March, 1998
Table of Contents
Food Safety & Environment at Risk
Undercutting SuccessCancer Risk in Paper Workers
True Organic Farmers Protest Proposed USDA Rule
Specific Problems
What You Can Do
Important Public Hearing -- Glatfelter Paper Company Still Pollutes the Fox River
Mining in Wisconsin -- What Happens Now?
Whispered WarningsMercury in Fish
Local Risks are HighThe Race to Save Baird Creek Heights
Where Does Mercury Come From?
Mercury Rain
Old Coal-burners Are a Major Problem
No Laws to Keep Mercury Air Pollution Out of Fish
Mercury Cap Legislation Proposed
Protecting Our Resources
What You Can Do
Threatened by Housing DevelopmentLand-use Plans To Protect Biological Diversity
Donations Needed!
Re-Cap on Neenah Pollution Permit
What You Can DoBarbara Lawton at CW Banquet
Steve Abitz -- 1998 Volunteer of the YearPedal-Paddle-Plod Triathlon T-shirt is a Winner!
Alice McCombs -- 1998 Environmental Advocate
New Organizing Director Hired!
Food Safety & Environment at Risk
The “organic food” labeling standard proposed by the U.S. Dept. of
Agriculture (USDA) is so awful that most environmental and organic agriculture
leaders have demanded that the USDA withdraw the rule and start over.
The proposed rule would allow food to be labeled “organic” even when
grown or processed using chemicals or treatments which aren’t organic by
any stretch of the imagination.
The rule would allow conventional corporate and chemical farmers to
compete unfairly against thoughtful farmers who have invested honest work
and money in growing pure foods.
The proposed rule is inconsistent with established organic principles
and the recommendations of the National Organic Standards Board. (NOSB)
It also violates the original intent of the federal 1990 Organic Foods
Production Act passed by Congress. This act was supposed to be the basis
for the new rule.
The proposed USDA rule ignores key organic concepts which protect the
health of the agro-ecosystem and biodiversity on the farm.
Organic farming has grown enormously in recent years, and organic foods
command premium prices at the market. Consumers have become more aware
of the dangers of food contamination and the dehumanizing aspects of corporate
and chemical agribusinesses.
Clearly, the USDA and corporate lobbyists are trying to co-opt and
undercut the organic farming movement by defining it out of existence.
The term “organic” could become a meaningless endorsement of conventional
agriculture.
True Organic Farmers Protest Proposed USDA Rule
The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, representing 570 member organizations in more than 100 countries denounced the U.S. government, saying, “If the rules are allowed to stand, they will drive a wedge through the heart of the U.S. organic movement and effectively destroy the hard-won consumer confidence in organics. In criminalizing the use of private organic seals based on adherence to higher organic standards than its own, the USDA has lost sight of its proper role. It is indeed ironic that the United States, the home of free enterprise, is the only country in the world which proposes to restrict the enterprise of private organic certification bodies in this way.”
Examples of foods which would be “organic” under the new rules:
1. Genetically engineered organisms (Section 205.8) Big corporations
like Monsanto desperately want the organic endorsement for their artificial,
patented plants.
But some modifications actually undercut time-tested organic methods.
For example, Monsanto has spliced Bt genes onto potatoes and cotton, which
will cause pest caterpillars to rapidly develop complete resistance to
the Bt bacteria.
In contrast, when Bt is used normally by organic farmers, it is used
sparingly to control caterpillar infestations. This limited, occasional
use prevents pests from developing resistance.
Because of Monsanto, Bt may soon be ineffective for everyone.
2. Foods grown on land spread with contaminated sludges from municipal sewage treatment plants. (Section 205.22) These sludges can contain thousands of chemicals flushed down sinks, toilets, and commercial or industrial sewers.
3. Meat from livestock treated with antibiotics. (Section 205.14) Such drug use has greatly reduced the effectiveness of antibiotics to treat human diseases, because bacteria built their resistance in livestock.
4. Foods exposed to ionizing radiation as a preservative. (Section 205.17) Such treatments can create traces of benzene or other toxic chemicals in food. The radioactivity increases risks for food plant workers, and in the disposal of used radioactive materials.
