SolutionsVol. 34, No. 1 January-February 2003

Hundreds of fishermen, environmen-talists and local residents crammed

into a tension-filled meeting hall in San-ta Barbara, CA. Some carried placards,others wore buttons expressing solidarity.They were all hoping to influence a deci-sion last October on a proposed networkof marine reserves around the ChannelIslands.

At one point,Ventura angler SteveRoberson made animpassioned plea tofellow fishermen:“We’ve got to bite thebullet, guys. I love tofish. I want to fish forthe rest of my life, anda network of marine reserves will allowme to do it.”

In a landmark decision theCalifornia Fish and Game Commissionapproved 12 “no-take” zones, putting24% of state waters within the ChannelIslands sanctuary off limits to fishing.This victory, which waspreceded by two years ofheated debate, will pro-tect marine habitats andallow depleted species torecover. The New YorkTimes called it “an impor-tant step forward.”

Environmental De-fense played a lead role inall aspects of creating thenew reserves. “This rep-resents a huge change inhow marine ecosystemsare managed,” says ourmarine conservationadvocate Richard Char-ter. Previously, less than1% of the sanctuary, cele-

A victory at seaENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE PLAYS LEAD ROLE IN SAVING AN UNDERWATER WILDERNESS

Where we stand 2

Mailbag 3

Regional update 6

News briefs 9

Action center 11

brated as “America’s Galapagos,” hadbeen fully protected.

The Channel Islands are amongjust a handful of places in the worldwhere cold and warm currents collide,creating a rich diversity of marine life.Over the past few decades, however,white abalone, angel sharks and other

species that once thrivedhere have declined. Sev-eral species of rockfishhave been reduced to 10%of their historic abun-dance, mostly due to ex-cessive fishing.

Such declines con-vinced many commercialfishermen to put aside

their differences and work with Environ-mental Defense and others to negotiate asolution.

Our marine ecologist Dr. Rod Fu-jita was the first to assemble the scienceshowing that West Coast marine reserves

Please see Cover Story, page 2

Taking upJohn Muir’slast battle

Can the ArmyCorps changeits ways?

High stakesbattlesahead

Companiestackle globalwarming

The nextstep: Buyrecycled

Organic:More thanjust a label

3

4

7

8

10

12

Santa Barbara

Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary

KA

PP

EN

STE

IN

Cavorting in an undersea forest, these sea lions are part of oneof the continent’s richest ecosystems.

Mar

c M

uenc

h

fisherman who participated in the negotia-tions. “There was a lot of give and take.”

To mobilize thecommunity, we formed acoalition of divers andlocal groups and createda citizens’ guide toreserves.

Federal officialswill now decide whetherto expand the reservesinto federal waters. Anenlarged reserve systemcould eventually encom-pass 426 square miles,making it the largestcomplex of marine re-serves in the continentalUnited States. The largestis now the Dry Tortugasin the Florida Keys.

“For too long, the ocean has beenused as an infinite resource and bot-tomless dump,” says Jaws author Peter

Benchley, a member of our nationalcouncil. “Today, we have the power todestroy the oceans, and we have thepower to save them.”

2

COVER STORY: Science comes to the aid of fisheries

boost fish populations dramatically. Heand our consultant Dr. Astrid Scholzthen broadened the eco-nomic debate to includeconsideration of long-termimpacts on fisheries andother benefits such as eco-tourism and diving.

Joining fishermen andregulators around a table,we helped map out the re-serve boundaries. Using aGeographic InformationSystem (GIS) computermodel, we were able tolocate important kelp bedsand rocky reefs that are pre-ferred fish habitat. “Ourobjective was to stay true toour ecological goals, whilelimiting the short-term eco-nomic impact on fishermen,” says Fujita.

“Environmental Defense listenedwell,” notes Harry Liquornik, an abalone

Continued from page1

Fax attack: Our ActionNetwork deluged state offi-cials with 13,000 letters onthe Channel Islands.

The bad news is that the adminis-tration is attempting to scuttle the treaty.At the recent climate meeting in NewDelhi, U.S. officials argued againstdeveloping countries committing to

reduce emissions and advocated adapt-ing to global warming. How ironic that insuch a brief time the administration hasgone from skepticism to resignation.

The buildup of greenhouse gasesis cumulative, so some climate changeis inevitable. We do need to take stepsto adapt. But that hardly means weshould declare defeat and accept aworld that’s biologically impoverished,

an Arctic without permafrost oroceans without coral reefs.

President Bush argues that theKyoto treaty will harm the U.S.economy. He should listen to busi-ness leaders who say inaction onglobal warming will underminetheir long-term competitivenessand damage America’s standingabroad. As members of our Part-nership for Climate Change haveproven, multiple strategies exist forcurbing greenhouse gas emissionswithout slowing growth.

