Parks, Open Spaces & Wild Places News
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| Spring has sprung and so has the House’s mood for passing environmental bills! The U.S. House of Representatives took a major step forward toward giving the rugged and wild Grand Canyon National Monument, adjacent to the National Park, the protection it deserves. In a bipartisan vote of 278 to 140, the National Landscape Conservation System (H.R. 2016) passed. | |
| The drills next to the Grand Canyon have stopped for now. A federal judge halted all plans by a British mining company called VANE Minerals to drill for uranium less than three miles from the national park. U.S. District Judge Mary Murguia issued a temporary restraining order late on April 4. VANE Minerals immediately turned off the drills off at several sites. | |
| Senators Cantwell and Wyden with 14 other senators have sent a letter to Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Jeff Bingaman and Ranking Member Pete Domenici asking them to protect the Grand Canyon and other national parks from the toxic mining boom. The other 14 senators are: Feinstein, Boxer, Lieberman, Sanders, Menendez, Feingold, Cardin, Dodd, Whitehouse, Murray, Durbin, Reed, Lautenberg, and Klobuchar. Click here to download the letter. | |
| Today, the House moved to stop a toxic and evil threat lurking at the edge of the Grand Canyon and other treasured lands, by passing the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007 (H.R. 2262). | |
| More than 140 House Democrats and Republicans, led by Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA), Christopher Shays (R-CT), George Miller (D-CA), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN) introduced legislation today that would provide permanent protection for 58.5 million acres of pristine forest land in 39 states. This would include 9.3 million acres of North America’s only coastal temperate rainforest -- Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and John Warner (R-VA), along with 16 of their colleagues, introduced a companion bill in the U.S. Senate. | |
| We applaud Congressman George Miller for joining Congressmen Inslee (D-WA) and Ramstad (R-MN) to reintroduce the National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2007. The bill will protect 4.4 million acres of national forest lands in California – and 58.5 million acres nationwide – from most logging and road-building. The bill was introduced with a bipartisan group of 141 original cosponsors. At the same time, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and John Warner (R-VA) lead a group of 18 Senators in introducing a companion bill in the Senate. | |
| WASHINGTON - May 9 - Nearly 27 percent of ConocoPhillips shareholders today voted in favor of a resolution asking the company to recognize—and eventually stay out of—sensitive areas within the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska, particularly areas near Teshekpuk Lake. | |
| Yesterday, the Bush Administration ignored the appeal of the American public by filing its own appeal of the February 7, 2007 ruling in favor of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. More Americans took part in the rule-making process for the 2001 Roadless Rule than in any other federal rule-making in history. Of 4.2 million public comments received by the Forest Service by the end of the 2004 comment period, more than 95 percent were in support of complete protection for all roadless areas. | |
| The word is spreading, and in today’s hearing, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will learn more about why now is the time to protect Grand Canyon National Park from toxic mining. With the price of gold increasing, mining companies are poised to boost their profits at the expense of this American treasure. In the past five years alone, more than 800 claims have been staked within five miles of the national park. | |
| We applaud the bipartisan leadership of Representatives Ed Markey (D-MA) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN), who joined today to introduce H.R. 39, a bill to permanently designate the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a protected wilderness area. | |
| ExxonMobil received an early Christmas present Friday when a federal appeals court reduced a $5 billion fine for punitive damages relating to the company’s role in the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. | |
| At tomorrow’s annual meeting, company officials will likely crow about their quarterly and annual profits. But the other story surrounding ExxonMobil is the growing discontent among American consumers over the company’s profits, executive compensation, and policies regarding the Arctic Refuge and global warming. These issues, and the other issues discussed by my colleagues this morning, define ExxonMobil as an irresponsible corporate citizen to American consumers. | |
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