5. Foods treated with synthetic chemicals not reviewed by the NOSB, as mandated by law. The USDA, which has been hostage to the political power of corporate agriculture and the chemical industry for many years, has never been a promoter of organic farming methods. Now, with this rule, the USDA will be able to cripple organic farmers.
6. Meat from severely confined livestock in factory farms. (Section 205.15) True organic standards require humane living conditions for livestock.
7. Farmers and grocers would be prohibited from using any additional “eco-labels” to differentiate their production methods, such as “raised without antibiotics,” “humanely raised,” “raised without hormones,” or “ecologically produced.” This would eliminate consumer ability to boycott or select foods which support their particular beliefs or goals. (Section 205.103)
What You Can Do
Contact the USDA and tell them what you think of their new “organic”
rules.
Send copies of your letter to your Congress members.
In letters, refer to “Docket # TMD-94-00-2” and the Section numbers,
to make sure they understand how you feel about the specific parts of the
rule.
Write to:
Eileen Stommes, Deputy Admin.
USDA - TM-NOP
Room 4007 - So, Ag Stop 0275
P.O. Box 96456
Washington, DC 20090-6456
USDA Fax: 202-690-4632
E-mail: www.ams.usda.gov/nop
(hit the “Comment” link)
Deadline: April 30
Senator Russ Feingold
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Senator Herb Kohl
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Congressman Jay Johnson or
Thomas Petri
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Please Write Today!
A study of nearly 15,000 Danish paper mill workers has turned up higher
incidences of Hodgkin’s disease, pharyngeal cancer and soft-tissue sarcomas
[cancers]. The paper mill workers were employed between 1943 and 1990 at
three paper mills owned by a large Danish paper company. The mills kept
comprehensive personnel files on every worker beginning in 1896.
Denmark has a national compulsory cancer registration, which made it
easy for researchers from the Danish Cancer Society to track the health
status of former paper mill employees.
Although the overall cancer risk was close to what was expected, researchers
discovered that men who worked in the mills had more than double the expected
risk of Hodgkin’s disease and four times the risk of pharyngeal cancer.
Female workers experienced higher rates for cancer of the pharynx, esophagus
and mouth, and soft-tissue sarcomas.
Researchers note that in addition to exposure to paper dust, the workers
were exposed to dioxins, furans, and a variety of other chlorine compounds,
which might have contributed to higher than average cancer rates.
The study results appeared in the January 1998 issue of the Journal
of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Several previous studies have shown elevated health risks for paper
workers, which is one of the reasons environmentalists and health professionals
have pushed for the complete phase-out of all chlorine compounds in paper
making. New technologies are available to substitute safer
chemicals and processes while still producing paper profitably.
Unfortunately, the industry, as a unified group, has lobbied for only
substituting chlorine dioxide for pure chlorine. While this reduces
dioxins and furans, it doesn’t eliminate them, and numerous other toxic
chlorinated compounds are still produced. And burning chlorinated
sludges still produces dioxins, furans and much more.
Important Public Hearing
Glatfelter Paper Company Still Pollutes the Fox River
The DNR is proposing a 5-year renewal of the water pollution permit for P.H. Glatfelter Paper Company in Neenah. We found several alarming weaknesses in the permit which we detailed in our January newsletter. See Re-Cap on Neenah Pollution Permit for a re-cap.
Tuesday, March 31
5:00 p.m.
Neenah City Hall, 211 Walnut Street
Please Attend & Support Clean Water!
Mining in Wisconsin -- What Happens Now?
Join us for an expert panel discussion on the status and impacts of the Mining Moratorium, and other proposals which could affect mining in Wisconsin. Even if the Moratorium is signed by the Governor, does this mean all mining will be stopped absolutely? Many questions are being asked and the answers may be surprising.
Wednesday, March 25
7:00 p.m. at Brown County Library, 515 Pine Street, Green Bay
Sponsored by Clean Water Action Council and Wisconsin Citizen Action, with the Wisconsin Mining Impact Coalition, Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade, and the Menominee Tribe.