The development of cleanertechnology is an opportunity, not aperil. Those nations that positiontheir economies to help provide fora safer environment will do well bydoing good.

When PresidentBush ditched theKyoto Protocol inMarch 2001, manypredicted thetreaty was dead,along with hopesof addressingglobal warming.

Thankfully, the rest of the worldresolved that climate change is toodangerous to ignore. Ninety-fivenations have ratified the treaty, in-cluding most industrialized coun-tries, which have committed toreduce their emissions. With Rus-sia’s ratification expected soon, thepact will go into force.

Then, the protocol’s cap-and-trade framework will “switch on,”launching a new global market tospur innovation and investment inreducing emissions. Good news.

Why we can’t give in to global warming

Environmental Defense Solutions

WHERE WE STAND

Jam

es G

love

r II/

Vent

ura

Cou

nty

Star

SolutionsEditor: Peter Klebnikov

Environmental Defense, 257 Park AvenueSouth, New York, NY 10010. Main number 212-505-2100.

Membership questions: Call 800-684-3322 oremail members@environmentaldefense.org

Mailbag: Mail to address above, call 800-242-3251 or email editor@environmentaldefense.org

©2003 Environmental Defense. Publishedbimonthly at New York, NY. ASSN 0163-2566

New York • Washington • Oakland Boulder • Raleigh • Austin • Boston

Project office: Los Angeles

Online at www.environmentaldefense.org

By Fred Krupp, President

‒‒‒‒‒On climate change, the

administration has gonefrom denial to resignation.

–––––

3

Dear Editor:I am a veterinarian and wasshocked, when I first began prac-tice, that feed stores and catalogsoffer anyone medication.

Often today, feed stores arereally drug stores that also sellfeed. Whoever happens to be work-ing at the counter gives out adviceon the correct dose to use. Frus-trated owners often switch rapidlyback and forth between antibioticsor use enormous extra-label dosesfor which there is no data regard-ing safety.

Animals that fail to recover arequickly shipped to slaughter. Whenthat happens, the medication hasnot had enough time to be clearedfrom the muscle tissue, meaningthat people may consume meatwith more antibiotics than isdeemed safe.

I appreciate your recent articleon antibiotics in agriculture, but myexperience with large-animal medi-cine leads me to believe that thecurrent situation is even worse. Notonly does it encourage animal suf-fering, it also plays a significant rolein antibiotic resistance.

G. Eric Wheelis, DVMJefferson, NC

www.environmentaldefense.org

Environmental Defense257 Park Ave. SouthNew York, NY 10003

Member25 Main StreetAnytown, NY 11199

Are clean air and water endangered?Special interests may press Congressthis year to undo bedrock environ-mental protections.

Environmental Defense willstand with our allies to fend off theseattacks. We’ll also continue workingwith both parties to gain new groundin reducing global-warming emissions.

It won’t be easy. Jim Inhofe, anOklahoma Republican with a zerorating from the League of Conserva-tion voters, is taking over the Senateenvironment commit-tee. “We need to beinnovative and buildnew coalitions whilesupporting maneuverssuch as filibusters to block regressivebills,” says our legislative directorElizabeth Thompson.

Here’s a look at key battles:

Energy BillNew committee leaders will resurrectan energy bill that does nothing toreduce dependence on oil, subsidizesdirty industries and opens the ArcticNational Wildlife Refuge to drilling.We’ll work to stop thisbill in its tracks.

TransportationEquity ActThis law regulates $135billion a year in trans-portation programsand profoundly affectssprawl and air quality.Industry may attemptto use the bill to weak-en clean air standards.We will work toincrease the fundingwe’ve already gainedfor public transit.

National Environmental Policy Act This crucial law requires public reviewof federal projects. Road builders claimthat these requirements cause delays.We will block any efforts to silencepublic input.

Endangered Species ActNew committee chairs in Congressmay try to weaken the act and removekey protections for rare species. We’lldefend safeguards.

The good news is we’ve builtbipartisan alliances,which will bolster ourdefenses. We’ll also relyon states and on newlyinstalled progressive

governors to break new ground.“Progress in the states will

show our allies in Congress that youcan both limit pollution and growthe economy,” says Thompson.

How you can help:You can act on up-to-the-minute newsfrom Washington by signing up for ouraction alerts at www.environmen-

taldefense.org/action. Sign up today and askyour representatives to oppose an energy billthat will lead to greater pollution.

John

Col

wel

l/G

rant

Hei

lman

Pho

togr

aphy

Long considered off limits, large tracts of the RockyMountains are now squarely in oil industry crosshairs.

Steer clear of antibiotics.

Washington watchSpecial interests take aim at keyenvironmental protections

MAILBAG

Seeking allies atthe state level

LET US HEAR FROM YOU! We want to know what you think.Contact the editor by mail, phone oremail; see contact information in boxat left. Letters may be edited forbrevity.

