 reserve areas (totaling 175 square miles) that will be completely off-limits to fishing effective January 1, 2003 (an additional area will be set aside for recreational-only fishing). The reserves, which will help reverse the alarming drop in populations of several marine species that were once plentiful off the California coast, will cover about 19 percent of the state waters surrounding the five islands that form the sanctuary and represent the largest marine protected area off the west coast. This is a hugely important victory for California's marine life, and in the coming months and years, we'll look to expand on this victory by working to establish reserves in the area's federal waters, as well as a network of reserves along the entire California coast. In the meantime, many thanks to all of you who kept up the pressure and helped achieve this landmark victory!

During Fall 2001 thousands of you submitted official comments urging the Environmental Protection Agency to adopt strong off-road vehicle emissions and engine regulations. On September 13, 2002, the EPA (responding to a court order obtained by environmental groups) finally announced the new rules, but instead of issuing stronger standards as environmentalists had hoped, the agency bowed to White House and industry pressure, and actually weakened the rules proposed a year earlier. The final rule gives snowmobile manufacturers two additional years, until 2012, to achieve emissions reduction targets. It also gives them more flexibility in how much of each pollutant they reduce, and allows all-terrain vehicles to emit 50 percent more pollution than under the original proposal. Environmental groups are weighing potential next steps but, in the meantime, thanks to all of you who contacted the EPA.

Throughout the fall of 2001 and the first half of 2002, California activists sent thousands of messages urging state legislators and Governor Davis to pass and sign a landmark bill that would make the state the first in the nation to reduce global warming pollution from automobiles. Despite fierce opposition from the auto industry, the legislature narrowly approved the bill in late June and early July, and Governor Davis signed the legislation into law on July 22, 2002. The new law, which represents a huge victory far beyond the Golden State's borders, directs the California Air Resources Board to adopt emissions-reductions standards by 2005, and automakers to comply by 2009. Perhaps just as important, the law is likely to become a national model as other states adopt its provisions. Thanks to all of you who helped make this historic law a reality.

In April 2002 we asked those of you living in New York City to contact City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and urge him to reject Mayor Bloomberg's budget proposal to suspend the recycling of metal, glass and plastic for 18 months. At the end of June 2002 (in the midst of the city's worst budget year in decades), the mayor and the city council reached a compromise on this issue. Most importantly, the compromise calls for continued recycling of metals (as well as of paper, which was not targeted for cutbacks), but the recycling of plastics and glass will be suspended for one and two years, respectively. Although the plastic and glass suspensions are a setback, the outpouring of support from NRDC activists and others helped preserve metals recycling and limit the plastic suspension to one year, and lead to the creation of a task force aimed at improving the efficiency of the city's program. Thanks to all who took action.

During the spring and early summer of 2002 activists sent thousands of messages urging Congress not to designate Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as the nation's sole repository of high-level nuclear waste until remaining safety and environmental issues could be satisfactorily resolved. Despite your messages (not to mention the risks of radiation contamination and transporting radioactive waste from nuclear power facilities across the country), both the House and Senate voted to override a veto of the site's designation by Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn (R), and the Bush administration has applied for a license for the site from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Gov. Guinn and environmental advocates -- including NRDC -- have vowed to fight the application in court, so this issue won't be resolved anytime soon. In the meantime, thanks to everyone who took action.

In April 2002 we asked activists to urge the Bush administration to continue to prohibit the mining industry from dumping waste from mountaintop removal mining (where the tops of mountains in Appalachia are blown up and then dumped in nearby valleys) into streams and wetlands. Despite more than 5,000 messages to the EPA, plus bipartisan opposition in Congress, the administration, at industry's behest, on May 3, 2002, announced its decision to legalize this practice, representing the most significant weakening of the Clean Water Act since its adoption in 1972. But just a few days later, a federal judge in West Virginia ruled that the administration had acted outside its authority and enjoined the Army Corps of Engineers from issuing any new permits for mountaintop removal mining. The administration is appealing the judge's decision, and Congress is also considering getting into the act, so stay tuned.

Despite intense pressure from the White House and a flurry of last-minute maneuvering by drilling proponents, on April 18, 2002, the Senate soundly defeated two energy bill amendments that would have allowed oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The votes represent a huge victory for NRDC activists, who sent hundreds of thousands of anti-drilling emails and faxes to Congress during the preceding year, as well as to the Arctic's caribou, polar bears, wolves, and millions of migratory birds. Despite the region's value to wildlife, however, the Bush administration -- with strong support from Alaska's senators and some other Republicans in Congress -- has continued to champion Arctic drilling as a cornerstone of its national energy plan, even though oil from the refuge would do little to reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil. While the Senate vote is a victory to be celebrated (thanks to all of you who helped achieve it!), it is hardly the end of the fight. The November 2002 elections resulted in control of the Senate being returned to a pro-drilling Republican leadership, so tough battles await in the 108th Congress. Check back often for the latest developments.

In April 2002 we asked activists in the Washington, DC metropolitan area to contact the Metro transit board and urge it to vote to purchase more clean natural gas buses (the board had been under intense pressure to go back to buying dirty diesel buses). After receiving hundreds of messages in just a few days, the board responded by voting (nearly unanimously) at its April 18, 2002, meeting to buy 250 additional new CNG buses over the next two years and to build an additional natural gas fueling station in Arlington, Virginia. The board's vote means that, by 2004, more than a quarter of Metro's entire DC-area bus fleet will be running on natural gas, cleaning up the air in the nation's capital and cutting oil consumption in the process. Thanks to all of you who took action!

In January 2002 we asked you to urge the Army Corps of Engineers to not issue limestone mining permits in the Everglades until environmental studies had been completed. Thousands of you responded, but instead of heeding your advice, on April 11, 2002, the Corps granted permits allowing 10 companies to mine more than 5,400 acres in the Everglades over the next 10 years. The new mining will more than double the number of limestone quarries in Everglades wetlands, destroying habitat and threatening drinking water supplies in the process. Thanks to everyone who contacted the Corps -- we're disappointed we don't have better news to report but we'll let you know of future opportunities to weigh in on Everglades restoration efforts, so check back often.

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