An updated fish consumption guide for 1998 is available to consumers
who seek information helping them avoid Wisconsin fish that may contain
environmental contaminants. One out of every three lakes tested requires
a fish consumption advisory!
The guide focuses on lakes and rivers where contaminants such as mercury
or PCBs are found, especially in larger, older, fattier fish.
Added to the advisory this year are mercury-contaminated walleyes 22-26
inches long from the Wolf River in four counties from Lake Poygan to the
Shawano dam.
The number of waters listed in the updated health guide totals 36 for
PCBs and 321 for mercury. Wisconsin has tested about 1,200 sites for contaminants
in fish. Forty-eight states issue fish consumption advisories to protect
public health, including all states in the Great Lakes region. According
to Dr. Henry
Anderson at the Wisconsin Dept. of Health and Family Services, women
in their child-bearing years, women who are pregnant, nursing mothers and
children under 16 are the most vulnerable to the effects of contaminants
in fish.
The guide gives specific advice on how many meals of fish a person
may safely eat. A meal is defined as a half-pound of fish before cooking.
Copies of the guide, called “Important Health Information for People
Eating Fish from Wisconsin Waters” (DNR Publication Number FH824 98Rev.)
are available free from any DNR office or by contacting the DNR Bureau
of Fisheries Management and Habitat Protection, (608) 266-1877. For more
information contact: Jim Amrhein at (608)266-5325.
Whispered Warnings
Unfortunately, DNR does a poor job of publicizing this guide.
They issued a press release which emphasized a few areas where the warnings
had been relaxed slightly --- but the media coverage made it appear that
contamination levels had dropped dramatically (which they haven’t). DNR
seems more worried about scaring away tourists and hurting the sale of
fishing licenses which fund DNR programs, than about protecting the health
of anglers and children.
Clean Water members have argued for years that the warnings should
be incorporated directly in each fishing license guide, and for warnings
to be posted at all boat landings.
From information provided by Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade
Mercury is an extremely toxic metal which is poisonous to the nervous system and brain. It is also the most widespread pollutant in Wisconsin’s lakes and streams.
Frequent meals of fish are the most common route of exposure to mercury. A serving of high mercury fish more than once a week can lead to mercury toxicity. Mild symptoms include numbness, tremors, and nerve degeneration. Severe poisoning can cause loss of vision, hearing and speech, paralysis and death.
Those most at risk are people who eat fish frequently, such as sportsmen, tribal members, and subsistence fishers, and those whose minds are still developing --- children and unborn babies.
Exposed children can suffer from lowered intelligence, attention deficits, and poor memories.
• In Wisconsin, an estimated 2,400 pregnant women eat a serving of fish every day, giving them mercury levels more than double what is considered safe, and which studies have found to cause permanent damage in unborn babies.
• Another estimated 14,200 children ages 3 to 6 are exposed to high levels of mercury up to three times higher than safe daily levels.
• It is often those who are most at risk for the effects of mercury poisoning who are the least informed. A poll conducted by the Wisconsin Dept. of Health found that two out of five women who ate sport fish from the Great Lakes were unaware of the Health Advisories.
• Over 300 lakes and
streams, or one in three tested, are on Wisconsin’s mercury health advisory
for people who eat sport fish. That number is steadily increasing
as testing continues.
Where Does Mercury Come From?
Mercury’s unique electrical properties have made the metal extremely
useful and an ordinary part of our lives. There are over 2,000 applications
of mercury in industry consumer products, particularly in all types of
electronic devices and sensitive temperature measurement devices.
Mercury has been used in the pulp and paper industry to stop slime
growth on wood piles, and as a catalyst for creating caustic soda and chlorine.
Mercury is a natural contaminant of coal.
Mercury that ends up in fish comes mostly from air pollution fallout
from coal-burning power plants and solid waste incinerators.
In Northeast Wisconsin, we also have several paper companies with their
own coal burning facilities, and several mills are planning to burn their
mercury contaminated sludges. In Green Bay and De Pere, the public sewage
treatment plants also burn their mercury contaminated sludges.