Environmental Defense Solutions

The year 2002 brought record floods toEurope, landslides to the Himalayas

and searing drought to America’s heart-land. Most scientists think that humanactivities are making extreme events suchas these occur more frequently.

Yet the Bush administration has re-jected the Kyoto Protocol, the interna-tional agreement to reduce greenhousegas emissions, and now is suggesting thatwe simply adapt to global warming, let-ting U.S. emissions rise even while othercountries work to reduce pollution. (See“Where we stand,” page 3.) Despite theseobstacles, we’ve moved the climate de-

bate forward thanks to member supportand timely gifts to the Campaign forEnvironmental Defense. The campaignwas launched to fend off attacks on theenvironment.

“Global warm-ing is the most im-portant environ-mental threat weface today,” saysEnvironmental De-fense president FredKrupp. “Major com-panies have steppedup to the plate, butnot the U.S. government.”

Eight of the world’s largest corpora-tions have joined our Partnership for Cli-mate Action, setting firm targets forreducing their own greenhouse gas emis-

sions. Success came faster than ex-pected. The companies already havecut their total emissions 17% below1990 levels, three times the reduc-tion required under the Kyoto Pro-tocol. One partner, BP, achieved its

promised reduction eight years early, sav-ing $650 million in the process.

Another partner, DuPont, set anambitious target of reducing its emissionsby 40%. “Critics claimed such targets

were too big andtoo costly,” says ourpolicy analyst An-drew Aulisi. But thechemical giant ex-ceeded its target,achieving a 63% re-duction, in part byinvesting $50 mil-lion in retrofits.And the companyremained profitable.

Greenhousegas reductions “willvery likely be a real-ity all over the

Environmental Defenseeconomist Dr. Daniel Dudekhelped persuade the firstBush administration toinstitute emissions tradingunder the 1990 Clean AirAct, resulting in steep cutsin sulfur dioxide, a cause ofacid rain. The Economist called it “the greatest green suc-cess story of the past decade.” Through the efforts of Dudekand others, emissions trading became an integral part ofthe Kyoto Protocol on global warming. Dudek is pictured inChina, which has embraced our cap-and-trade approach.

world,” explains DuPont vice presidentDavid Findlay. “The sooner you startmanaging your business with that inmind, the better off you’ll be.” In Novem-ber, DuPont completed an emissionstrade with Entergy Corporation, show-ing it could benefit financially from itssurplus reductions. (See box at right,“How emissions trading works.”)

FROM VOLUNTARY TONECESSARY ACTIONAlthough these companies’ actions arevoluntary, they illustrate the kinds ofactions that would occur globally underthe Kyoto Protocol. If Russia ratifiesthe treaty, as expected in 2003, it willgo into force, committing signatoriesto reduce their emissions. Our work inRussia began a decade ago. WhenMoscow faltered on its resolve to joinKyoto, we partnered with Russian en-vironmental officials to identify publichealth benefits.

“Businesses are increasingly recog-nizing that purely voluntary approacheswill not be enough” to stop globalwarming, Senator John McCain (R-AZ)noted last year. Environmental Defenseis working with McCain and SenatorJoseph Lieberman (D-CT) on green-house gas legislation that could become

Cool it! Companies take thelead on global warmingCAMPAIGN SPURS ACTION TO LIMIT GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

On thin ice: Receding polar caps are one indicator that globalwarming is upon us.

Tui D

e R

oy/M

inde

n P

ictu

res

—————DuPont cut its heat-trappingemissions by 63 percent.

—————

4

In depth

Clean air visionary

www.environmentaldefense.org

a litmus test for U.S. climate policy.We’ve also contributed to importantstate-level actions. For example:

• In New England, our climate researchand outreach activities helped both Mas-sachusetts and New Hampshire act tolimit greenhouse gas emissions frompower plants.

• In California, we helped pass the na-tion’s first law for reducing greenhousegas emissions from cars and trucks, de-spite multi-million-dollar oppositionfrom automakers.

• In New York, our general counselJames Tripp served on Governor GeorgePataki’s Greenhouse Gas Task Force,where he played a key role in developingrecommendations to cut emissions fromthe transportation sector.

• In Idaho, we’re helping develop a cli-mate bill in the state legislature thatcould include crediting for carbon sinks,which draw carbon dioxide out of theatmosphere.

The Campaign for EnvironmentalDefense has enabled us to undertake

Getting to less: How emissions trading worksThe pollution that causes global warming, mostly carbondioxide (CO2) from smokestacks and tailpipes, rises intothe atmosphere and circulates globally. It doesn’t matterwhere CO2 is reduced, as long as total emissions are cut.

With an efficient cap-and-trade system, as developed byEnvironmental Defense, the government sets a limit or“cap,” lowering overall pollution, and leaves it to compa-nies to find the most efficient way to meet the cap.

