Action Alerts

Center for Biological Diversity: Save Panama Biosphere Reserve From Dams
Please join the growing international movement to protect this ecological jewel and voice your opposition to the proposed Hydroelectric Projects.

DawnWatch: UK media on meat and global warming 9/9/07
“Activists take Gore to task on his diet”

Defenders of Wildlife: Protect Utah Prairie Dogs and Other Wildlife
Fill out the form below to urge your Representative and Senators to support the Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2007 (H.R. 1422 and S. 700), important legislation that would help private landowners protect Utah prairie dogs and other imperiled wildlife that live on their property.

Earthjustice: Say No to the Blowing Up of Appalachia
Tell the administration to stop trying to diminish the buffer zone rule and start enforcing it!

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): Tell the U.S. Navy to Stop Killing Whales!
Ear-splitting military sonar is needlessly killing whales and other marine mammals throughout the world’s oceans. Yet the Navy has refused to put effective safeguards in place during testing and training.

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Action Alerts

Center for Biological Diversity: Kempthorne Awarded Rubber Dodo
On Friday, August 24, we awarded the first annual Rubber Dodo Award to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne in recognition of his one year and 90 days in office without listing a single new species as threatened or endangered. That’s a record.

DawnWatch: NY Times on meat and global warming link 8/29/07
“Trying to Connect the Dinner Plate to Climate Change”

DawnWatch: Bob Barker offers to pay for Maggie’s move to sanctuary — Anchorage Daily News, 8/28/07
“Bob Barker says price is right to move Maggie off to California.”

Defenders of Wildlife: Keep Bald Eagles Soaring!
Tell the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service to keep strong protections in place for bald eagles.

Greenpeace: Say Yes To Cape Wind
We need YOUR help to get Congress on track and make offshore wind a reality.

(more…)

Action Alerts

Best Friends Animal Society: Selling Bunnies Is Selling Out

Corporate Accountability International: National Day of Action Today! Will Pepsi “Move the Mountain”?

Defenders of Wildlife: Take Action for Wildlife Conservation on Farm and Ranch Lands

Environmental Defense: Take Action for Tougher Air Pollution Standards

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): Protect the Western Arctic Reserve

Campaign Updates, Press Releases, etc.

Help Get Justice for Bob! (Bob the Tortoise, that is; page last updated 7/19/07)

Bob the Tortoise on MySpace

Newsletters

The Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC): Dissent Is Patriotic: July 2007, Vol. 6, No. 6

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): BioGems News: July 2007

The Ocean Conservancy: eNewsletter: July 2007

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) Event: Diabetes Video Support Group Weekly Session

The Sierra Club: Club Currents: Volume VI, #74: July 24, 2007

Vegan Outreach: E-Newsletter, July 25, 2007

VegCooking.com: Recipe of the Week (Thai Vegetarian Chicken With Snow Peas)

Petitions

Stop using animals in the circus!

Stop Zoos from killing Tigers for collectors

Support Family Farms, NOT Mega-Farms

Environmental Demands

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In honor of World Ocean Day (which is today, for those at home keeping score), I bring you a few ocean-themed action alerts. Hey, they’re more useful than beads and less fattening than cake.

The Ocean Conservancy: Stop Climate Change and Save the Ocean

Today is World Ocean Day—it is a day for each of us to celebrate our relationship with the ocean. The ocean provides us with food, a prosperous economy and inspiration for all who come near it. But, the effects of global climate change are steadily taking their toll on the health of the ocean.

The ocean and coast are expected to be heavily impacted by climate change. Increased ocean warming, acidification, rising sea levels, and unprecedented changes to the distribution and abundance of fish and wildlife are among some of the feared results. These results will only intensify over time—unless we stand together and do something about it.

Oceana: Tell the United Nations to officially declare June 8 as “World Ocean Day!”

World Ocean Day was created in 1992 at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, put on by the United Nations. Ever since, thousands have celebrated the oceans’ importance and their personal connections with them. But unfortunately, for the past 15 years this honorary day has remained an unofficial celebration because the UN has failed to formally designate June 8 as World Ocean Day every year.

Oceans provide us with food, they regulate climate and generate oxygen, so it doesn’t matter if you reside on the coast or farther inland; the ocean in some way impacts your everyday life.

Sign our petition today!

The Ocean Project: HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR OUR OCEAN PLANET!

I endorse a United Nations resolution to declare June 8 as WORLD OCEAN DAY as a means each year to celebrate the world’s ocean and its rich diversity of life; highlight global ocean awareness, education and action programs to promote a healthy and productive ocean; and remind nations, governments, businesses, and individuals of their responsibility to protect the world’s living ocean and conserve its resources for present and future generations.

I join the initiative locally, nationally and internationally to celebrate and recognize World Ocean Day each year.

Photo via vanallensb

Happy World Ocean Day!

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Tagged: environment environmental environmentalism environmentalist action alerts holidays observances world ocean day oceans water conservation climate change global warming pollution united nations oceana the ocean conservancy the ocean project the petition site june 8 petitions flickr water

UPDATE, 5/23/07:

See also: Tell the Bush Administration to Protect the Last 300 Beluga Whales in Alaska’s Cook Inlet!, via the Natural Resources Defense Council.

