Perreault Magazine - 38 -
In 2011, more than a decade after Earthjustice first launched legal action, the nearly 50-million-acre heartland of America’s national forest was secured with a federal appeals court ruling, ending a lengthy battle that pitted loggers, miners and political forces against the vast majority of citizens who rely upon these pristine lands for recreation and repose. During that time, we argued—and won—more than a dozen legal cases in the face of relentless attack by logging and resource extraction interests, a few conservative state governments and the Bush administration.
URGENCY
What are the most pressing causes?
I urge people to get involved in whatever way they can, but there are three things that people can do right now to help fight for a healthy environment.
One, they can urge Congress and the EPA to support the first-ever limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants. Carbon pollution fuels climate change, and power plants are responsible for 40 percent of the carbon pollution in the United States, our single largest source. Setting the first-ever federal limits on carbon pollution from these power plants is a reasonable and essential step to address climate change.
Two, they can encourage the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect coral reefs. Healthy coral reefs are crucial to places like the U.S. Caribbean. They provide a home for hundreds of species, as well as provide food and tourist
dollars. They even protect local coastlines from the full force of storm waves. Unfortunately, populations of elkhorn and staghorn corals have dwindled by as much as 99 percent since the 1970’s due to disease, increasing hurricane damage and overfishing. Currently, the National Marine Fisheries Service is considering changing the status of the species from threatened to endangered, and listing a number of new coral species under the Endangered Species Act due to the same threats.
Three, they can tell the EPA to save bees from a highly toxic pesticide.
Nearly one-third of our crops—including many vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds—depend on bees for pollination. But bees in our country are dying at unprecedented rates, and scientists are pointing to highly toxic pesticides as a cause. Despite the die-offs, the EPA recently approved a new bee-killing pesticide called sulfoxaflor, and now the EPA is considering expanding the number of crops this pesticide can be sprayed on to include corn, alfalfa, oats and several other significant and widely grown crops.
GET INVOLVED
Do you have any final words Trip?
We must all get involved in protecting our environment to help ensure a better quality of
Earthjustice