1. The challengeCarbon dioxide builds up inthe atmosphere, forming aninsulating blanket that trapstoo much heat from the sun.Once in the atmosphere, CO2

can last 100 years or more,continuing to cause warming.

5

many such efforts as partof a broad strategy tocombat global warming.To date, $165 millionhas been raised towardthe campaign’s $200million goal. Gifts to thecampaign also will helppreserve the oceans,

America’s wildlife and human health.

For more information about TheCampaign for Environmental Defense,please call Paula Hayes, Vice Presidentfor Development, at 212-505-2100.

If Plant B cannot economical-ly reduce its emissions asmuch as required, it can payfor reductions from Plant A.

Each plant has astrict pollution allow-ance. If Plant A isable to cut emissionscheaply and doesmore than the lawrequires, it has extrareductions that can besold to other plants.

2. The response

3. The resultEmissions tradingreduces pollution atthe lowest cost,rewarding companiesthat find ways to domore than their shareand penalizing thosethat do less.

$200 millioncampaigngoal

$165 millionraised todate

cred

it

Environmental Defense Solutions6

Regional update

lands in the Jamaica BayWildlife Refuge, a world-renowned birding hotspot.

“Time is critical,” saysDon Riepe, the refuge dis-trict manager. “The marshesare eroding at the rate of 40to 50 acres a year.”

Another prime candi-date for protection is theHackensack Meadowlands,

where a major developerwants to build a mega-mall.

“Proposals for new portfacilities and waterfrontparks in the New York areaare on the table, and we needto ensure that habitat isincluded in the planningprocess,” says Tripp.“Economic, recreational andecological interests all gotogether.”

On a given day, passersby atthe Statue of Liberty includecargo ships, kayakers and theoccasional egret.

Wildlife in New YorkHarbor now faces a brighterfuture, thanks to a commit-ment for $60 million overthree years to protect keyhabitat in the estuary. Envi-ronmental Defense generalcounsel James Tripp helpedsecure the funding. “Thesefunds are an essential downpayment on the ecologicalfuture of the estuary,” saysTripp.

Tripp brought togetherenvironmental groups, in-cluding NY/NJ Baykeeper,to develop a budget for near-term priorities. The PortAuthority of New York andNew Jersey stepped up andincluded the funds in a newresource stewardship pro-gram.

Some of the moniesmay be used for a pilot pro-ject to restore eroding wet-

Snowy egrets and other long-legged waders breed at New YorkCity's Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Recently committed fundscould help protect their nesting habitat.

$60 million will help protectNew York wetlands habitat

Don

Rie

pe

Asked to picture what greenhouse gas pollution could meanto the American heartland, most people think of parched,cracked fields under a relentless sun. But rainfall patterns arelikely to become extreme as well, resulting in heavy flood-ing, a report by Environmental Defense and others says.

If greenhouse gas emissions are not curbed, U.S. croplosses from excess rainfall may double in the next 30 years,according to the study, which was published in GlobalClimate Change. The resulting price tag could climb to $3

billion per year.We reached these

conclusions workingwith scientists fromColumbia University,NASA-Goddard In-

stitute for Space Studies and Lawrence Berkeley NationalLaboratories. This team modified a standard computermodel for crop yields to simulate crop damage from toomuch moisture in the soil. Then it applied the model toclimate projections used by the U.S. government that showthe average number of “extreme precipitation events” incorn belt states increasing by 30% between now and the2030s.

Losses could end up even higher, because direct phys-ical damage to crops from heavy rains and hail is not cov-ered by the study.

“Aggressive steps to reduce greenhouse gas pollutionare needed right now if we hope to head off many of thesechanges,” asserts our scientist Dr. Janine Bloomfield.

Study finds global warmingcould ravage U.S. crops

After the flood: These crops along the Iowa River were devas-tated in 1993.

NAS

A

–––––U.S. Crop losses coulddouble in 30 years.

–––––

‒‒‒‒‒New York Harbor

is an essentialhub for wildlife.

–––––

www.environmentaldefense.org 7

Francisco Philistines who know how to‘improve’ the handiwork of the Creator.”Dam builders called environmentalists“short-haired women and long-hairedmen.” When the valley disappeared, the

Times railed: “The battle was lost by su-pine indifference, weakness, and lack offunds.”

Rosekrans intends things to be dif-ferent this time. “It is troubling that SanFrancisco, a strong supporter of environ-mental causes, draws water from a na-tional park,” he says. “I hope we won’thave to wait another 90 years for theHetch Hetchy Valley to become a magi-cal place again.”

For nearly a century, the HetchHetchy Valley, a beloved attribute of

Yosemite National Park, has lain hiddenunder 300 feet of water, serving as awater tank for the City of San Francisco.

