685,000+ Send Comments in Support of Bears Ears National Monument

Posted on May 27, 2017 by GarryRogers

GR: For-profit enterprises control many public land management decisions in the U. S. and elsewhere. For Bears Ears National Monument, the USDI, the agency responsible for more public lands than any other, must now decide whether it will represent citizen wishes or corporate interests. Bears Ears is a public lands test of a citizen petition to control a public land management decision. Fingers crossed. However, this is a contest that has a critical outcome. Thus, we should take the “all of the above” approach and participate in other activist efforts announced on Facebook and other media to place public pressure on Zinke.

“A coalition of conservation groups and others announced Thursday that a historic number of comments and petitions of support have been submitted to the U.S. Department of the Interior in support of Bears Ears National Monument. Despite the entirely inadequate 15-day comment period ending on May 26, more than 685,000 comments in support of Bears Ears National Monument have been collected.

“The tremendous amount of public input in such a short amount of time is a powerful demonstration of support for indigenous rights and the places we all hold dear,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. “Secretary Zinke would be wise to join in support of Tribal Nations and preserve Bears Ears.”

“The unprecedented number of comments reflect all those who have stood in solidarity to support the efforts and leadership of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and the five sovereign tribal nations involved who led the way to protect the sacred sites and ancestral lands of the Bears Ears region.

“The announcement comes in the wake of the president’s executive order to review national monuments created since 1996. Sec. of the Interior Ryan Zinke opened a 60-day comment period on all national monuments, but inexplicably limited comments on Bears Ears to only 15 days. The U.S. Department of the Interior denied a request from Sen. Martin Heinrich to extend the public comment period to 60 days and hold a public meeting as part of the so-called “review” of Bears Ears.”

“Trump and Zinke need to listen to the American people for once instead of corporate polluters. The people have made it crystal clear that they stand with Bears Ears and in solidarity with the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition,” said Kieran Suckling, the Center for Biological Diversity’s executive director. “They will not stand by while Trump and anti-public lands zealots plunder and pillage the country’s most stunning landscapes and cultural treasures for profits.”

“The total number of comments reflects submissions of supportive comments from members and supporters of dozens of organizations representing a broad array of interests. These comments have been uploaded to the regulations.gov comment docket DOI-2017-0002. Due to the way that regulations.gov tracks comments, the site counts a batch of comments as a single comment, regardless of whether it included 10,000 or more individual comments or signatures.

“The people have spoken—more than half a million strong—and 99 percent expect these magnificent lands to be held in the public trust for future generations,” said Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “That’s a mandate to preserve monument protections for Bears Ears and all it means to Americans past, present and future. It’s a resounding call, also, for all of us to respect and collaborate with the Inter-Tribal Coalition.” –Sierra Club and EcoWatch (Continue: 685,000+ Send Comments in Support of Bears Ears National Monument.)

Politics, Nature-Conservation, and Pipelines

Posted on March 31, 2017 by GarryRogers

Abandoning Fossil Fuels for Nature Conservation

GR: Fossil fuels are harmful during their extraction, delivery, refinement, and use. Alternative energy sources are available that are safer and offer tangible benefits for people. More employment opportunity is an example. It is imperative for the survival of nature, wildlife, and humanity that we close the door on the fossil-fuel industry and its disastrous impact. The first step is replacing all the kleptocrats who serve in our governments with progressive politicians able to resist the financial incentives for destroying the Earth. To do this with a balanced integration of human and nature concerns, we must form an alliance of progressive political parties and nature-conservation organizations.

Though the political alliance is the primary strategy, we can have some influence over our kleptocrats by showing them the strength of our numbers. Here’s a petition to Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau that focuses on the delivery part of the fossil-fuel cycle.

Politics and Nature-Conservation Resources

“A ‘simple’ oil spill that released an estimated 550 litres of fuel off the northern coast of Vancouver Island has been deemed impossible to clean up. Neither skimmer vessels or sorbent materials can risk touching the environmentally rich affected area that a local First Nation relies on for food and income.

“The fact that there is no current technology that can recover the remaining oil is unacceptable and goes to show that even relatively small spills can be complicated and do great damage to environments and local economies. In this case, while some of the pollutants will evaporate others will remain in the area for much longer, continuing to degrade the the ecosystem and putting the First Nation’s livelihood and health at risk for years to come.

“We have been told that the government and petroleum companies know what they are doing and that they have the knowhow and technology to quickly and responsibly clean up any spills that may occur. Yet, time and time again when an accident happens we learn that they are utterly unprepared to deal with these disasters.” –Andrew (Continue: petition: Stop the Approval of Canadian Pipelines).

Protect Arizona National Parks from Government Development

Posted on May 9, 2015 by GarryRogers

Target: President Barack Obama

Goal: Don’t allow federal security agencies to decimate national parks and wildlife refuges.

America’s beautiful protected lands could soon be opened up to development and deterioration in the name of national security, if legislation introduced by Senator John McCain becomes law. National security is important, but it does not have to jeopardize the security of our wildernesses. Demand that this bill be vetoed so that it can never put our environment at risk.

The “Arizona Borderland Protection and Preservation Act” is designed to degrade protections for national parks, wildlife refuges, national monuments, and other protected lands under the pretext of national security. The proposal would give the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) free reign to disregard environmental protections and operate in millions of acres of protected federal land in Arizona and California, and to develop infrastructure and bases to help its security operations there. Source: forcechange.com

GR: Please sign the petition.

Guardian climate change petition reaches 100k signatures

Posted on March 20, 2015 by GarryRogers

Sign the Guardian’s Climate Change Petition.

