FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

By the Mother Earth News editors

The worldwide organization called Friends of the Earth is one of the most effective environmental groups in existence today, and the activities of FOE—along with a broad range of other news concerning ecological developments—are described each month in its publication titled Not Man Apart. You can become a member of Friends of the Earth, and receive the excellent tabloid, by sending $25 ($12 for students and retired people)—or $15 for a subscription only—to FOE, Dept. TMEN, 1045 Sansome Street, San Francisco, California 94111. And to increase the reach of the organization's doings, we've arranged to bring you this bi-monthly column, which is prepared by the staff of FOE/NMA.

IN ARMS WAY . . .

Advocates of a nuclear weapons freeze were only slightly discouraged, last summer, when the House resolution calling for a halt to arms buildup was defeated by a narrow two-vote margin. "After all," the group's officials noted, "six months prior to the vote, most members of Congress had never heard of the freeze . . . and on August 5th, 202 representatives went on record in support of the Zablocki resolution that promoted it. We've come a long way in a short time!"

The Freeze Campaign spokespersons went on to speculate whether the Broomfield resolution (supporting arms buildup) would have won at all had not the President, the Vice President, the Secretaries of State and Defense, and Pentagon officials expended so much effort (and taxpayers' money) to convince wavering representatives to—in effect—vote for the arms race!

BREEDER REACTOR DISPUTE IN TENNESSEE CONTINUES . . .

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission also recently displayed its pro-administration colors, when it voted three to one (again on August 5th) in favor of a go-ahead to the proposed early site work on the much debated Clinch River Breeder Reactor in Tennessee . . . which means that work on this project could start before any licensing hearings come up. The Department of Energy is—no doubt—hoping that once "excavation" is under way, Congress will have no choice but to be generous in the next budget battle over funding the facility.

The reasons behind the conflict over the Tennessee plant are threefold. In the first place—while most nuclear plants run on uranium—this new breeder reactor can operate on recycled fuel . . . which would be a "plus" if it weren't for the fact that the breeder will produce excess amounts of plutonium (an ingredient used in the construction of nuclear weapons). Now a lot of nuclear freeze folks are just a little concerned (as well they should be) that the increased availability of plutonium could lead to stepped—up production of nuclear arms.

However, despite the obvious merit of this concern, it could well be another argu merit that actually stops the building of the Tennessee plant . . . the cost. Originally estimated at around $400 million, projected construction expenses are now at close to $3.5 billion! We can be thankful that the Clinch River Reactor is now faced with both licensing hearings and the maze of Congressional budgeting . . . because the outcome of this particular fight could be crucial to the future of nuclear arms buildup in the U.S.

DANGEROUS DIGGIN'S

Utah Governor Scott Matheson (along with a goodly portion of his constituency) is up in arms over the government's plan to turn some awesomely beautiful mountain property outside of the Canyonlands National Park into a nuclear waste disposal site. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has already gone so far as to threaten to begin a preliminary survey of this federal land in the near future . . . to determine the feasibility of the project.

Worse still, the survey alone could damage the delicate desert ecology . . . scarring it with 6,000-foot boreholes and any number of trenches and pits, cluttering it with 200-foot precipitation-monitoring towers, and leaving in its wake the damage caused by hundreds of four-wheel-drive vehicles.

The question at issue here is whether—although alarming amounts of spent fuel and defense waste are continuing to pile up daily in temporary holding facilities, causing more than 20 states to ban nuclear plant construction until this waste problem can be taken care of—it's absolutely necessary that some of our natural wild lands be sacrificed in order to provide "answers" (and questionable ones, at that) to the nuclear refuse dilemma.

"No!" answers Governor Matheson, who has taken action to bar the Department of Energy from the state lands it would need to travel over in order to reach the federal site near Canyonlands Park. And "No!" rejoin the environmentalists who have filed an appeal to challenge BLM's right to even permit a survey. (After all, even if the land is found to be "wasteworthy"—whatever that means—no one knows exactly how the used nuclear materials might affect the surrounding geology . . . or what sort of containers should be employed to permanently store the toxic material . . . or even whether or not the brine below the site could enter these repositories and disperse radioactivity into the ground water.) It's hoped that the opposition forces will be able to cause enough state action and legal hassles to successfully cool DOE's enthusiasm to convert this lovely section of Utah landscape into a nuclear waste depot.

ENDANGERED FUNDS COULD ENDANGER SPECIES

While antinuclear advocates are preparing for a long, bitter battle . . . wildlife defenders can breathe a small sigh of relief. Recently, both houses of Congress passed bills that re-authorized the Endangered Species Act for the next three years.

Unfortunately, the effectiveness of the act during that period of time will depend upon the funds that Congress allocates for its implementation. And there might not be much money available!

For example, if the administration gets its way, the Fish and Wildlife Service will—in the next fiscal year—receive 27% fewer funds to be spent for the protection of animals in peril than it did last year. Furthermore, state—executed wildlife—aid programs may no longer be awarded matching government dollars. And other proposed federal reductions already in the works could severely limit the protection of the sea turtle and commercial fisheries, while also cutting down on the enforcement of trade controls for plants.

In short, although the Endangered Species Act will be around for a while . . . its future is now in the hands of those representatives who sit on the act's fund-determining committees. For a list of their names, write to the Center for Environmental Education, Dept. TMEN, 624 Ninth Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001.

CONDOR COMMENTS

The 30 or so California condors that have managed to survive, despite recent bumbling efforts of well-intentioned but misguided naturalists (who tried to capture and breed them in captivity), may yet be saved! The state's Fish and Game Department recently voted unanimously to stop the former "controlled breeding" plan.

However, since one male condor remains in captivity, one female will be caught . . . and the new program will also allow for the further addition to this "fold" of one nestling and one egg during the following year. The few birds still in the wild, though, will be able to fly a lot more freely now.

WHALE OF A FIGHT

The ten-year battle to save the whales hit a dramatic climax last summer, when the International Whaling Commission in Brighton, England voted 25 to 7 in favor of outlawing commercial whaling beginning in 1986. A few concessions had to be made to certain whale-harvesting countries in order to convince them to agree to the proposal, though. For instance, Spain will be allowed—over the next three years—to take 400 fin whales, and Japan some 850 sperm whales.

Also, because the commission has no means of enforcing its own resolutions . . . it remains to be seen whether or not these whaling countries (or others, such as the U.S.S.R. and Norway) will live up to the ban. If they fail to do so, the U.S. could be called upon to place trade sanctions against the offending nations as a means of forcing them to keep their word.

At any rate, whale lovers are still going to have to keep on their toes, because the marine mammals aren't out of hot water yet!