Water work in Maine: State agencies may bypass the bottle, and opposition to the E/W Corridor continues

Even in Maine where Nestle seems to reign supreme with its Poland Spring bottled water brand topping all spring water brand sales in the country, there has been legislative pushback against bottled water. In late February, Chris Buchanan, AfD’s Maine coordinator for Defending Water for Life, testified at a state legislative hearing on LD 315: An Act to Ban the Purchase of Bottled Water by State Agencies. Her testimony in favor of the bill was very well received and she has been asked to return for the work session on the bill. It would still be very surprising if the bill becomes law, but having the discussion is an important step forward.

Meanwhile, organizing against the East/West SuperCorridor continues full steam ahead. On March 2, the town of Dexter held a forum on the Corridor with two hundred people in attendance. Chris and others with Stop the E/W Corridor were on the panel. Once again, Cianbro, the corporation proposing the Corridor, declined an invitation to attend.

The proposed corridor is generating strong local opposition, with interest growing in taking a rights-based approach for local self-governance which denies corporations court-conferred constitutional rights and protects the rights of nature. Defending Water helped with scholarships so local activists could attend two 2-day Democracy Schools in early March where they are delving deeply into this approach. The Alliance set a national precedent when we worked with Barnstead NH which passed the first rights-based ordinance to protect their water from corporate takings. We hope to see this approach expand in Maine which already has two Barnstead-style local laws in Shapleigh and Newfield.

For more information go to www.defendingwater.net/maine and www.stopthecorridor.org.

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In Maine, East-West Highway feasibility study moves forward

by Chris Buchanan, Defending Water in Maine

LR 2358, An Act To Provide Funding to the Department of Transportation for a Feasibility Study for an East-West Highway, has been given the green light for consideration this session. If you live in Maine, see below for actions you can take with AfD's Defending Water in Maine campaign to help protect your state's ecosystems.

Background
The idea of a Maine East-West highway has been kicked around the Maine Legislature since 1981. However, public and/or private funding has never been provided to study the feasibility of such a highway or to finance its construction.

Canadian businesses want an East-West highway to move goods more cheaply from inland Canada to its eastern provinces and to a proposed Super-Port at Halifax, Nova Scotia, for export. Maine would be used as a throughway. But the highway could also accelerate the exploitation of Maine’s natural resources. Of particular concern to Defending Water in Maine, is the likelihood that the highway would make it economical for giant corporations to profit from cutting down Maine’s forests to supply wood chips to Europe as “green energy” and from exporting Maine’s water in bulk and in bottles to global markets.

Defending Water in Maine and others ask: How will increased truck traffic crossing the state benefit the people of Maine? Simply, it will not. But, it will benefit transnational corporations like Nestlé which can profit from using the highway to exploit and export Maine’s water to sell it around the world.

Why now?
Peter Vigue, CEO of Cianbro, Maine’s largest construction firm, has reignited conversations among business leaders about the East-West highway. The last time Vigue was vocal about the project was in 2007, when he proposed the private toll road from Coburn Gore to Calais. Vigue again is promoting the highway to be built on private land with other business leaders and with state legislators. Cianbro is poised to profit considerably, as the owner of this toll road.

Plans to construct the road are well developed. Cianbro has already identified a route, and contacted major landowners; however, Cianbro has yet to make public the route they are pursuing. See our website for a map of the most likely route.

Key business leaders appear unified, and are organizing influence.

• Eastern Maine Development Corporation has formed Mobilize Eastern Maine, a new business leader group to promote economic development. They appear to be networking with community college educators. For instance, Washington County Community College (WCCC) is starting a new international commerce business program, stating that they anticipate the East-West highway and increased business at the ports.
• The Summit to Connect Education and Business in Eastern Maine is hosting an event to reach out to educators on December 8. (Here is information on this event, and the new program at WCCC: WCCC creates new International Commerce Business program)

LR 2358 was just unanimously moved forward for consideration as an emergency bill by the Legislative Council for the upcoming second legislative session. In 2007, Vigue said that, except for river crossings and connecting to the interstate, Cianbro didn’t need to go to the government for permitting, since this would all be privately funded on private land.