Once, its granite cliffs, sky-highwaterfalls and flowering meadows JohnMuir to call Hetch Hetchy a “grandlandscape garden, one of nature’s rarestand most precious mountain temples.”Muir led the fight against the dam thatwould destroy the valley in 1913. Whenthe battle was lost, Muir is said to havedied of a broken heart.

Ninety years ago, the inundation ofthe eight-mile long Hetch Hetchy Valleybehind O’Shaughnessy dam remains oneof our nation’s worst environmental mis-takes. We and our allies decided to dosomething about it.

Our opportunity came when engi-neers revealed plans to repair San Fran-

cisco’s aging and seismically vulnerable150-mile long Hetch Hetchy water de-livery system. The plans go far beyondfixing old pipes and include building areservoir. Voters have approved $1.6 bil-lion in financing to pay for the upgrades.

Our regional director ThomasGraff asked key officials to start rethink-ing the entire system. “We believe it ispossible to repair and even expand thewater supply system and also provideenvironmental benefits,” Graff wrote toMayor Willie Brown.

We have asked San Francisco tosupport a study examining alternativesfor water storage. These include expand-

ing existing reservoirs or using aquifers.If we succeed, 1,900 acres of submergedvalley floor will be uncovered.

OTHER DAMS HAVE BEENDISMANTLEDThe idea has taken root. Four majornewspapers editorialized in support andThe New York Times predicted our cam-paign “may well lead to something re-markable.” Though the dismantling ofproductive dams is not common, otherdams have been taken down when theyinterfered with fisheries. “A restoredHetch Hetchy Valley would be a tremen-dous asset for the whole country,” saysour analyst Spreck Rosekrans, whose hy-drologic modeling proved critical in con-vincing decision-makers about the feasi-bility of restoring the valley.

Three members of the city’s Boardof Supervisors have introduced a resolu-tion pledging cooperation with our study.San Francisco’s top water official says theidea of replacing the reservoir will bepart of the environmental reviews for theupgrades.

In the old days, Hetch Hetchy—anIndian term for “grass valley”—was abreathtaking glacier-carved valley. Whenthe 312-foot-high dam was announced, abitter political struggle broke out. TheNew York Times published six editorialsagainst the project, lambasting “San

Paradise regainedCAMPAIGN IN YOSEMITE COULD UNDO A 90-YEAR-OLD MISTAKE

Requiem for a valley: Before it was flooded, the Hetch Hetchy Valley was celebrated asa wonderland of waterfalls and subalpine meadows.

John Muir was broken-hearted when HetchHetchy vanished under 300 feet of water.

Libr

ary

of C

ongr

ess

Pai

ntin

g by

Bro

oks

Ande

rson

Does this belong in Yosemite NationalPark?

Geo

imag

es

–––––Influential officials are

adding their voices to ours.–––––

and San Franciscogarter snake.

Land trustsare a fast-growingnational movementto stop sprawl andprotect wildlife.The number ofland trusts leapt42% over the pastdecade, and todaymore than 1,200groups protect 6.2million acres na-

tionwide. Because most endangeredspecies inhabit private land, these trustsare key to helping species recover.

In Cloverdale, the Trust seeks torestore heavily grazed grasslands by pre-scribed burning, but this could triggeryears of red tape under the EndangeredSpecies Act and cost hundreds of thou-sands of dollars. Our wildlife attorney

Picture a shopping mall in place ofredwoods and sweeping ocean vistas.

That might have been the fate of theCloverdale Coastal Ranch had the SanFrancisco Peninsula Open Space Trustnot acquired it.

Stretching across 5,600 acres offCalifornia’s famous Route 1, the ranch ishome to the endangered red-legged frog

Michael Bean stepped in to help thegroup apply for a streamlined permitthat would allow them to manage theland for endangered species without sub-jecting them to the same process for de-velopers that are destroying habitat.

“Without such assistance, manytrusts would be delayed or even prevent-ed from protecting endangered species,”says the Trust’s Paul Ringgold. “Mi-chael’s solution could become a modelfor other land trusts.”

At a recent Land Trust Alliancemeeting attended by 1,800 people, Beanpresented our nuts-and-bolts guide,What Land Trusts Should Know, and ourecosystems specialist Kathy Viatella ex-plained how to take advantage of $3 bil-lion in Farm Bill funds for wildliferestoration on private land.

“What Land Trusts Should Know AboutEndangered Species Regulation” is atwww.environmentaldefense.org/go/more.

Environmental Defense Solutions

Help for a booming land-preservation movement

Before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers arrived, theMississippi River and its wildlife were sustained by sea-

sonal flooding. But a nearly continuous string of levees,largely financed by the Corps, has cut off the Mississippifrom most of its floodplain.

Now the Corps wants to finish the job. Soon theCorps expects to receive initial funding for an $85 millionlevee and pumping station near New Madrid, MO, thatwould bring an end to seasonal flooding on 80,000 acres.“This is one of the last remaining links between the Missis-sippi and its floodplain,” says our water resources specialist,Scott Faber. Even the project’s primary purpose, to reduceflooding in a nearby town, would not be met. Environmen-tal Defense persuaded Missouri officials to delay the project.

