This Bill Should Not Pass - Tell Your...

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Author Message   notehead Supporter Username: Notehead Post Number: 2024 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Wednesday, February 9, 2005 - 2:37 pm:        I received the following from the NRDC. I just emailed Bill Pascrell to urge him not to pass this bill. This is just the sort of bill that has an ostensibly noble purpose, but can very easily be subverted to benefit private enterprise. ======================================================== NRDC's EARTH ACTION: The Bulletin for Environmental Activists February 9, 2005 ======================================================== Urgent alert -- House vote scheduled for tomorrow! Tell your representative not to let the Department of Homeland Security disregard health, safety and environmental laws. Take action now at http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp\?step=2&item=52426 ======================================================== Tomorrow, February 10th, the House of Representatives will vote on a bill that would grant the Department of Homeland Security sweeping new authority to waive all federal and state laws, including those that protect public health, worker safety and the environment, for the construction of roads, walls, fences and other barriers along U.S. borders. Under this sweeping waiver, the DHS would be free to undertake large construction projects without oversight, accountability, or legal constraints anywhere along our borders -- from the densely populated border communities in California, Texas and Washington, to the remote wilderness of Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona, to the pristine islands and waters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota. Federal and state laws that protect citizens from criminal activities and negligent business practices, as well as those that ensure civil rights, public health and safety and environmental protections, could be disregarded. Long-standing laws like the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and Safe Drinking Water Act could be ignored, putting communities at risk for increased pollution. Additionally, our border areas contain an enormous amount of protected federal lands, including national parks, wildlife refuges, forests and wilderness areas, that could be subject to this provision. Border security can be ensured while shielding the public and the environment from harm and, indeed, the DHS has not demonstrated a need to waive any laws. In fact, not a single congressional hearing has illustrated a need for these broad exemptions. Never before has any federal agency been provided with such a breadth of unjustified exemptions from our laws. == What to do == Send a message *right now* urging your representative to oppose any attempts to allow the Department of Homeland Security to waive environmental, health and safety laws. == Contact information == You can email or fax your representative directly from NRDC's Earth Action Center at http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp\?step=2&item=52426 If you prefer to call your representative, the Capitol switchboard number is 202-224-3121 (or toll-free at 800-839-5276). Please also forward this message to your friends and co-workers and urge them to contact their representatives as well. Thank you! ======================================================== About NRDC: The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization with more than 550,000 members nationwide and a staff of scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things. For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC, please contact us at: Natural Resources Defense Council 40 West 20th Street New York, NY 10011 212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax) Email: nrdcaction@nrdc.org http://www.nrdc.org ========================================================   Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 5215 Registered: 4-1998 Posted on Wednesday, February 9, 2005 - 2:43 pm:        The No Forest Left Behind Act?   notehead Supporter Username: Notehead Post Number: 2025 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Wednesday, February 9, 2005 - 2:47 pm:        That was inspired.   Soda Supporter Username: Soda Post Number: 2542 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Wednesday, February 9, 2005 - 3:48 pm:        Led by a judge from NJ, we'll surely win the War on Treeism