However, Senator Doug Thomas just sponsored a bill for a feasibility study. The bill summary states it, “would provide funding for an independent, investment-grade feasibility study to determine the need for and location of an east-west highway in Maine.” Bill sponsor, Senator Doug Thomas, said that, “a surprising amount of work has been done,” that this project is “doable”, and that this would be a boost to the Maine economy. (video of Thomas's testimony is here.)

Action Items
Join our east-west highway watch group. We will maintain a separate list of people who want more information on the development of this threat so we can continue to update you and network without burdening everyone on our listserv.

Identify Landowners. If you or someone you know has been approached about the highway running through their land, let us know! In the near future, we will be organizing to canvass the area as well and will need your help.

Contact your Local Representative and Senators, and the Members of the Transportation Committee re LR 2358. Some talking points:

• There is no reason for this to be considered as an emergency bill. Even Rep. Thomas admits that this has been under discussion for 20 years. The “emergency” seems to be that Cianbro wants to move ahead.
• Emergency legislation will not take into account potential environmental impacts of this highway, particularly impacts to Maine’s water and forests.
• A feasibility study of the East-West highway as a private toll road should not be funded by potential investors. It is unethical to have an investor-funded study of a project that benefits investors. Any study must be unbiased, because we are confident that an East-West highway will not benefit Maine people, or the environment.
• This bill is being rushed through to serve the interests of Cianbro, a private corporation, and Canadian businesses looking to cut transportation costs, without looking at the public interest of all Mainers. Will the cutting down of our forests, the selling of our water, and being a transport throughway be in the best interest of Maine residents now and in the future?

List of Transportation Committee Members:
Senators:
Douglas Thomas- R (sponsor) 277-3017 firewood@tds.net
Ronald Collins- R 985-2485 SenRonald.Collins@legislature.maine.gov
Bill Diamond- D 892-8941 SenBill.Diamond@legislature.maine.gov

Representatives:
Wayne Parry- R 286-9145 RepWayne.Parry@legislature.maine.gov
Alexander Willette- R 689-8332 alexander.willette@gmail.com
James Gillway- R 548-6372 RepJames.Gillway@legislature.maine.gov
Kimberley Rosen- R 469-3779 Kurlykim40@aol.com
Peter Rioux- R 659-2293 RepPeter.Rioux@legislature.maine.gov
Richard Cebra- R 693-6782 RepRich.Cebra@legislature.maine.gov
Ann Peoples- D 287-1430 RepAnn.Peoples@legislature.maine.gov
Charles Theriault- D 728-4526 RepCharlesK.Theriault@legislature.maine.gov
Edward Mazurek- D 542-0017 RepEd.Mazurek@legislature.maine.gov
George Hogan- D 423-4293 RepGeorge.Hogan@legislature.maine.gov

Please let us know whom you have contacted. Thanks!

Chris Buchanan, chris@defendingwater.net

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How can communities reclaim the right to say "no" to corporations?

Mari Margil, of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, recently posted this article on local rights-based ordinances, originally written for Yes! Magazine. She focuses on the recent circuit court overturn on Morgantown, West Virginia's local anti-fracking ordinance, and asks

"Why is it that cities and towns facing the direct impacts of these and a wide range of other harmful corporate activities do not have the authority to determine whether they should occur? How is it that corporate directors who live hundreds if not thousands of miles away--working hand-in-hand with the state and federal officials that residents often expect to protect them--are able to override local, democratic decision making like Morgantown's?"

Pittsburgh's anti-fracking ordinance, which declares the "fundamental and inalienable right" to water for both residents and ecosystems, also gives residents legal standing to sue on behalf of protection of the municipality's ecosystems. But passing these ordinances is nothing but show unless municipalities are also willing to enforce them.