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UPDATE, 5/18/07:

See also: Take Action - Beluga Whales Need Your Help to Survive, via the Ocean Conservancy.

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UPDATE, 4/22/07:

See also: Protect Alaska’s Beluga Whales by the Center for Biological Diversity. FYI: the action alert was released 4/20, so it appears that a decision was not yet reached as of Friday. Additionally, CBD gives an Campaign Expiration Date of June 19, 2007 - so get to it!

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Via Defenders of Wildlife:

Belugas on the Brink!

The Cook Inlet once teemed with up to 1300 beluga whales — a genetically distinct population of these white whales. But sadly, their numbers have dropped to around 300 — and they could vanish forever within our lifetime unless we act now!

Federal officials will decide soon whether to list the Cook Inlet belugas as an endangered species. But they need to hear from you.

Urge the National Marine Fisheries Service to list Cook Inlet belugas as “endangered” and protect these creatures for future generations. A decision could come as early as April 18th — so please take action today!

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts defenders of wildlife wildlife conservation whales beluga whales cook inlet NMFS National Marine Fisheries Service endangered species alaska esa endangered species act center for biological diversity nrdc Natural Resources Defense Council

Via The Ocean Conservancy:

International Trade Endangers Sharks

Your help is needed to support sound proposals limiting unsustainable trade in imperiled species of sharks and rays. Proposals to protect sawfish, spiny dogfish and porbeagle sharks under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) will be considered in June by 170 CITES member countries. These proposals are vital to reducing extinction risk for these vulnerable and depleted species, but they face an uphill battle and need strong public support, particularly in the United States.

Your voice is needed during this CITES comment period to balance industry pressure to oppose CITES action for sharks. Please write to the Fish and Wildlife Service before April 23 to express your strong support for passage of all three shark and ray proposals.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare environment environmental environmentalism environmentalist action alerts the ocean conservancy wildlife conservation sharks rays Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species CITES

UPDATE, 7/11/07, via The Ocean Conservancy:

Ocean Conservancy is writing you today with great news for right whales and other endangered large whales in the Atlantic Ocean. As part of our concerted effort to save these majestic animals, Ocean Conservancy recently sued the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to end its years-long delay of a fishing gear entanglement rule. Today, we are pleased to inform you that we have won a settlement requiring NMFS to publish its ruling by October 1st.

Read our press release….

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Via The Ocean Conservancy:

Tell the Government to Stop Delaying Right Whale Protections

One Right Whale Entangled, Another Struck By Boat

Right now, there are two critically endangered North Atlantic right whales in trouble off of Massachusetts. One is entangled, the other shows a ten-foot propeller gash from a ship strike. Entanglement and ship strikes are the leading causes of death for North Atlantic right whales, a species of which only 350 still exist. Please help us protect whales. Ocean Conservancy is currently suing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to protect North Atlantic right whales from entanglement and ship strikes. Make your voice heard, too.

Please, sign our petition to force NMFS to take action >>

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare environment environmental environmentalism environmentalist action alerts the ocean conservancy petition whales right whales conservation wildlife

Via The Ocean Conservancy:

Urge Congress to Protect Sea Turtles

Endangered sea turtles need your help today! Despite overwhelming public support for sea turtle conservation, President Bush has proposed to dramatically underfund a key program to save these animals. Please take action today by writing your Senators and Representative in Congress. Urge them to do all they can to turn the tables and increase funding for vitally important endangered species conservation programs, including one intended to help endangered sea turtles.

During the next two weeks, Congress will begin its appropriation cycle for fiscal year 2008—deciding how much money will go towards different programs and projects.

The Ocean Conservancy is requesting $1.5 million for the Marine Turtle Conservation Fund. In 2004, The Ocean Conservancy helped establish the Fund to ensure the long-term survival of sea turtles, by assisting in the conservation of the imperiled species and their nesting habitats in foreign countries. The Fund has been hugely successful, providing grants for anti-poaching patrols, habitat protection, surveys of animal populations, public education, disease control, and innovative efforts to resolve human-animal conflicts.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts the ocean conservancy environment environmental environmentalism environmentalist sea turtle conservation esa endangered species act endangered species wildlife Marine Turtle Conservation habitat loss

Via The Ocean Conservancy:

Florida’s Sea Turtles at Risk

Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge is the most important nesting area for loggerhead sea turtles in the western hemisphere and the second most important nesting beach in the world. This twenty-mile zone extending along the eastern coast of Florida from Melbourne Beach to Wabasso Beach attracts 25 - 35% of all loggerhead and green sea turtle nesting in the U.S.

Unfortunately, these sea turtles and other precious wildlife are about to be left without the protections they desperately need to survive. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced plans to eliminate almost 90 positions of the workforce in Southeast Florida. This would leave Archie Carr without necessary staffing or funding. If the looming budget cuts become a reality, Archie Carr will no longer be able to work to protect endangered sea turtles and the populations may become so low, they might not be able to recover.

