———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 20, 2006 5:04 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Bison slaughter in Washington Post and on campaign billboards 7/20/06

The Thursday, July 20, Washington Post includes an article, headed, “A Bison Kill Hardly Fits the Bill. Interior Official Comes Under Fire for Shooting National Icon.” (Pg A21.)

It opens:

“The American bison, once hunted almost to extinction, is now so revered in the United States that its image graces the seal of the Interior Department, where it stands proudly in the shadow of mountains.

“Still, a senior political appointee at Interior apparently thought that the real thing might look better stuffed and mounted — so he shot one.

“David P. Smith, a hunter who until last Friday was deputy assistant secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, shot and killed a bison grazing at a friend’s ranch in Texas in December 2004. He had the hoofs made into bookends and kept the skull, wrapped in taxidermy packaging, in the garage of his home.

(More below the fold…)

Via Earthjustice:

Help Reduce Mercury from Cement Kilns!

Across America, more than 100 cement plants spew a continuous stream of pollution into the air we breathe, releasing huge amounts of mercury and other toxic pollutants into the environment.

This past February, more than 11,000 Earthjustice supporters sent emails to the Environmental Protection Agency, calling for stronger protections against mercury pollution from cement kilns. This public outcry spurred EPA to reconsider its minimal approach to regulating some of the biggest sources of mercury pollution.

The agency recently published a revised rule limiting toxic pollution from cement kilns, but more can still be done. Now is the time to continue the pressure and send EPA a message: Mercury pollution from cement kilns has got to stop!

Via American Rivers:

Oppose EPA’s New Pollution Pumping Policy

Under the Clean Water Act, pumping polluted water from one body of water to another is illegal without a permit. The law (and common sense!) tell us that transferring dirty, contaminated water into clean water poses grave threats to public health, fish and wildlife.

Yet the Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to exempt water transfers from the Clean Water Act — no matter how contaminated the transferred water is and even when it is being pumped into drinking water sources! This proposed rule undermines the Clean Water Act and compromises the health of our nation’s lakes, rivers, streams, coasts and other waters.

The agency is accepting public comments until July 24. It is important that EPA receive as many comments as possible in opposition to its reckless policy proposal.

Please tell the EPA today that pumping polluted water into clean water without a permit must remain illegal under the Clean Water Act.

Here’s the TOC from IDA’s 07-19-06 newsletter.

Click on the links to take action, or read the whole newsletter online.

IDA Action Alerts

URGENT: Tell U.S. Leaders to Let American Evacuees Take Animal Companions Out of Lebanon

Golden Gate Restaurant Association Joins Canadian Seafood Boycott

IDA Supporters Help Halt Geese Kill in Scotia, N.Y.

Campaign News & Updates

IDA-Project Hope Rescues Two Horses with Panola County Sheriff’s Dept.

Summer Means More Suffering for Animals on Fur Farms

IDA’s World Go Vegan Days is October 27th to 29th

(Crossposted at KellyGarbato.com.)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Jul 19, 2006 5:43 PM
Subject: ACT/ Lebanon Evacuations: NO PETS ALLOWED!

7/19/06–Lebanon Evacuations: NO PETS ALLOWED!
KINSHIP CIRCLE ACTION CAMPAIGN

www.KinshipCircle.org

IN THIS ALERT:

1. LETTERS TO MEDIA
2. LETTERS TO GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
3. UPDATES

(More below the fold…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: API Newsletters – donotreply [at] api4animals.org
Date: Jul 19, 2006 3:51 PM
Subject: Take Action for Animals Today!

14th Annual Animal Law Conference

You have a special opportunity to attend the Lewis & Clark SALDF and National Center for Animal Law’s Annual Animal Law Conference. The 14th Annual Animal Law Conference: Market Revolution: Recognizing Animals’ Intrinsic Values will be held Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, on October 13-15, 2006. For more information on the conference please visit www.lclark.edu/org/saldf/conference.html.

Stop Expanded Predator Poisoning and Killing in Wilderness Areas

The U.S. Forest Service has announced plans to weaken rules that govern “predator control” in federal Wilderness areas and Research Natural Areas of our National Forests. The move would greatly expand the ways that coyotes, cougars, bears, wolves, foxes and other predators can be killed in these areas, and it signals a very disturbing shift in the way our public land is managed. Please contact the Director of Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Resources and urge the office to oppose the new
predator control rule. Go to www.api4animals.org/actionalerts?p=878&more=1 find out more information!

(More below the fold…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 19, 2006 2:10 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Washington Post on ethical eating 7/19/06

The Wednesday, July 19, Washington Post includes an article, by Candy Sagon, on the cover of the food section, headed, “Is There Anything Left That We Can Eat?; With All the Conflicting Headlines, No Wonder We Can’t Decide What to Buy.”