In the meantime, as Wenonah Hauter points out, the energy industries still have too many tools at their disposal to influence public policy in the service of making money, regardless of the risk to health, environment, and local democracy.

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Action on Water and Climate: Friday June 11 deadline!

We ask for your quick action to sign on to this petition to tell climate negotiators - “Protect Water, Protect the Climate.” The petition will be sent in on Friday, June 11, so please read more and sign the petition at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Water-and-Climate-Justice-Bonn

Background: Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are meeting in Bonn, Germany from May 31- June 11 to prepare for the next major climate talks in Cancun, Mexico from Nov. 29 – Dec. 10. The Cancun meeting is the sequel to the failed climate talks in Copenhagen this past December, and already the People’s Climate Justice Movement is organizing to have a large presence and impact.

Unfortunately, protecting fresh water sources is not part of the discussion. The online petition sponsored by the Climate Justice Network, of which the Alliance is a part, seeks to change that, by emphasizing the link between stewardship of water and prevention of climate change.

The petition also asks for a more open negotiating process, and endorses recommendations for action that came out of the recent World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth. These should not be ignored in preference to the Copenhagen Accord. Read here why the Peoples Conference model of inclusion offers only path forward on climate change.

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Action Alert: Get investor rights clauses out of US trade pacts

We urge you to ask President Obama to stand by his campaign pledge to remove investor rights clauses from U.S. trade pacts--negotiations for a new one, the Transpacific Partnership, will get underway in San Francisco later this month. Please visit Public Citizen's site for background and to sign on to the call.

Background:
In 2008, the government of El Salvador lawfully denied mining permits to Pacific Rim Mining Company for a massive gold mine in a rural watershed area 40 miles south of San Salvador. To process the expected haul of gold and silver, mining operations would have used an estimated 22 million liters of water and 950 tons of cyanide, and the threat to water resources, agriculture and health spurred resistance to the plan across the nation. Even Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes has said, "It's very simple: my government will not authorize any extractive mining project."

But now Pacific Rim has gone to the World Bank, and in a closed-door hearing that started last week, the corporation will claim some $77 million in damages against El Salvador based on the controversial CAFTA investor rights rules. Under these rules, a private company can sue governments based on loss of future expected profits. It's the first time the investor rights clause has been used in an environmental protection case, but it won't be the last as multinational extractive industries go after a growing movement in the Global South for environmental justice, sustainability and rights of nature.

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"NOW" on natural gas fracking and contamination of groundwater

PBS's NOW had a story this week on hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", the practice of drilling into and then fracturing natural-gas-bearing rock with a combination of compressed water and chemicals in order to release gas deposits that can't be extracted through conventional drilling. Hydraulic fracturing is being touted as a way to access large amounts of a cleaner fossil fuel within continental US borders, and so reduce dependency on both foreign oil and domestic coal, but the health and environmental costs of this procedure are still unknown, with some disturbing patterns of illness and contamination being seen in regions where fracking wells have been drilled, including Montana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Here's an interview with filmmaker Josh Fox, whose Sundance-honored film "Gasland" spotlights the downside to this supposedly cleaner fuel, including chronic illness, tapwater fireballs, and lack of regulatory oversight to protect groundwater and health. You can read more about the show on the NOW site or visit the film website here.

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Tapped premieres at Maine International Film Festival

Join Maine's Water Justice Community for the world premier of Tapped, a shocking look at the bottle water industry and the communities it impacts, featuring stories from those fighting bottle water around the country and in Maine, including AfD Defending Water for Life campaign coordinator Ruth Caplan.



The film shows a few times during the film festval, but the premiere is Sunday, July 12 at 3:30. Carpool and pack the theater!

To buy tickets online for Tapped, see this page on the Maine International Film Festival site. For general info, the home page for the festival is here. For info on the Defending Water in Maine campaign, see the campaign website or contact organizer Emily Posner.