Although it continues to excel at boondoggles likethis, the Corps is seeking to atone for its anti-environmentalways. Amid a difficult climate in Washington, Corps reformremains one of the best opportunities for environmentalprogress. We have proposed legislative reforms such asindependent review of controversial projects that have wonsupport from both fiscal conservatives in Congress and en-vironmental advocates.

Ultimately, hope for reform may lie among the Missis-sippi’s bayous. Millions of acres of wildlife habitat there are

being lost at an alarming pace, with the river’s delta losing30 square miles of wetlands each year. Corps-built levees,dams and training structures are largely to blame. But now,the Corps is working with us to develop a bold restorationplan for the river’s floodplain forests and delta. If the projectgoes ahead, it will be the most ambitious restoration effortin the nation’s history.

8

Can the Army Corps mend its ways?

If the present rate of erosion in the Mississippi Delta contin-ues, New Orleans will be a beachfront community by 2050.

Cloverdale Ranch: No place for a parking lot.

Rob

ert

Bue

lter

man

/PO

ST

Alan

Sch

ein/

Cor

bis

www.environmentaldefense.org

NEWS BRIEFS

9

Environmental Defense has staved offseveral attacks on the Northwestern Ha-waiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Re-serve. With more than 30,000 lettersfrom members, we helped convince theBush administration not to weaken pro-tections. And we exposed a backdoorattempt by fishery managers to ease fish-ing for 49 coral-reef-dependent speciesby “recategorizing” them as bottomfish.

The 1,200-mile-long areais the world’s largest marinereserve, home to enormouscoral colonies estimated to bemore than 1,000 years old.“Protections for this uniqueocean treasure have been underconstant assault,” says our sci-entist Stephanie Fried. Nowthe Western Pacific FisheriesManagement Council, whichoversees area waters, wants toreopen the local lobster fishery.The Council helped drive thefishery into collapse, permit-

ting up to five times the recommendedcatch. (A boat owned by the Councilhead was caught with illegal lobstersand fined $40,000.)

Now the state is developing pro-tections for shallow, coral-rich waters inits jurisdiction, which are sure to drawopposition. “Support from our membershas been crucial, but the fight is far fromover,” says Fried.

The Colorado River delta was once avast network of waterways covering near-ly two million acres. But thirsty farmsand cities in the U.S. and Mexico havechoked off the river’s flow, threateningnot only wildlife but also the Cucapá

Indians’ way of life. Recent floodwatershave revived parts of the delta, previouslydeclared a dead ecosystem.

Now we are helping lead efforts toprotect this critical wetland. We broughttogether U.S. and Mexican experts to

map a strategy for pre-serving the region—liter-ally. Using GeographicInformation Systems(GIS) technology, expertscreated interactive mapsthat highlight conserva-tion opportunities such asrestoring water for nativetrees that benefit the en-dangered Southwest wil-low flycatcher.

“This is the firsttime experts have pooledtheir knowledge to comeup with conservation pri-

orities for the delta,” says our ecosystemspecialist Jennifer Pitt. “It’s a model ofbinational cooperation.” The group pre-sented its findings to senior U.S. andMexican officials to use as a blueprint fortalks later this year on restoring the delta.

Cross-border conservation: One place where U.S.-Mexicocooperation is working.

Overfishing of lobster limited the food supply of themonk seal.

U.S. and Mexican experts map Colorado River delta’s health

An ocean treasure preserved—for now

Thanks to you, ayear of solutions

Our 35th anniversary year broughtrecord support from members andfriends, making possible the manyvictories described in our 2002Annual Report. Enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at these achieve-ments by ordering your free copy(using the reply form at left) orsee the report online at www.en-vironmentaldefense.org/more.

Eighty cents of every dollarspent this fiscal year went directlyto our program services. Thankyou for your generosity in makingthese results possible! With yourcontinued support, 2003 will bringsignificant new victories.

How donations were used

Car

los

Vald

es-C

assi

las

Jona

than

Bla

ir/C

orbi

s

Program ser-vices: 80%

Management,administrationand fundrais-ing: 20%

Environmental Defense Solutions10

This guest article is one of a series by the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine (for subscription information: 800-967-6572 or www.emagazine.com). Opinions are the author's and not necessarily those of Environmental Defense staff.

ple way is to create demand by buyingmore recycled products, including famil-iar items like paper and imaginativeitems like some of the examples here:

• Pop bottle fashions. Companies likeWellman Inc., which markets its productas Fortrel EcoSpun, turn #1 plastic sodabottles into polyester for use in carpetsand other textiles as well as clothing.Garments made from bottles includefleece jackets, sweatshirts and t-shirts.Wellman says recycling three billionplastic bottles will save 500,000 barrels ofoil a year.