Sagon opens:

“I can’t decide what to eat. I don’t mean which recipe to make, or what restaurant to go to. I mean when I go grocery shopping, I’m paralyzed with indecision. Everything, it seems, is either ethically, nutritionally or environmentally incorrect. Guilt is ruining my appetite.

“Take the other day when I went to buy eggs. Sounds easy, but this is the dialogue that played in my head as I stared at six shelves of egg cartons:

“‘Should I buy the omega-3 eggs that are supposedly good for my heart? But wait, they’re not organic. Maybe I should spring for the $3.50 organic eggs from Horizon, even though I read that the company has gotten so huge, it’s driving out the smaller organic farmers. Perhaps I should get the cage-free eggs from a small farm in Pennsylvania? Or the brown eggs from vegetarian-fed, free-roaming hens?

(More below the fold…)

From The Wilderness Society:

Ask Your Congressperson to Join the National Wildlife Refuge Caucus

As a supporter of our country’s national wildlife refuges, you may be aware of the acute crisis facing our National Wildlife Refuge System. Inadequate funding has left some of our nation’s most pristine wild places at risk, and most refuges cannot meet their basic needs and resources. In the northeast alone, almost a dozen refuges face imminent closure due to insufficient funding.

In Congress, however, longtime refuge supporters Ron Kind (D-WI) and Jim Saxton (R-NJ), along with Michael Castle (R-DE) and Mike Thompson (D-CA), are leading a charge to reinvigorate the Refuge System by launching the first-ever Wildlife Refuge Congressional Caucus. The target kickoff date for the caucus is September 14, but we need members to join now. Please e-mail your representative today and urge him or her to join the new Refuge Caucus.

Click here to learn more, and here to take action.

Via the Center for Biological Diversity:

Protect States’ Rights to Limit Toxic Chemicals

Take action to stop House Resolution 4591 (Paul Gillmor, R-Ohio), a cynical bill that would jeopardize public health and the environment by preventing states from controlling the use of harmful pesticides and other toxic chemicals.

HR 4591, which passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee on July 12, would allow the federal government to preempt and block state and local government standards that ban or restrict the use of toxic chemicals. HR 4591 is opposed by more than a dozen state attorneys general, the American Nurses Association and more than 100 environmental and public health groups.

Click here to learn more and/or take action.

(Campaign Expiration Date: December 31, 2006)

Here’s the TOC from the 7/18/06 issue of The Sierra Club’s Currents.

You can read the whole newsletter online – just click here!

Sierra Club Currents – Renewable Revolution
Volume VI, #28
Tuesday, July 18, 2006

——————————————–

Quote of Note:

“There’s so much pollution in the air now that if it weren’t for our lungs there’d be no place to put it all.”

– Robert Orben, former speechwriter for Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford

——————————————–

(1) Energy Summer: Renewable Revolution

(2) Heat Wave: Sunburn on Your Lungs

(3) Take Action: Avoid Repeating Avoidable Disasters!

(4) Take Action: Support Fair Trade!

KFC’s secret ingredient is crispy fried Amazon rainforest, and the company is serving it up by the bucket. KFC’s famous chickens are being fed soy grown on illegally cleared rainforest land, and are then sold in hundreds of restaurants throughout Europe.

Soy traders in the Amazon encourage farmers to cut down the rainforest and plant massive soy crops. The traders take the soy and ship it to Europe where it is fed to animals like chickens and pigs. The animals are then turned into fast food products.

The Amazon rainforest is not only one of the richest and most biologically diverse regions on the planet, it is also one of the most threatened. In order to protect this ancient treasure, this unsustainable development needs to stop immediately.

Take Action >> Tell KFC to put a lid on its destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

Here are three quick alerts from the HSUS. Just click through to take action or learn more!

Give the Hook to the Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament

Stop Canned Hunting

Shut Down Internet Hunting

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Gene Karpinski LCV – lcv [at] lcv.org
Date: Jul 18, 2006 9:39 AM
Subject: America at an Energy Crossroads

America is at an energy crossroads. Which way are we going to go?

We could go the dirtiest, slowest, most expensive way to energy security. Or the cleanest, fastest, cheapest way.

Seems like an easy decision? Not when Big Oil is involved. The U.S. Senate may vote in the next week or two on a bill to open eight million acres off of Florida’s west coast to new offshore drilling. And as if that’s not bad enough, if the Senate passes this bill it could be combined with an abysmal offshore drilling bill that recently passed the U.S. House. Trust me – this is not the best route to take.

Demand a better energy future – write your Senators today!