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Mass Coalition for Healthy Communities: Speak out now on Waxman-Markey

Hat tip to Mass Coalition for Healthy Communities for this alert on the Waxman-Markey climate change bill. Read an op-ed in the Metrowest (Massachusetts) Daily News by organizers Jill Stein and Maggie Zhou here.

Would you flip a coin to determine whether hundreds of millions of people are forced into migration and conflict over desperate food and water shortages? Or how about whether half the species of our planet live or die?

Congress is poised to do 20 times worse than that as it prepares to vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACESA, also known as Waxman-Markey). This legislation aims for a greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target that is at best 20 times weaker than a 50/50 shot for avoiding catastrophic global warming, while permitting polluters to use "offsets" to increase their pollution for many years to come. And to top it off, this bill shamefully repeals existing EPA power to regulate global warming pollution.

The vote could come to the House floor as soon as this Friday, June 26. Click here to see a sample letter to send to Congress.

Please tell your Congressional representative that ACESA/Waxman-Markey is a fake climate bill and must be withdrawn or voted down. Ask your representative to come up with a real climate solution that:

1. Cuts greenhouse gas pollution quickly to return to a safe level in the atmosphere - below 350 parts-per-million. (More here)
   
2. Includes a switch to 100% renewable electricity in 10 years.
   
3. Preserves the ability of the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas pollution.
   
4. Does not allow unreliable, fraud-prone "offsets" in place of real emission reductions
   
5. Phases out coal, and prohibits the use/extraction of tar sand and oil shale -- all the worst culprits of global warming.
   

This will produce millions of jobs as we create sustainable, healthy, vibrant, local and resilient low-carbon economies!

After you contact your representative, please call your favorite environmental organizations and ask them to join us in this action. And help spread the word by sharing this alert on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

FAQ links:

• Why is ACESA / Waxman-Markey un-salvageable? 
  
• Isn't it better to make this first step now, and then try to strengthen it with further legislation?
  
• Background on the safe level of atmospheric greenhouse gases - 350 ppm
  
• Detailed analysis on ACESA / Waxman-Markey
  

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Nestlé is moving fast--southern Mainers need your help!

A message from Emily Posner, Maine organizer for the Defending Water for Life Campaign:

Dear Water Warriors and Allies of the cause to keep Maine's water out of corporate hands:

The water justice movement is growing fast in Maine thanks to the tireless efforts of dedicated citizens in places like Shapleigh and Newfield, Maine. Shapleigh and Newfield are small rural communities, nestled in the foothills of the Presidential mountain range. Combined, the towns' population is less then 4,000 residents.

These two small Maine towns share an abundant sand and gravel aquifer that is protected by the 4,000 acre Vernon Walker Game Management Area. Vernon Walker is publicly owned state land that is managed by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. In 2006, without any public oversight, Nestlé sunk up to 16 bore wells in this public land to determine the viability of industrial water extraction. When the state offered a price/gallon too high for the Fortune 500 company, they started bargaining with Shapleigh town officials in an effort to instead begin operating on town land adjacent to Vernon Walker.

Meanwhile, concerned citizens from around the area have united to oppose Nestlé's intrusion into their rural community. They have formed POWWR -- Protecting Our Water and Wildlife Resources. POWWR is committed to protecting their community's natural resources for today and into the future. Please visit www.defendingwaterinmaine.org/POWWR to learn about POWWR's history and local organizing effort.

On September 20, 2008, Shapleigh citizens sent a clear message to Nestlé when the town voted overwhelmingly for a 180-day moratorium to protect their groundwater. They also voted NO to drilling and testing by Nestlé on the town-owned parcel of land.

In the Boston Globe, Nestlé's lead geologist was quoted as saying, "we might need to force our hand" in regards to the resistance of Shapleigh and Newfield residents. And since the vote in September, the company has not stopped in its efforts to get the precious water from this area, and the Town's elected officials are attempting to push forward an ordinance that will open the door to large scale industrial water extraction.