Please take action today by writing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Urge them to reinstate funding for Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge. The government needs to hear from YOU that wildlife protection is important. Without your support, the budget cuts are a done deal.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare environment environmental environmentalism environmentalist action alerts the ocean conservancy florida Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge green sea turtle loggerhead turtle turtle endangered species conservation wildlife

Via The Ocean Conservancy:

Take Action to Permanently Protect Right Whales

As we reported last month, the National Marine Fisheries Service has issued a temporary ban on gillnet fishing in the South Atlantic to protect North Atlantic right whale mothers and calves from accidental entanglement.

Now, there is a lifesaving opportunity to make this temporary ban permanent. With fewer than 350 right whales remaining, a permanent seasonal ban on gillnet fishing could be critical to the survival of this struggling species.

Please take action today and urge the National Marine Fisheries Service to move forward with its Proposed Rule to enact a permanent ban on gillnet fishing in the South Atlantic during the right whale calving season.

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Tagged: animals animal+rights action+alerts environment environmental environmentalism environmentalist the+ocean+conservancy whales fishing right+whales gillnet+fishing

Via the Ocean Conservancy:

Right Whales Swimming in the Face of Danger

As of last Friday, scientists reported that between 30 and 50 North Atlantic right whales were swimming in the Bay of Fundy off the coast of New Brunswick, Canada. Typically, they would have migrated south by this time of year. The problem with the right whales staying in these northern feeding grounds longer than usual is that the Canadian lobster fishing grounds are opening this week in precisely this area, putting right whales in the middle of danger. Because there are only about 350 North Atlantic right whales left, the loss of even one animal contributes to the risk of extinction.

Please take action today to help these right whales. Urge the Canadian Minister of Fisheries to delay opening the fishing grounds until the right whales have left the area and will no longer be in danger.

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Tagged: animals animal+rights action+alerts ocean+conservancy fishing whales environment environmentalist canada

Via The Ocean Conservancy:

Sharks at Risk: Take Action to Help

When you think of sharks - you may think of magnificent ocean creatures that are sleek, fast, and invulnerable. But, sharks are in fact exceptionally vulnerable to fishing because they grow slowly and produce few young, much like humans. Yes, in many areas, particularly our South Atlantic, sharks are the target of fisheries. Sought primarily for their valuable fins but also their meat, it can be a lucrative business. But sharks just can’t recoup quickly enough to keep pace with intense fishing and many shark species are now seriously overfished, requiring decades even centuries in the case of the dusky to recover.

Two shark species - dusky and sandbar - were in such bad shape in 2002, that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) decided to close a key shark fishing area for most of the year to help the populations of these species to rebuild. But, now NMFS has proposed a premature re-opening of this closure to shark fishing for the month of July, equating to a potential increase in fishing effort of 63%. This move would be devastating to the already depleted populations and could well put the dusky shark on a path to extinction.

Please respond to this alert by November 15 and tell NMFS not to weaken protections for severely depleted sandbar and dusky sharks off the Atlantic Coast. In your response, please also demand that the agency conduct a thorough environmental impact assessment so that decision makers and the public are fully aware of the impacts associated with changes to management measures.

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Tagged: environment environmentalism action+alerts the+ocean+conservancy sharks endangered conservation fishing animals animal+rights

Via The Ocean Conservancy:

Help Protect Sawfish

Smalltooth sawfish used to be common along the coast from Texas to North Carolina and found seasonally as far north as New York. Today this imperiled species is rarely found outside Southwest Florida. Fishing gear entanglement and habitat destruction have devastated sawfish populations. Scientists estimate that the U.S. population has declined by 99%.

In 1999, The Ocean Conservancy petitioned the federal government to list the smalltooth sawfish as endangered; in 2003, the species was finally listed. Our staff and the rest of the government’s sawfish recovery team have worked ever since to develop a sound plan to bring sawfish back from the brink of extinction. The plan promotes research into sawfish habits and needs, reduction in the number of sawfish accidentally caught in fishing gear, safe handling and release of animals that are captured, and protection of the coastal habitats (particularly mangroves) that are essential to sawfish. These proposed actions are critical to preventing sawfish extinction and yet will not be carried out without strong and vocal support from the public.

Please take action today and tell the federal government that you strongly support full implementation of the sawfish recovery plan.

Via The Ocean Conservancy:

Only 300 Remain… You Can Help

Finally, The National Marine Fisheries Service has proposed rules that would slow ships and protect the remaining 300 North Atlantic right whales from the risk of being struck by these vessels. Thank you to all the ocean advocates who took action and helped contribute to this success.

While this is a huge victory, there is more we need to do to ensure that these new rules are effective at slowing down ships and saving the lives of endangered right whales. Please take action once again and urge the National Marine Fisheries Service to adopt the most protective options available when implementing this new rule. We need your help to make sure these proposed rules become effective on the water before we lose another right whale to a ship strike — the species’ leading cause of death.