(More below the fold…)

Note: for more info on the G8 Summit, click here.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Steve Kretzmann – oilchange [at] mail.democracyinaction.org
Date: Jul 18, 2006 7:52 AM
Subject: The G8′s Energy Insecurity

The struggle to separate oil and state needs to be fought at home and at key international events like the G-8 Summit that took place this past weekend in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. When the G-8 met in Scotland last year, global poverty and climate change headlined the agenda. This past weekend in Russia, “Energy Security” was a key issue, but last year’s priorities seemed to be pushed aside.

Instead, the G-8 has absurdly defined energy security as the promotion and expansion of oil and fossil fuel production worldwide. As we argued in an op-ed last week, this strategy will only increase our oil dependence, exacerbate global warming, and drive countries deeper into debt – in other words, make us less secure.

Will you help us take action and educate people about this important link between oil and debt, and the failure of the G8 to address it?

Oil Change International is working with the Jubilee USA Network, American Friends Service Committee and many others to draw attention to the role that skyrocketing oil prices are playing in deepening the international debt crisis – and to call for an end to subsidies to the oil industry. Last week we released a Policy Briefing calling on the G-8 and other governments to help impoverished countries transition away from oil dependence by focusing limited public resources on promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy instead of lavish subsidies to the international operations of Big Oil. (Click here to download a pdf of this 5 page brief.)

This week we are calling on our supporters to take action by writing a letter to your local newspaper urging the G-8 to break the chains of debt and oil addiction. Click here and use an automated online form that will send a letter to the local newspaper of your choice.

Thanks again for all your support and hard work.

Peace,
Steve

PS – Check out this Reuters Story quoting OCI’s Graham Saul re: the G8!

AND DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT OUR HILARIOUS NEW FLASH VIDEO: ADDICTED TO OIL!

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Frances Beinecke, NRDC BioGems – biogemsdefenders [at] savebiogems.org
Date: Jul 17, 2006 4:50 PM
Subject: Help save Greater Yellowstone’s unspoiled forests and streams!

Dear NRDC BioGems Defender,

The U.S. Forest Service has proposed a shamefully weak cleanup plan for a mine in southeast Idaho that is poisoning local streams and wildlife with toxic selenium. And to make matters worse, the agency is weighing a proposal to expand these polluting mining operations!

Please go to www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction.asp right away and tell the Forest Service to develop an effective cleanup plan for the Smoky Canyon Mine, which is putting the fragile natural treasures of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem at risk. Your immediate action is crucial — the agency is accepting comments only until next Monday, July 24th.

The vast wildlands of southeastern Idaho, including the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, comprise some of the most biologically rich areas in Greater Yellowstone. Wolves, moose, elk, lynx, mule deer, native cutthroat trout and other wildlife depend on the area’s abundant streams. Countless outdoor enthusiasts are drawn to the region’s clean air and water, sense of tranquility and blue-ribbon trout fishing.

Yet for years, the Forest Service has allowed the JR Simplot Company’s Smoky Canyon Mine to poison the area’s streams with toxic selenium — a naturally occurring element that is released when phosphate ore is mined for fertilizer. The area is now so contaminated that the mine is operating under a Superfund cleanup order.

The Forest Service has said it intends to begin cleanup efforts, but its current plan addresses only one of five sources of selenium contamination at the mine. Plus, the agency is now considering a proposal by Simplot to expand its mining operations.

Please go to www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction.asp and tell the Forest Service to replace its current cleanup proposal with a plan that will stop selenium contamination in these wildlands.

Thank you for helping to protect Greater Yellowstone’s pristine wildlife habitat.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

To update your information, including your email or mailing address, log in to your Action Log at www.savebiogems.org/actionlog/ and click “Update your info.”

(Crossposted on KellyGarbato.com.)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Jul 17, 2006 2:29 PM
Subject: [MIDDLE EAST] Forgotten Casualties Of War

If you receive this alert in duplicate, it is because you are subscribed to both Kinship Circle Primary List (animal issues worldwide) AND Kinship Circle Animal Disaster Relief List. While these two separate mail lists rarely overlap, we apologize for this inconvenience.

permission to crosspost

7/17/06: [MIDDLE EAST] Forgotten Casualties Of War
Disaster Rescue Needs & News

www.KinshipCircle.org

TO SEE PAST NEWSLETTERS, VISIT:

www.kinshipcircle.org/katrina/vol_cover.html

IN THIS ALERT:

1. Resources & Where To Donate In War-Torn Middle East
2. More Forgotten Victims: Animals In Beirut Shelter
3. Emergency Appeal For Funding
4. Trying To Survive The Fighting In Lebanon
5. A Dog’s-Eye View of the Middle East and Beyond

(More below the fold…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DDAL Action Alerts – LegInfo [at] ddal.org
Date: Jul 17, 2006 12:24 PM
Subject: Doris Day Animal League: E-Newsletter, July 2006

Dear DDAL Animal Activist:

Welcome to the July issue of the Doris Day Animal League E-Newsletter.

