---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 16:20:08 GMT From: BioGems News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Alan Sondheim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: NRDC's BioGems News, March 2007 ======================================== Saving Endangered Wild Places NRDC's BIOGEMS NEWS http://www.nrdconline.org/ct/vdA5O2M1Zuu7/ March 2007 ======================================== HELP BLOCK GAS DRILLING IN GREATER YELLOWSTONE Even as unbridled oil and gas development despoils wildlands and communities across the West, the Bush administration has proposed drilling 4,400 new natural gas wells in Wyoming's Upper Green River Valley. Nestled between the Wind River and the Wyoming ranges, this lush valley offers a winter refuge for thousands of pronghorn and mule deer, as well as roost sites for bald eagles. Expanding drilling in this region would scar the landscape with roads, pipelines and transmission lines and could pollute the fisheries of the Green and New Fork rivers. Even the Bureau of Land Management has admitted that the plan would eliminate crucial protections and further degrade the valley's wildlife habitat. SAVE YELLOWSTONE/GREATER ROCKIES: Tell the Bush administration to protect the outstanding wild ranges of the Upper Green River Valley from gas drilling. http://www.nrdconline.org/ct/5dA5O2M1ZuuE/ NRDC DEFENDS CATSKILLS IN COURT NRDC and our partners have filed a lawsuit challenging a proposal for a Las Vegas-style casino just outside of New York state's historic Catskill Park. Following preliminary federal and state approval of the $600 million project, we're seeking to block the plan until a thorough study of its potential environmental impacts is completed. The proposed Monticello Raceway casino is expected to attract some 6 million annual visitors, creating massive traffic tie-ups and residential and commercial construction that would irrevocably transform the way of life in Catskills communities. Meanwhile, sewage and runoff from the casino and from casino-related secondary development would flow into the Catskills' renowned trout streams, lakes and rivers. Did you know that the Catskills region supplies New York City with 90 percent of its water? Get an up-close look at the magnificent Catskills watershed. http://www.nrdconline.org/ct/v1A5O2M1ZuuI/ U.S. NAVY DEFIES CALIFORNIA ON DEADLY SONAR The Navy has refused to comply with a decision by the California Coastal Commission requiring it to protect whales and other marine life during two years of ear-splitting sonar exercises off the southern California coast. After receiving more than 16,000 pro-whale messages from BioGems Defenders and other activists in California, commission officials voted in January to reject the Navy's plan unless it committed to taking common-sense protective measures, such as avoiding the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and other sensitive marine mammal habitats. We'll keep you posted on our ongoing campaign of legal action and public pressure to limit lethal military sonar. NRDC "GREENS" THE OSCARS This year, the film industry's biggest night was also its greenest, thanks to NRDC. Our experts teamed up with the producers of the 79th Annual Academy Awards to reduce the environmental impacts of the red-carpet event itself, as well as the pre-show, telecast and Governor's Ball. Our efforts included limiting energy use, offsetting global warming pollution and avoiding paper products sourced from the Cumberland Plateau BioGem and other endangered forests. NRDC trustee and best-actor nominee Leonardo DiCaprio and former Vice President Al Gore announced our landmark initiative during the live awards telecast on February 25th, reaching an estimated 1.2 billion people worldwide. It was also a big night for NRDC trustee Laurie David, producer of the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. STEP IT UP 2007 April 14th is only a month away, and momentum is building for Step It Up 2007 -- a day of rallies across the country to urge Congress to impose an 80 percent reduction in global warming pollution by 2050. NRDC staff and BioGems Defenders will be gathering in force in Montana's Glacier Park National Park; Boulder, Colorado; Tampa, Florida; New York City; Washington, D.C.; Chicago and elsewhere. If you live near one of these locations, you'll be receiving an invitation soon to join us at a rally. Or, you can let us know you're interested in taking part by sending an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more about this historic event, visit http://www.stepitup2007.org . Last call for Earth Day handouts! If you're participating in an event, NRDC can provide you with BioGems bookmarks, environmental action guides, stickers and reprints of Nature's Voice and This Green Life. To request materials, email us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Be sure to include "Earth Day" in the subject line and let us know your name and mailing address, what type of event you're participating in, and the quantity of materials you are requesting. Supplies are limited. -------------- BioGems Update -------------- BioGems Defenders: 571,380 Action Messages Sent: 9,153,191 See the timeline of victories we've won at http://www.nrdconline.org/ct/vpA5O2M1Zuuj/ ------------------ Do Even More . . . ------------------ You can support NRDC's BioGems campaign to save these and other threatened wild places. To donate, visit http://www.nrdconline.org/ct/57A5O2M1ZuuU/ . . . BioGems: Saving Endangered Wild Places A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council http://www.nrdconline.org/ct/f7A5O2M1ZuuO/ To update your information, including your email or mailing address, visit your subscription management page at http://www.nrdconline.org/biogemscenter/smp.tcl?nkey=wgx7d6i4f537k78&;. If you would prefer not to receive this newsletter, you can reply to this email message with "remove" or "unsubscribe" in the subject line. ** You are receiving a text-only version of NRDC's BioGems News because you have asked to receive text rather than html messages or because NRDC's email system is not able to deliver html email to your system. You can also read the newsletter online at http://www.nrdconline.org/ct/vdA5O2M1Zuu7/
Hi - would like to suggest - you might want to sub to NRDC - it's pretty
good for online activism - Alan