• Fun stuff for the kids. Most of us havedecried the amount of plastic in our chil-dren’s lives, but what about a sandboxmade of 100% post-consumer recycledplastic? Or a 95% post-consumer plastickids’ art easel? Kids can soar in a horseswing made from 100% recycled tires andother recycled materials. And the veryyoung can drift off to dreamland in ababy’s cradle made from old wine barrels.For pets, Wal-mart sells a 100% recycleddish from Blueberry Plastic Mill.

Out of the boxRECYCLING COMES FULL CIRCLE WITH NEW PRODUCTS

Recycling is America’s favorite envi-ronmental activity. One hundred

million of us do it every day. And manyAmericans help make recycling work bybuying products made of recycled mate-rials. Sales of recycled products grew by13% between 1967 and 2000.

But all is not rosy in the world ofrecycling. New York City mayor MichaelBloomberg imposed an 18-month mora-torium on recycling glass and plastics,due to high collection costs and lowdemand for the materials. Other cities,including Albuquerque, Atlanta andBaltimore are considering cutbacks.

It doesn’t have to be this way. InEurope, efforts to end packaging wasteare increasingly effective, as shown byGermany’s Green Dot laws, which holdproducers responsible for recycling theirpackaging. Twenty-five local govern-ments in the U.S. have adopted “zerowaste” as a guiding principle. Santa Clar-ita, CA, has even taken on the messytask of recycling its disposable diapers.

No doubt, more recycling would begood for America. How can a recyclingbeliever improve the picture? One sim-

Green living

T. C

hare

ls E

rick

son

Curb-side programs are just the first step. Today, it’s equally important to buy recycled.

Recycling’s newgeneration

To find recycled products men-tioned in this story, contact thesuppliers below, or ask your localmerchants to stock products withpost-consumer recycled content.

Clothing: Synchilla fleece fromPatagonia, 800-638-6464 orwww.patagonia.com. Polartecfleece from MED, 888-847-0770 orwww.mec.ca/Main/home.jsp

Home improvement: The HomeDepot, 800-430-3376, homede-pot.com.

Office and school supplies:Mama’s Earth, 87 Railroad Street,Great Barrington, MA 01230, 800-620-7388, www.mamasearth.com;Staples, 1-800-3STAPLE, www.sta-ples.com (search for “recycled”).

Sandboxes, play sets and toys:Amazing Recycled Products, P.O.Box 312, Denver, CO 80201, 800-241-2174, www.amazingre-cycled.com; The Green Store, 71Main Street, Belfast, ME 04915,207-338-4045, www.green-store.com; Grandpa’s CradleCompany, 5204 Onyx Avenue,Montague, CA 96064, 530-459-0829,www.grandpascradles.com.

Toner and ink-jet cartridges:Recycled Office Products, 27 Wal-nut Street, Peabody, MA 01960,800-814-1100, www.recycledoffice-products.com; AtLasta SpecialtyInk, 4600 South Square Drive, HighRidge, MO 63049, 636-677-1900,www.inkmkr.com.

Trash bags, paper towels, napkinsand tissue: Seventh Generation,212 Battery Street, Suite A,Burlington, VT 05401-5281, 800-456-1191, www.seventhgenera-tion.com.

www.environmentaldefense.org 11

Don’t let catalogers sell nature shortLast year 17 billion catalogs were mailed in the U.S.—59 forevery man, woman and child. Almost none contain recycledpaper, we discovered in a recent survey. We asked our emailAction Network to help stop this waste. Within five days,top catalogers were deluged by messages from more than5,300 activists asking them to switch to recycled.

“Several companies told us they didn’t think usingrecycled paper mattered to their customers,” says our projectmanager Victoria Mills. “They are getting the message thatthey were wrong.”

If the entire industry switched to just 10% post-con-sumer recycled content paper, the savings in wood use wouldbe enough to stretch a six-foot-high fence across the coun-try seven times. Recycled paper is widely available and com-petitively priced, and making it takes less energy and gener-ates less pollution.

A greener world: Just a click awayWant to find out which foods have chemical contaminantsor learn how to reduce household toxins? A new Environ-mental Defense web site, greenadvisor.org, compiles the bestgreen consumer information online. Find easily-accessibletips on buying environmentally friendly products; cookinggreen, healthy meals; recycling and reducing waste, and en-joying nature without leaving more than footprints behind.

Cut down on unwanted mailTo stop receiving advertising mail from many national com-panies, send your name (including various spellings) andaddress to: DMA Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 643,Carmel, NY 10512 or go to www.dmaconsumers.org/off-mailinglist.html.

To stop receiving a particular catalog, or if you receivemultiple copies, call the toll-free number in the catalog andask that your listing(s) be removed. Many companies willalso honor requests to receive catalogs less frequently and afew may let you switch from paper catalogs to email offers.