In our area, some wastewater dischargers, such as P.H. Glatfelter Paper
Company, still release mercury directly to water. (See public
hearing notice)
High mercury levels in otherwise pristine lakes of the far north reveal
the importance of mercury fallout from the air, similar to acid rain, which
originates with air pollution far upwind.
• About half of air-borne mercury falls to the ground and into lakes as a particle within the first 600 miles downwind.
• The rest travels great distances as a gas, and finally enters lakes and the ocean as part of raindrops.
• In lakes, some mercury enters the aquatic food chain, where it becomes more concentrated with each step in the food chain.
• At the top of the food chain, fish and loons can have over 100 times greater concentrations of mercury in their bodies than in the surrounding water.
Old Coal-burners Are a Major Problem
Burning coal poisons our air, our water, and our food. Roughly 2,000
pounds of mercury, or one-third of the state’s total, falls from the smokestacks
of coal-burning power plants.
Most of Wisconsin’s power plants are “dinosaurs” from the 1940’s and
1950’s. A grandfather clause in the Clean Air Act gives them a license
to pollute up to 10 times more than modern plants. While other big mercury
polluters (like the battery industry) have cleaned up their act, these
old power plants prefer to protect their mercury loopholes in the law.
No Laws to Keep Mercury Air Pollution Out of Fish
Mercury pollution that ends up in the fish is largely unregulated by the Clean Air Act or the Wisconsin DNR. Federal and state mercury air emission regulations don’t even consider the most common risk of exposure to mercury in high concentrations --- eating fish.
Mercury Cap Legislation Proposed
Wisconsin state Representative Tammy Baldwin (D) has introduced proposed legislation nick-named the “Eat Your Catch Bill.”
The bill calls for a cap on the amount of mercury emitted by coal-burning power plants, and a reduction schedule bringing emissions down by 50% by the year 2015.
The bill would allow flexibility for utilities to choose how they achieve
these reductions, and provides incentives for reduced coal use. Energy
efficiency and switching to renewable energy sources would be the best
and most cost effective ways to reduce mercury pollution (while solving
other pollution problems at the same time.)
The bill would be similar to Wisconsin’s acid rain legislation which
worked so well it became a national model. A 40% reduction in acid rain
has occurred since 1986.
Keeping Wisconsin’s waters clean protects our children and a major source of income. Tourism is a $6 billion industry for our state. A recent report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the American Sport Fishing Association says that in 1996, the economic impact of just angling in Wisconsin was $2.1 billion, and provides 30,000 full-time jobs. If we don’t keep mercury out of our lakes and rivers, we’re out of this business.
For more information, contact Andrea Broaddus, at Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade in Madison, at 608-251-7020.
Write to your elected officials and tell them what you think about the “Eat Your Catch Bill.”
State Senator
P.O. Box 7882
Madison, WI 53707
State Rep. (Last Name, A thru L)
P.O. Box 8952
Madison, WI 53708
State Rep. (Last Name, Mc thru Z)
P.O. Box 8953
Madison, WI 53708
(If you don’t know who your elected state representatives are, call the Legislative Hotline 1-800-362-9472 on weekdays.)
The Race to Save Baird Creek Heights
The final push for the preservation of the Baird Creek Heights area is now underway. Citizens need to help raise $200,000 by May 1st.
Baird Creek Heights is a gorgeous 34 acre old growth forest, filled with large oaks, maples and hemlock, located along Baird's Creek on Green Bay's east side. It lies east of Interstate Highway 43 next to Christa McAuliffe Park, and is one of the last remnants of old forest in our entire area. This forest is especially valuable because citizens are nearby to enjoy and appreciate it.
Threatened by Housing Development
Although this land had been on the city map for years as an intended addition to the Baird Creek Parkway system, a developer purchased it and has been putting pressure on the Green Bay Mayor and City Council to rezone it to allow development with exclusive high-priced housing.
