January 12, 1999
1) Sierra Club Releases ADEM Reform Platform
2) Public Employees for the Environment - Check Out PEER
3) Follow the Money - Center for Responsive Politics
4) Important Conferences and Meetings Upcoming
5) Send the KKK a Non-Violent Message On Saturday
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1. Sierra Club's ADEM Reform Platform - Inside the "Winter"
edition of the
Alabama Sierran, the Alabama Chapter of the Sierra Club's newsletter,
appeared an article outlining the Club's ambitious ADEM Reform
platform. The
following are the initial reforms proposed by the Sierra Club.
* These
"platform planks" come directly from the newsletter.
(1). Restructure Appointment Selection Process - Alabama Environmental
Management Commission appointments must be merit based and must
include two
(2) new members representing the environmental community.
(2). Institute Bad Operator Law - Require that ADEM check legal
compliance
history of industries wanting to locate in Alabama before granting
environmental permits. We should not let corporations locate in
Alabama that
have been bad neighbors in other states.
(3). Enforce All Environmental Laws and Regulations - Allocate
more financial
resources for enforcement of environmental laws in the ADEM budget.
Fines
for noncompliance with environmental regulations must be increased
to levels
that would prevent continued noncompliance.
(4). Institute Zero Tolerance Policy for Polluters - Require
that ADEM
institute and enforce a zero tolerance policy for all permit violations.
Require ADEM to strictly adhere to OSHA, NOSHA, EPA, and ADEM
regulations
with no variances allowed.
For more information about Sierra Club's ADEM Reform Campaign,
contact the
Club at: 205-333-9153 or e-mail se-la.field@sierraclub.org
2. Public Employees for the Environment - For folks
who work for the
government, there is a national organization that has been formed
to support
public employees who are charged with protecting the environment.
Called
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), this
private
nonprofit organization works with and on behalf of employees to
effect
fundamental change in the way their resource agencies conduct
business.
According to the PEER website -'Public employees are on the cutting
edge of
environmental protection. Agency scientist, lawyers and investigators
are our
most effective line of defense against abuse of public lands,
toxic pollution
and threats to our health, our natural resources and wildlife."
Learn more
about PEER, and contact them at their website. PEER's address
is:
http://www.peer.org
3. "Follow the Money" In Alabama Politics
- Have you ever wondered who
"paid" for the last election this past November? Check
out the non-partisan
Center for Responsive Politics website, where you can find Alabama
Congressional campaign finance profiles. PAC's, contributor's,
fundraising
patterns - this site is a real eye opener for folks who feel obscene
amounts
of money from special interests are ruining our democratic system.
The web
address is: http://www.opensecrets.org/home/index.asp
4. A Special Event and Some Upcoming Conferences - This
week my mailbox was
filled with notice information about an important presentation
in Birmingham
and some valuable regional conferences. Please mark your calendars!!
This Thursday January 14th, 7:00 at the Birmingham Zoo, the
Cahaba Group of
the Sierra Club is presenting "Voices from the Appalachian
Mountains" by
Jennifer Tetterton of Appalachian Voices. Her presentation will
consist of a
slide show full of beautiful images of the Appalachian Mountains
and a
discussion about the adverse impact of air pollution on the Appalachian's
ecosystem.
"From Watersheds to Water Taps" a Southeast Regional
Safe Drinking Water
Summit - Organized by the Alabama Rivers Alliance this regional
conference
will be held on February 5 -6 (starting at 10:30 that Friday)
at the Georgia
Institute of Technology Student Center in Atlanta. For more info
call the
Alabama Rivers Alliance at 205-322-6395. Scholarships are available.
State of the Rivers Conference - Organized by the World Wildlife
Fund (WWF),
this regional conference is part of WWF's Living Planet Campaign.
At this
conference participants will learn about the current state of
aquatic
biology, water quality and hydrology in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.
There will be field trips and many opportunities to form partnerships.
The
conference will be held at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel, March
14-17 in
Chattanooga, Tennessee. Register online at:
http://www.worldwildlife.org/news/news/rivers
or call 202-861-8369. The
deadline is February 21.
5. Send the KKK a Non-Violent Message On Saturday -
I know this is not an
environmental story, but I believe it is an important Alabama
news item.
This coming Saturday the KKK will be holding a parade/rally in
downtown
Birmingham. The rally intends to provoke passions and negative
responses the
weekend before the MLK holiday on Monday. Last year, the KKK rallied
in
Memphis resulting in some violence between the Klan and some counter
demonstrators.
In Birmingham, civic leaders are asking people to ignore the
KKK on Saturday,
and wear yellow ribbons in support of racial harmony and non-violence.
I am proud to provide folks with another option on Saturday.
My church, St.
Andrews Episcopal Parish along with several local churches will
be defying
the KKK by asking people to donate bedsheets (new or 'nice"
used) between
1:00-3:00 Saturday afternoon at the church. The sheets will be
given to
homeless shelters throughout Birmingham. Now talk about turning
a negative
into a positive!!
I believe this event will be a powerful non-violent symbolic
gesture that
will effectively counteract the KKK rally. For more information
about the
event, please call St. Andrew's Parish at 205-251-7898.
Please share BEN with friends and fellow conservationists.
If you have any questions about BEN, contact Pat Byington at
205-226-7739 or pkbyington@aol.com