Heated Debate Brings Late Thaw

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee held a mark-up on the Antifreeze Bittering Act (H.R. 2567) on July 12, 2006. While debate was heated, cooler heads prevailed and the manager’s amendment to the bill was reported favorably out of committee. The next step is for the House, as well as the Senate (where the bill number is S. 1110) to bring this important legislation to the floor for a full vote. Time is running out to prevent the poisoning of thousands of children and animals by passing this bill into law.

Contact Congress and urge them to pass the Antifreeze Bittering Act: capwiz.com/ddal/home/

Investing in Alternatives

Congress established the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) in 2000 as a permanent body responsible for approving test methods that do not use animals, and recommending them to government agencies. Unfortunately, the federal government has never created a five-year, priority plan for developing and incorporating alternatives into their programs. The House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee bill calls for the first-ever plan. Now, we need to ensure the Senate bill contains the same language.

Visit the DDAL Web site to learn more about ICCVAM and alternative testing methods: www.ddal.org/animaltesting/alternativefunding/

The Spirit of Compassion

The Doris Day Animal Foundation created its Animal Kingdom Kindred Spirit Award in 2002 as a way of saying “Thank You” to individuals who have shown extraordinary compassion or kindness toward animals, and to inspire others to follow their fine examples. A handful of winners are chosen by DDAF, but the majority are nominated by friends, family and community members. The Kindred Spirit Award is bestowed annually, and winners receive a letter of commendation from DDAF’s executive director, a certificate of recognition, and an Animal Champion pin for proving that one person really can help make this a kinder world.

Visit the DDAF Web site for the list of 2006 Kindred Spirit Award winners: www.ddaf.org/kindredspirit/recipients/

Doris Day Animal League

The Doris Day Animal League was founded in 1987. Its overriding mission is to reduce the pain and suffering of non-human animals, to encourage the spaying and neutering of companion animals, and to increase the public’s awareness of its responsibility toward non-human animals through legislative initiatives, public and membership education, and programs to require the enforcement of statutes and regulations which have already been enacted protecting animals. Contact us at 227 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Suite 100, Washington DC 20002. PH: (202) 546-1761; FAX: (202) 546-2193; EMAIL: info [at] ddal.org.

Your support helps DDAL do more for the animals. Click here to make a contribution today!

To subscribe: click here: www.mailermailer.com/x?oid=15981b

Email list management powered by MailerMailer.com

If you’d like more information about Dr. Goodall or the Jane Goodall Institute, be sure to visit her/their webite at www.janegoodall.org/.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 16, 2006 6:14 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Jane Goodall interview in New York Times Magazine, Sunday, July 16

The Sunday, July 16, New York Times Magazine includes an interview with Jane Goodall (pg 17).

Goodall discusses how she got involved in advocating for our fellow primates:

“I went to a conference in 1986. It brought together all the chimpanzee people working in Africa, and when I came out of the session on conservation, having seen the destruction of chimp habitats across Africa and the way they are treated in captive situations like labs and circus training, I knew that I could no longer sit in my beautiful forest. I had to come out and try and do something to help. From that day, I haven’t been more than three weeks in any one place.”

(More below the fold…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 16, 2006 6:11 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Piece questioning lobster killing focus in many papers 7/14 — 7/16/06

An interesting piece by Ellen Goodman on the ethics of eating has appeared in many papers over the last few days.

Goodman wonders, “How did lobsters, of all creatures, come to occupy center stage in the new American drama about ethics and eating?”

She mentions the Whole Foods decision to stop carrying live lobsters, and tells us that “in Italy, a whole city outlawed cooking live lobsters.”

She quotes the new chair of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council: “I find it strange that people are squeamish about killing lobsters but don’t mind eating hamburgers. As for the quality of life, would you rather be a salmon in a pen, a steer in a feedlot, or a lobster walking around the ocean for seven years?”

She continues:

“The heated arguments — about the relative morality of selling live or dead lobsters, about the relative cruelty of boiling, steaming, stabbing or stunning lobsters — are a bit precious for folks who live in a fish-eat-fish world. But if there is any good news, it’s about a movement reconnecting diners with their dinner, prompting us to think about what we eat.”

(More below the fold…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 16, 2006 6:10 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: 2 lead articles on racing horrors –London’s Times on greyhound slaughter and Chic Trib on horses 7/17/06

Two lead articles today, Sunday, July 16, focus on the dark side of racing. The UK’s Times on Sunday front page includes a story headed, “Revealed: The man who killed 10,000 dogs.” (More below.)

And while we have read much about Barbaro’s injuries in the last few weeks, the Chicago Tribune has a lead story (cover of the Metro section) on another horse, named Warned. The contrast provides a dose of reality with regard to the horseracing industry.

(More below the fold…)