Now, the Baird Creek Parkway Preservation Foundation has formed to raise $200,000 towards the purchase of the land, and has already raised $100,000. The city pledges another $200,000 and finally the state’s Stewardship Fund (under DNR) has offered $500,000 towards the $1 million which assessors claim the property is now worth.
If you have been looking for a good cause to donate to, this is the
one. It's a great opportunity to save one of the "last best places" within
the boundaries of the City of Green Bay for today's citizens and especially
for the children of tomorrow.
If you’d like to help preserve this wonderful forest, please send donations
(from $5 to $10,000) to: Baird Creek Parkway Preservation Foundation, Patty
Ripp, Treasurer, 2717 Old Coach Road, Green Bay, WI 54302.
For more information, call Paul Abrahams, at 920-465-3693.
Tours Available
Well-known horticulturist Paul Hartman will guide tours through the Baird Creek Heights area EVERY SUNDAY at 1:00 p.m. You can meet him at Christa McAuliffe Park.
Land-use Plans To Protect Biological Diversity
Tuesday, April 7
7:00 p.m.
Fort Howard Theater
Bemis International Center
St. Norbert College will present a special program called “Protecting Biological Diversity Through Regional Land-Use Planning,” with guest speaker Dr. Thomas Pasquarello, Chair of the State University of New York Cortland Center for Environmental and Outdoor Education.
One of the most wonderful features of life on our planet is its great
biodiversity. There may be as many as ten million species of insects alone
in the tropical rain forests. Stewardship of this biological wealth must
take a top priority among the nations of the world.
The preservation of diversity is much more than just an environmental
issue: slowing the rate of extinction and habitat destruction here
and abroad has economic, cultural, climactic, ethnic, and pharmaceutical
benefits to all of humanity.
This program is part of the College’s Global Ecology Series and the
College invites persons of all ages from the community to this free public
discussion. It is hoped the program will allow participants
to better meet challenges and make informed decisions in our personal and
public lives.
For more information, call the Bemis International Center at (920)
403-3100.
Re-Cap on Neenah Pollution Permit
1. Landspreading of contaminated wastewater sludge is included, but no information is given on the quality or quantity of sludge, where landspreading will occur, why it’s necessary, whether public hearings will be held, etc. DNR offered no chemical data on the sludge.
2. Solids --- Allows dumping of 1,211 tons of contaminated solids in Little Lake Butte des Mort each year. This equals 60 dump truck loads.
3. Lack of Limits --- Sets no limits for Ammonia Nitrogen, Total PCB, or many other chemicals (heavy metals, solvents, pthalates, etc.) found in typical paper recycling. One sample did detect chromium, copper, cyanide, chloroform, methylene chloride, phenol, & endosulfan.
4. Chlorine Compounds --- Chlorine compounds are part of Glatfelter’s processes & will be released. Chloroform (a carcinogen) has been detected. Yet no chlorine, chlorinated resin acids, chlorpyrifos, or AOX samples were required. (AOX measures total chlorinated residue. Chlorine forms thousands of different compounds with other chemicals.)
5. No Monitoring --- No required monitoring for chemicals of concern listed above. DNR will be only guessing about impacts of this mill in the future. Future permit reviews, enforcement actions, and health studies will be poorer because of the lack of data. Only one comprehensive sample is analyzed each five years.
6. Dioxin & Furan Data Inadequate Requires Glatfelter to sample only one of 79 kinds of dioxin, a specific kind of chlorinated chemical. Other kinds of dioxins, & related furans, have toxic properties & should be monitored. These are toxic, persistent man-made poisons.
9. Dilution is No Solution -- Little Lake Butte des Mort is a flowage, an impounded river with stagnant pockets on both sides of the main flow. It’s unhealthy to apply river dilution standards (called “wasteload allocations”). As last summer proved, water quality in the Lake, the Fox River and Green Bay is not being maintained at minimum standards. Gross algae blooms befouled the whole area. Nitrogen, Phosphorus, & BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) must be restricted, yet the permit gives an “alternate phosphorus concentration limit” twice recommended standards. The ratio of pollution flow (from everyone) to background in the Lake is 1 to 22, so industrial flows are a major part of Lake water.