Meanwhile, POWWR continues to organize and are working on an ordinance that will protect their community's right to self-government and say no to commercial water extraction. Read about it here.

POWWR needs support in their inspiring grassroots effort to protect their community's water resources, ecosystems and town's right to determine its future. We are trying to raise $500 to support this tremendous effort. Please consider making a small tax deductible donation. If just 50 people made a $10 donation, the goal would be reached. You can make a donation on-line here or send a check directly to POWWR, 185 Hooper Road, Shapleigh, ME 04076 (POWWR@live.com).

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"Tapped" shows the dirty truths about bottled water

You probably don't drink bottled water. But if family or co-workers are still buying it, a new film might convince them to mend their wasteful ways.

Tapped is a film that examines the role of the bottled water industry and its effects on our health, climate change, pollution, and our reliance on oil. It's directed by Stephanie Soechtig and Jason Lindsey, and produced by Atlas Films. The official site is www.tappedthemovie.com.

The trailer below features footage of Nestle's Poland Springs trucks rolling through Maine--where the Alliance's Defending Water for Life campaign is raising awareness of and resistance to corporate privatization of water, and working with residents on local ordinances to defend water rights. (Campaign chair Ruth Caplan appears at the very end.) To find out more about our water work, see the campaign page on our website. We'll post more info on the film as we get it.

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Who does the regulatory system work for? More on protecting local commons

Here's part two of Martha Spiess's video of the SaveOurWater conference, featuring Mari Margill of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund talking about the shortcomings of the regulatory system and how communities can step outside it to better protect communities from environmental harm.

Part one of the video series is posted on our blog below. More of Martha's work is here.

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Can communities protect their local commons?

SaveOurWater sponsored this talk by environmental attorney Thomas Linzey of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund on how communities in Southern Maine can protect water from corporate predation. Thanks to videographer Martha Spiess of Maine for taping this event. More of her work is here.

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New Alliance website on California's water!

We are proud to announce a new website focusing on the fight to keep California's waters in the public trust. Please go to www.defendingwaterincalifornia.org and take a look! Thanks to web designer Paul Eagle (who also did our Maine site, www.defendingwaterinmaine.org.

The site currently features .pdfs of the new Alliance publication "Water Democracy in California: Community Rights, not Corporate Control," written by Alliance co-chair Nancy Price and designed by Nadia Khastigar at Design Action in Oakland, CA. Defending Water for Life organizer Ruth Caplan also helped write, edit, cut, and shepherd the project to completion. More material will be posted soon!

Nancy will be taking 5,000 copies of the newsletter to this weekend's Bioneers event, where she'll be tabling with Friends of the Eel River, who are profiled in the publication.

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Good news: Clean money bill and GE crop bill pass in CA

Here's an update on a previous post: last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two pending bills into law, AB 583 (Hancock), the California Fair Elections Act and AB 541, providing protection for farmers through regulation of genetically engineered crops.

The California Fair Elections Act will establish a pilot program for voluntary public funding of Secretary of State candidates in 2014 and 2018. It still needs to be approved at the ballot box in a referendum slated for June, 2010.

The California Clean Money Campaign will now work on educating voters on the benefits of public funding, where candidates for office in the most recent election cycle spent more than $400 million on the race.

AB 541, which was sponsored by a coalition of agriculture organizations and food businesses, indemnifies California farmers who have not been able to prevent the inevitable drift of GE pollen or seed onto their land and the subsequent contamination of non-GE crops.

Currently, farmers with crops that become contaminated by patented seeds or pollen have been the target of harassing lawsuits brought by biotech patent holders, most notoriously Monsanto. Further, if their contaminated crops cause harm to other farmers, the environment or consumers, they have not been protected from that liability. AB 541 gives farmers protections from that liability and establishes a mandatory crop sampling protocol to level the playing field when biotech companies investigate alleged patent or contract violations.