Ask your city or town how to recycle your catalogs. Ifa catalog has stick-on labels or nonpaper inserts that caninterfere with recycling, let the company know you’d likethem to avoid such items.

• School supplies. Mama’s Earth willoutfit eco-kids with such interestingproducts as pens made from discardedfurniture dowels, pencils made fromrecycled cardboard and newsprint, soycrayons that are not petroleum-based,and 100% post-consumer writing tablets,copy paper and three-ring binders.

• Toner cartridges. Ink powder containscyanide-based chemicals that pollutewater and soil when dumped in landfills.In the United States, 56% of used ink-jetprinter cartridges are reclaimed and recy-cled, but we could be doing much morewith the toner cartridges from laser print-ers and copiers. One toner cartridge andits packaging create 3.5 pounds of waste,and businesses could realize 20-50% sav-

ings by switching to recycled cartridges.

• Tissue, towels and paper galore. Tissueand paper towels with recycled contentare readily available and cost about thesame as—or less than—their non-recy-cled counterparts. Top-quality recycledcopy paper, writing paper, envelopes andgreeting cards are easy to find, but be sureto check labels for the highest percentageof post-consumer recycled content.

• Trash bags. For the trash you can’trecycle, there are recycled trash bags.Thirty-gallon drawstring trash bags and13-gallon kitchen bags from SeventhGeneration have 80% post-consumer re-cycled content.

By Jim Motavalli

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE ACTION CENTER

Ken

Lev

inso

n

A great tax savings idea

Your bequest to Environmental Defensecan help ensure a healthy future. It willalso be deductible from your estate,benefiting those you care about most. Acttoday and have a lasting impact.

For information on ways to include En-vironmental Defense in your will, calltoll-free 1-877-677-7397, or write AnneDoyle, Environmental Defense, 257 ParkAvenue South, New York, NY 10010.

Send a letter to catalog companies asking them to switch torecycled at www.actionnetwork.org. Find our report, Does YourCatalog Care?, at www.environmentaldefense.org/go/catalogs.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

•Percent of foods on U.S. grocerystore shelves containing at leastone genetically modified organ-ism: 60%.

•Number of bird species in theworld now endangered: 1 in 8.

•Drop in acid-rain-causing sulfurdioxide emissions since passageof the 1970 Clean Air Act: 42%.

•Amount of sea creatures killedby fishermen for every pound ofshrimp caught: 3 pounds.

•Increase since 1970 in miles dri-ven by the average American:200%.

•Number of vaquita porpoisesbelieved to survive today in theColorado River Delta: fewerthan 100.

•Percent of land in the contigu-ous U.S. used for farming: 55%.

•The amount of paper used annu-ally to produce catalogs in theUnited States: 3.6 million tons.

In 1980 when Brian Leahy set out tofarm organic rice in Chico, CA, a lo-cal newspaper editorialized that hewas part of a Communist conspiracyto overthrow the food chain. “We’vecome a long way since then,” saysLeahy. “Organic agriculture is themost successful grassroots movementof the 60s.”

The figures bear him out. Ac-cording to the USDA, organic crop-land quadrupled between 1992 and2001. Since 1990, retail sales of organicfood climbed more than 20% a year,with $8 billion in sales projected thisyear. Today, more organic food is soldin supermarkets than anywhere else.

This fall the USDA finally is-sued detailed national standards forgrowing organic food. Now foods mayonly be classified as organic if they’vebeen produced without hormones,antibiotics, herbicides, insecticides,chemical fertilizers, genetic modifica-

tion or bacteria-killing radiation.Our scientist Dr. Rebecca Gold-

burg was the only environmentalist onthe advisory board that helped developthe standards. “Organic foods are goodfor consumers and theenvironment,” Goldburgsays. “They promotebiological diversity, en-courage soil fertility and give con-sumers the chance to say no to sub-stances that should be kept out of theenvironment.”

Before adoption of the standards,consumers often had trouble decidingamong bewildering claims for food.With no national standards, the organ-ic industry developed 53 certificationorganizations. Now one organic labelguarantees the rigorous new standardshave been met. Says Goldburg.“When you see those little USDAseals, you can count on them to reallymean something.”

New organic standards will helpthe environment—and you

Most organic food is now sold in supermarkets. But don’t forget local organic farmers!

257 Park Avenue SouthNew York, NY 10010

Address Service Requested

NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDENVIRONMENTAL

DEFENSE

Totally chlorine free 100% recycled (75% post-consumer) paper

Gib

son

Stoc

k P

hoto

grap

hy

What they’re saying aboutEnvironmental Defense

"Thanks in part to the work ofEnvironmental Defense, NorthCarolina now has the most aggressiveclean air bill in the nation."

—Michael EasleyGovernor of North Carolina

Earth index

SolutionsEnvironmental Defense