10. Acutely Toxic -- At the pipe end, allows waste dilution by Lake water 20 to 1 before meeting limits. A “Zone of Initial Dilution” allows acutely toxic discharges.
11. Acid/Alkaline Discharges --- Allows 7.5 hours of pH violations monthly, even though it already allows a wide range of pH discharges. Fish and wildlife could be injured by acid or alkaline shocks, and other chemicals could also vary, with no monitoring to document them.
12. No Mercury Limit --- DNR states: “reported effluent
concentrations [of mercury] exceed monthly average limits based on wildlife
criterion and human health criterion.” But the permit sets
no mercury limit, only study requirements.
13. Bioassays Inadequate --- Requires “bioassays,” where
minnows & water fleas are exposed to wastewater. If a certain number
of minnows or fleas die at certain concentrations, the test is failed.
These tests provide valuable information, but are no substitute for actual
chemical monitoring, and tell us nothing about accumulation of toxic chemicals
up the food chain or effects on more sensitive wildlife.
DNR admits there is a “reasonable potential for water quality standards to be exceeded.” They also wrote: “... there is uncertainty regarding the potential for fish and aquatic life toxicity.” Glatfelter frequently failed these tests in the recent past. Their lab lacked adequate quality controls.
14. Water Treatment Additives can include toxic “biocides” used to prevent zebra mussels, bacteria, or lime build-up in pipes. But DNR did not include any chemical limits for additives “because these discharges are seasonal.” And they did not identify the chemical additives.
15. By-Pass Loophole --- Gives approval for treatment bypasses, to allow untreated wastewater to be discharged directly to the Lake,without penalty, as long as the DNR is notified promptly.
Please attend the hearing & write to the DNR. (Refer to WPDES Permit # WI-0001121-6 for the P.H. Glatfelter Company)
Mr. Rick Reichardt - WT/2
Wisconsin DNR
P.O. Box 7921
Madison, WI 53707-7921
Our Annual Banquet was a success this year, especially because of the energetic and thought-provoking keynote speech from Barbara Lawton, a well-known political leader. Our mistake was to not record her talk --- she raised so many issues and interesting statistics that we’ve since had several requests transcripts. We’re asking now whether we could publish the high points from her talk. (Watch future issues for this....)
Steve Abitz
1998 Volunteer of the Year
At the Banquet, we were very pleased to present our annual Volunteer award to Steve Abitz, who has just finished 3 years as our President. Steve has done an outstanding job leading our meetings, testifying at public hearings, speaking at press conferences, helping with numerous events, and writing lots of great Letters-to-the-Editor of local newspapers. He’s been an enthusiastic supporter of strong environmental advocacy whilemaintaining a hard-headed, practical approach to solutions.
At the same time, Steve has launched a new career as a Science Teacher at Southwest High School, a change from his previous 15 years as a professional Forester. He brings a wide range of experience and knowledge to Clean Water and we’re very grateful!
Alice McCombs
1998 Environmental Advocate
We also had the pleasure of honoring Alice McCombs’ outstanding world-wide
environmental leadership from her computer lab at home in Shawano.
A few years ago, Alice began a remarkable Internet homepage and news
service (www.earthwins.com) on mining issues. Over 16,000 people around
the world link-up each month for the latest info. She also works on corporate
corruption and world trade issues.
Alice has been a leader in recent successes to pass the statewide Mining
Moratorium Bill, and serves as Secretary/Treasurer for the Mining Impact
Coalition of Wisconsin. She’s also a founding member of POWR (Protect Our
Wolf River) in Shawano County, and participated in the 1996 and 1997 Wolf
Watershed Educational Project Speaking Tour. We’re excited that Alice and
her sister, T.L. Christen, havejoined our Board of Directors.
Pedal-Paddle-Plod Triathlon T-shirt is a Winner!
Our 1997 Pedal-Paddle-Plod T-shirt designed by Jim Rivett for Clean Water Action Council’s annual race along the East River has won an Addy Award from the Green Bay Advertising Federation in the “apparel division.” This colorful work of art will now be sent on for judging on the state level.