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Residents of Shapleigh overwhelmingly vote to halt all activities of Poland Spring

It's great to be able to share some good news! Here's a post from the blog at www.defendingwaterinmaine.org, by organizer Emily Posner:

Dearest friends, allies and water justice advocates:

I write to you all with astounding news from this weekend.

On Saturday, the residents of Shapleigh overwhelmingly voted to halt all activities of Poland Spring (Nestlé Waters North America).

Shapleigh residents packed the elementary school’s cafeteria. Well over 270 residents, journalists and water justice advocates attended, many forced to stand around the room’s walls.

The town hall’s warrant included two articles about water for Shapleigh residents to consider. The first was a moratorium that would halt all water extraction activities for 180 days until the town is able to draft and approve a comprehensive water protection ordinance. After some residents referenced the dissident and revolutionary actions of Paul Revere, the article was moved to vote and passed 204-38.

The second article was put on the warrant by Nestlé. It requested that the town approve the company to access a 150-acre parcel of town land to drill up to 15 test wells in March. This is the time of year when Maine’s aquifers are recharged, and the company wanted to see if the parcel would be an adequate site for a well-head. Once again, after passionate comments the article was moved to vote. It was defeated 183 to 43.

Directly across the road from the town land is the Vernon Walker Game Management Area. Nestlé already has many test wells in this preserve. And at one point was interested in pumping water from this public land. Now that Nestlé has been defeated in Shapleigh, we need to collectively work together in order to protect any future encroachment of Nestlé on this state piece of property.

The game management area is a public resource and is owned by the PEOPLE OF MAINE. The test wells were sunk into the ground between Feb. 2006 and May 2007 WITHOUT ANY PUBLIC NOTICE. With the moratorium in place no further testing or permits can be granted at the Vernon Walker site for at least 180 days. Funding sources for Inland Fisheries and Wildlife are insufficient. This makes the idea of mining water for profit attractive to Inland Fisheries and Wildlife officials. Is it worth the cost?

Defending Water for Life encourages you all to contact the caretakers of OUR RESOURCE with your comments or concerns. Indicate to them that Vernon Walker needs to protected for the generations to come and water mining is an inappropriate activity for this area. (let us know if you contact Inland Fisheries so that we can keep track of comments).

Scott Lindsay -wildlife biologist scott.lindsay@maine.gov
Pratte, John John.Pratte@maine.gov
Wildlife Management Section Supervisor
Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife
284 State Street #41
Augusta, ME 04333
207-287-5253

Paul F. Jacques P.F.Jacques@maine.gov
Deputy Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

Please visit www.defendingwaterinmaine.org/POWWR to find out more info about the Vernon Walker Game Management Area.

Our hats go off to the amazing grass-roots work done by the members of POWWR (Protecting our Water and Wildlife Resources). They have been working tirelessly for the last six months to get to this point. Many spending every weekend at the dump passing out literature and others hosting educational workshops and making sure that the media accurately covers this amazing story in rural Maine. Please send them a note of congrats powwr@live.com

Stay tuned for more info and pictures.

Emily Posner
organizer for Defending Water for Life in Maine

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Deadline extended for comments on cell tower/antenna siting

The deadline for comments on new limitations to local authority to regulate cell tower and antenna citing has been extended to September 29.

If you didn't get a chance to comment please follow the links below to learn more about this industry-driven change, and weigh in with the Federal Communications Commission.

For background on this issue and links for talking points and updates, see a previous post on the Alliance e-news blog.

Then, take these actions before September 29:
Submit your comment electronically by clicking here: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi NOTE: In Box 1, for the "Proceeding" bar, type in 08-165. You can attach your comment as a PDF document, or you can type your comment directly into the box at the bottom of the page, but make a copy of it first, please!

Then send a copy of your comment to Citizens and Professionals for the Responsible Use of Electromagnetic Radiation at info@emrnetwork.org so they can track our collective effort, and do follow up. Or send them an email letting us know you've submitted a comment.