“Actor Tilda Swinton and chef Yotam Ottolenghi are among 100,000 people who have supported the campaign calling for the Wellcome Trust and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to divest from fossil fuels.

“The campaign asks the world’s two largest charitable foundations to divest from the top 200 oil, gas and coal companies within five years and to immediately freeze any new investments. It was launched by Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger in partnership with the global climate movement 350.org.

Source: www.theguardian.com

GR: Join in the world war of our time. Become one of Earth’s Defenders against human greed; sign the petition and find more ways to help.

Keep it in the ground: Guardian climate change campaign

Posted on March 16, 2015 by GarryRogers

Join us in urging the world’s two biggest charitable funds to move their money out of fossil fuels.

Evidence shows that proven fossil fuel reserves are more than three times higher than we can afford to burn in order to stay below the generally agreed threshold for dangerous climate change. Fossil fuel companies are currently banking on extracting these reserves and selling them – and are actively prospecting for more. By supporting these companies, investors not only continue to fund unsustainable business models that are bound to make climate change worse, but they also risk their financial assets becoming worthless if international agreements on climate change are met.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Prevent Extinction of Unique Butterfly Species

Posted on January 12, 2015 by GarryRogers

Target: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Daniel Ashe
Goal: Protect brilliant unsilvered fritillary butterfly species by declaring it an endangered species
The unsilvered fritillary is a species of butterfly native to California. Source: forcechange.com

GR: Please sign the petition.

Abused Elephants Forced to Perform in Canada Need Your Help!

Posted on August 15, 2014 by GarryRogers

From Peta.org: “Please ask Karnak Shriners to require that Tarzan Zerbini Circus stage its performances without elephants!

“Karnak Shriners have chosen exhibitor Tarzan Zerbini to provide and exhibit elephants for their circus, which plans to travel throughout Quebec beginning August 14. Please join PETA in urging the Karnak Shriners to require that Zerbini stage its performances without elephants.

“Tarzan Zerbini Circus has a lengthy history of animal welfare violations. It has been cited more than two dozen times for Animal Welfare Act violations, including for keeping an elephant constantly chained, keeping elephants in an area that contained a solid waste pile that was approximately 8 feet wide and 4 feet tall, allowing waste to flow into a pond that the elephants had direct access to, and feeding elephants an unhealthy diet of nothing but bread, hay, and weeds.”

Go here to sign the petition: www.peta.org

Stop South African Mine That Threatens Rhino Sanctuary – The Petition Site

Posted on July 31, 2014 by GarryRogers

“A proposed mine in South Africa poses serious risks to rhinos. It would not only give poachers easier access to the animals, but the mine’s toxic byproducts would threaten their health.

The Hluhluwe-Imfolozi park in KwaZulu-Natal became the southern white rhinos’ last refuge after it was hunted to near extinction in the 1890s. Now the high demand for rhino horns – fueled by Vietnamese and Chinese markets – has led to huge incentives to poach and a dramatic increase in rhino killings – over 1,000 last year alone.

The proposed mine, to be located just 40 meters from the boundary of this protected wilderness, would turn its pristine rolling savannah into a wasteland of dumps. Relied on for generations by the nearby Zulu community for grazing cattle, the landscape would be pock-marked with black cavities. Mines a bit further away have already polluted their air and water, and the toxic water is killing their cattle.

There is little doubt that if this mine goes forward, it will destroy this wilderness and put the rhino once again on the brink of extinction. Don’t let Ibutho Coal build this mine in South Africa! It would not only give poachers easier access to the animals, but the mine’s toxic byproducts would threaten their health.

“The Hluhluwe-Imfolozi park in KwaZulu-Natal became the southern white rhinos’ last refuge after it was hunted to near extinction in the 1890s. Now the high demand for rhino horns – fueled by Vietnamese and Chinese markets – has led to huge incentives to poach and a dramatic increase in rhino killings – over 1,000 last year alone.

“The proposed mine, to be located just 40 meters from the boundary of this protected wilderness, would turn its pristine rolling savannah into a wasteland of dumps. Relied on for generations by the nearby Zulu community for grazing cattle, the landscape would be pock-marked with black cavities. Mines a bit further away have already polluted their air and water, and the toxic water is killing their cattle.

“There is little doubt that if this mine goes forward, it will destroy this wilderness and put the rhino once again on the brink of extinction. Don’t let Ibutho Coal build this mine in South Africa!”

Source: www.thepetitionsite.com

Add your signature.

Ask USFWS and the Department of Interior To Give Panthers Room To Roam!

Posted on July 18, 2014 by GarryRogers

Florida panthers once prowled and flourished in America’s southeastern woodlands and swamps, but today fewer than 160 remain.

Source: therainforestsite.greatergood.com

GR: Sign the petition to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. We need to preserve top predators.

Keep Large Constrictor Snakes Out of the Pet Trade

Posted on June 30, 2014 by GarryRogers

In 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposed listing nine large constrictor snakes as injurious under the Lacey Act, which would significantly reduce the trade of these species as pets. However, in January 2012, only four of the nine species were listed. USFWS is still considering the remaining five species of snakes for listing and is soliciting public comments on the matter.

Large constrictor snakes have become established in parts of Florida and are consuming native wildlife, including endangered and threatened species. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey concluded that all nine species of these large constrictor snakes present a “high” or “medium” risk of becoming invasive.

Source: secure.humanesociety.org

GR: Express yourself. Sign the Humane Society’s petition.

Learn about Arizona snakes.