An award-winning graphic designer who works with Archetype, Ltd., Jim has volunteered his services to create the T-shirt designs for each year of the 5 years of our Triathlon (except the year he was in Costa Rica!) He also donated art to our fall Artists for the Environment Art Auction.
Congratulations, Jim!
We still have several sizes of these T-shirts available at our office for $10.00 each. For more information, please call 437-7304!
New Organizing Director Hired!
We’re very pleased to announce the hiring of Chad Pichler as our new
Organizing Director.
Chad comes to us with 6 years of experience with door-to-door organizing,
staff training and field managing with other respected environmental and
social change organizations in the Midwest. Chad has participated in numerous
“cross-trains” with activists in several major cities across the country
and is highly skilled in presenting environmental messages to the public.
Clean Water Action Council will undoubtedly benefit from his experience
and skills, as we work to build our membership base and activities. Now
that we have a real office space to work from, we can better integrate
our door-to-door and regular program work.
Would you like to help us staff our new office in downtown Green Bay?
We have several activities we would love to start, but need volunteers
to make them work.
If you’re free for an hour or so during weekdays, you can help us get
organized! Give us a call at 437-7304.
We’ve continued legal actions against our former Organizing Director
Jack Young, and his fundraising group, “Wisconsin Grassroots Alliance.”
Though we’ve been hampered by scarce courtroom time, the Judge granted
us a temporary injunction against Jack and his group, prohibiting him from
raising funds using our materials and script, and prohibiting him from
visiting communities on our same schedule. We are currently
presenting evidence that he is violating the injunction. A full court date
is planned for March 16, where we will present additional arguments based
on consumer fraud laws. A second trial may be scheduled on theft and financial
damage charges, unless a settlement can be reached.
by William Hurrle
The Swedes and Dutch are reforming their economics from linear industrial
processes to cyclic ones embedded in Nature. Germans and the European Community
(EC) are next. They are convinced it will have to be done sooner or later
and see advantage in being first. What they are doing will force U.S. capitalists
to make choices.
The canny EC business people see that by shifting taxes from income
and property to waste, energy and resources they can reduce worker wages
without reducing the worker’s purchasing power. The program is called The
Natural Step and will isolate U.S. workers as the world’s highest paid,
making our products less competitive.
U.S. industry will have to choose: repress labor more or go with ecological
tax reform and efficiency. Efficiency is the edge of the wedge. Much can
be done that adds to the bottom line, such as “re-lamping” --- replacing
inefficient old incandescent or other lights with high-efficiency fluorescent
lights.
European business goals are to reduce energy and matter throughput
by 75 to 90 percent. The process is marketplace, not regulation, driven.
The Natural Step is a compass of understanding that is guiding nations
and businesses to a right relationship with the Earth. Swedish cancer physician
Dr. Karl Henrik Robert, a cellular biologist, knew there were non-negotiable
requirements if a cell is to survive, and he facilitated a consensus process
that got 50 leading Swedish scientists to agree on the essential scientific
principles which form a framework for sustainability.
1. Matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed. Nothing
disappears.
2. Matter and energy tend to disperse. Eventually all human stuff will be released into natural systems.
3. Material quality is characterized by the concentration and structure of matter. We cannot consume energy or matter --- but we can and do consume the order within energy and matter. In other words, there is value in order.
4. There is only one large scale source of net increase in ordered matter and energy on Earth, and that is photosynthesis. In other words, ordered matter and energy --- essential for survival --- comes from plants and sunlight.
We cannot systematically pump substances from the Earth’s crust into the world of the born at an increasing rate that destroys the physical basis of Nature’s productivity. We must use resources efficiently and justly --- i.e. sustainably.
For more information about The Natural Step, contact Carol Misseldine, TNS Great Lakes Coordinator, P.O. Box 20124, Lansing, MI 48901. Check it out. E-mail: carolm@pilot.MSU.edu.
Well-known environmental economics author Paul Hawken is the U.S. Director
of TNS.
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