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Action: Comment now on revisions to cell-phone tower siting standards

Here's an action alert from Kati Winchell, one of the founders of the Alliance for Democracy, who has been active on this issue for many years. The effects of the Telecommunications Act on local democracy were covered in early issues of Alliance Alerts (now Justice Rising).

Citizens and Professionals for the Responsible Use of Electromagnetic Radiation are asking that you comment on proposed regulatory changes that would make it harder for communities to have a say in where telecommunications corporations locate their cell phone towers or antennas.

Comments are due by Monday, September 15--there's not much time to weigh in on this issue. So ask the Federal Communications Commission to turn down the proposed change. For info on how to email your comments, see the EMR etwork site, here. For talking points, visit this page on the EMR Network site.

Some background: On July 11, 2008, CTIA, the trade association of the cellular telephone industry, petitioned the FCC to declare new limitations on local zoning authority as it affects cell tower and antenna siting, which, if approved, would pre-empt local ordinances and state laws. You can read a notice of the petition here.

Specifically, CTIA requests the FCC to:

1. Force municipalities to act on wireless antenna or tower zoning applications within 45 or 75 days;
   Rule that applications are automatically "deemed granted" if a local government misses these deadlines;
   
2. Prevent municipalities from considering the presence of service by other carriers in evaluating an additional carrier's application for an antenna site; and
   
3. Preempt any local ordinance that would automatically require a variance for cell tower applications. (It appears that this would in effect preempt local wireless overlay districts, setbacks and height restrictions, thereby gutting existing local wireless bylaws.)

These proposed changes could lead to situations where wireless companies would be allowed to approach private individuals, including our neighbors, to site antennas on their property--without restriction. Given that these companies offer sizeable, yearly compensation for antenna space, many people would not be in a position to reject their offers. Property valuations would likely drop near such installations, and neighbor-to-neighbor acrimony would rise. Moreover, this would pave the way to increased exposure to microwave radiation where we live, work and play.

Exposure to electromagnetic radiation has been shown to cause biological disruption which can lead to a variety adverse health effects, including but not limited to childhood leukemia, adult brain tumors, childhood brain tumors, genotoxic effects (DNA damage and micronucleation), neurological effects and neurodegenerative disease, immune system disregulation, allergic and inflammatory responses, breast cancer in men and women, miscarriage and some cardiovascular effects.

This is not the first blow against local control of tower and antenna siting. Twelve years ago, the industry-driven 1996 Telecommunications Act (Section 704) struck a grave blow to local governing authority, resulting in the widespread build-out of the "seamless" network of cell phone towers and antennas nationwide that we see today. The '96 Telecom Act accomplished this by:

1. Forcing towns to do business with any comparable wireless carriers that submit applications; to do otherwise is considered to be "discriminatory" practice, with legal consequences.
2. Prohibiting towns and cities from banning wireless communication facilities (cell phone towers and antennas) in their communities; to do so is considered to be in violation of federal law.
3. Reducing local governing authority to the comparatively marginal area of regulating antenna and tower placement through such means as overlay districts, setbacks, and tower height restrictions, etc.

Following the '96 Telecom Act, many towns and cities, though not all, crafted tower and antenna siting bylaws within these severe strictures. But the curtailments didn't end there. No bylaw, according to the Telecom Act, could be based on environmental impact, which is interpreted by the telecom industry to include human health effects. Even so, these local bylaws have been the last line of defense that communities could look toward for protection of their health, environment, and properties. And now, even this last remnant of local authority may be pre-empted, if the CTIA's petition is approved!

Please send a letter to the FCC by September 15, 2008, urging it to deny the CTIA's petition. If possible, please send a copy to the following to maximize the impact of your letter:

• Your local governing boards - so they will notify their colleagues in other towns and cities
• Your state representative and senator
• Your Congressmen
• Your City and local papers
• The EMR Network --so we can track the effect of your letters. You can email your letter to info@emrnetwork.org

On August 22, Montgomery County, Maryland, and NATOA et al. filed motions to extend the comment deadlines. Check back at EMRnetwork.org for the latest on this issue.

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News from California: passage of three good bills--but they still need support

There's been some important actions in the California state assembly recently on clean elections, the national popular vote, and genetically-modified crops. The next step for all these bills is signature or veto by Governor Schwarzenegger, who is not considering bills until the state legislature passes a budget. Read on, and if you're a California resident, please be ready to take action to move some good bills into law. And if you're not, maybe you know someone who is--forward this post! You can phone the Governor's office at 916-445-2841, or comment by email at this link: www.govmail.ca.gov

First, California's Clean and Fair Elections bill, AB 583 (Hancock) has passed the full Senate and Assembly. If signed by Schwarzenegger and approved in a June 2010 state referendum, AB 583 will establish a pilot project for voluntary full public financing for Secretary of State candidates in 2014 and 2018.

The bill squeaked by its Assembly votes, and organizers credit grassroots support with passage in the face of heavy lobbyist opposition. For more information, please visit the California Clean Money Campaign's website at caclean.org.

Congratulations to everyone who worked on this campaign, especially former AfD national council member Jo Seidita, who has been active on this issue for more than a decade.

Also off the Assembly's docket and on to the Governor: a bill to support the national popular vote, rather than the current election/electoral college method, which has long doomed so-called "safe states" to the campaign back burner. California, the nation's most populous state, has a lot to gain from a national popular vote, and so this measure has passed the Assembly and gone on to a possible gubernatorial signature.

Under the current system, most of the candidates' attention goes to voters in so-called "swing states," and for conservatives in liberal states (or liberals among conservatives) a national popular vote means a slightly greater chance to meet with presidential candidates and influence platforms--after the big donors have their say, of course.

But most importantly, a national popular vote can help prevent another Florida or Ohio--where widespread disenfranchisement of potential Democratic voters tipped the state, and thus the nation, to the GOP. It's harder to steal an election if you have to do it in every state. For more information, see www.nationalpopularvote.com. AfD's Portland chapter has been supporting National Popular Vote actions in Oregon, and the AfD national council has endorsed this reform as well.

Lastly, the legislature recently passed a bill protecting farmers against Monsanto lawsuits. AB 541 (Huffman, D-Marin/Sonoma) also needs to be signed into law after passing 23-14 in the Senate and unanimously in the Assembly.

AB 541 regulates genetically engineered (GE) crops, protecting California farmers from lawsuits when GE pollen drifts into their fields (as pollen is, of course, naturally engineered to do) and contaminates their non-GE crops.

Unbelievably, farmers whose produce becomes contaminated by patented seeds or pollen have been the target of harassing lawsuits brought by biotech patent holders, particularly Monsanto. The bill also establishes a mandatory crop sampling protocol to prevent biotech companies that are investigating alleged violations from sampling crops without the explicit permission of farmers.

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Have you checked out the Headline blog recently?

Rights for nature in Ecuador, an investigation into Karl Rove's Cybergate, and a look at what could be in store for voters in November as they line up to cast their ballots on thousands of substandard and unsecure machines... all on Alliance for Democracy's Headlines blog. Take a look!

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Online Petition: Erroneous act of the Supreme Court in Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker

We recently received an email from Kellie Kvasnikoff, a commercial fisherman forced into a career change by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, who is now Chief Information Technology Officer for the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe. In 2006 Kvasnikoff published Exxon Valdez 18 Years and Counting detailing the fight to get justice from Exxon after the economic, environmental and cultural disaster that the oil spill brought to Prince William Sound.

Now, following up on the Supreme Court decision to let the oil giant wriggle off the hook on punitive damages, an on-line petition asks that Congress open an investigation into Exxon and the court's decision. You can read and sign here.

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