http://www.nrdconline.org/nrdc/home.html Alerts from the Natural Resources Defense Council that make it easy to participate in important environmental and public health decisions. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) &#169 Natural Resources Defense Council http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~r/EarthAction/~3/aFyT_uIwDts/nrdcaction_060409 <P><IMG height=60 alt="" hspace=3 src="http://www.nrdc.org/images/homeicons/waterblue.gif" width=60 align=left>The Senate could soon decide whether the United States should sign on to the United Nations Law of the Sea treaty, which would expand protections for our planet's oceans. Urge President Obama to declare his support for swift Senate action to ratify the Law of the Sea treaty.</P> <P align=center valign="top"><A href="javascript:LearnMoreWindow('http://www.nrdcaction.org/learnmore/060409.html');"><IMG height=23 alt="Learn More About This Issue" src="https://img.getactivehub.com/08/custom_images/nrdc/learn_more.gif" width=186 border=0></A></P><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~ff/EarthAction?a=aFyT_uIwDts:Oy_pfT50FuU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/EarthAction?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~ff/EarthAction?a=aFyT_uIwDts:Oy_pfT50FuU:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/EarthAction?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~ff/EarthAction?a=aFyT_uIwDts:Oy_pfT50FuU:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/EarthAction?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/EarthAction/~4/aFyT_uIwDts" height="1" width="1"/> alert 2009-06-03 2030-12-23 http://img.getactivehub.com/alert_images/act_now.gif President Barack Obama I urge you to quickly announce your support for swift Senate action to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Our nation has waited too long to take advantage of the many benefits that membership in this convention would provide. Ratification of this treaty, which 157 countries have already joined, would advance U.S. goals in environmental stewardship, peace and national security, as well as economic development. Although the Law of the Sea treaty is widely supported by both Republicans and Democrats, the Senate is not likely to adopt any major treaty without presidential leadership. Joining the treaty would, to use your words, advance "the long tradition of bipartisan foreign policy that has been the hallmark of America," as well as demonstrate U.S. commitment to working cooperatively with the international community and pave the way for ratification of other important treaties. Please urge the Senate to act before Congress begins its August recess, and engage members of your administration to clear the path for rapid U.S. ratification of the Law of the Sea treaty. http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_060409 http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~r/EarthAction/~3/wfvIGI22YTU/nrdcaction_042709 <P><IMG height=60 alt="" hspace=3 src="http://www.nrdc.org/images/homeicons/waterpollution3.gif" width=60 align=left>The Clean Water Restoration Act would restore Clean Water Act protections to vital water bodies declared unprotected because of&nbsp;Supreme Court decisions. Tell your senators to co-sponsor the Clean Water Restoration Act.</P> <P align=center valign="top"><A href="javascript:LearnMoreWindow('http://www.nrdcaction.org/learnmore/042709.html');"><IMG height=23 alt="Learn More About This Issue" src="https://img.getactivehub.com/08/custom_images/nrdc/learn_more.gif" width=186 border=0></A></P><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~ff/EarthAction?a=wfvIGI22YTU:x0H1JzPIDuo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/EarthAction?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~ff/EarthAction?a=wfvIGI22YTU:x0H1JzPIDuo:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/EarthAction?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~ff/EarthAction?a=wfvIGI22YTU:x0H1JzPIDuo:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/EarthAction?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/EarthAction/~4/wfvIGI22YTU" height="1" width="1"/> alert 2009-04-27 2025-11-20 http://img.getactivehub.com/alert_images/act_now.gif United States Senate I urge you to co-sponsor the Clean Water Restoration Act (S. 787), or, if you have already signed on as a co-sponsor, to encourage your fellow senators to do so as well. America's water bodies are in crisis. Across the country, numerous water bodies are at risk of losing protections that the Clean Water Act provides against unregulated pollution. Two Supreme Court decisions have made the law a mess. Thousands of water bodies already have been denied legal protection; countless more await the same fate. I support fully protecting the nation's waterways. By enacting the Clean Water Restoration Act, Congress can restore clear legal protections to many kinds of waters whose status is presently in question. To protect against floods, help provide clean drinking water, filter pollution and support fish and other wildlife, we need the kinds of streams and wetlands that today are at risk. Please co-sponsor the Clean Water Restoration Act and do all you can to ensure its prompt passage. http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_042709 http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~r/EarthAction/~3/5cutsGE5gmg/nrdcaction_042109 <P><IMG height=60 alt="Cumberland mountains" hspace=3 src="http://www.nrdc.org/images/homeicons/cumberlands.gif" width=60 align=left>The recently introduced bipartisan Appalachia Restoration Act would stop the destruction&nbsp;mountaintop removal mining&nbsp;causes to our environment and mining communities. Send a message urging your senators to support and vote Yes for the Appalachia Restoration Act.</P> <P align=center><A href="javascript:LearnMoreWindow('http://www.nrdcaction.org/learnmore/042109.html');" align="Center"><IMG height=23 alt="Learn More About This Issue" src="http://img.getactivehub.com/aflcio/custom_images/nrdc/learn_more.gif" width=186 border=0></A></P><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~ff/EarthAction?a=5cutsGE5gmg:tQaclZqYHtQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/EarthAction?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~ff/EarthAction?a=5cutsGE5gmg:tQaclZqYHtQ:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/EarthAction?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~ff/EarthAction?a=5cutsGE5gmg:tQaclZqYHtQ:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/EarthAction?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/EarthAction/~4/5cutsGE5gmg" height="1" width="1"/> alert 2009-04-20 2020-01-20 http://img.getactivehub.com/alert_images/act_now.gif United States Senate I strongly support ending mountaintop removal coal mining and stopping the Army Corps of Engineers from authorizing waste dumps in streams. I therefore urge you to support and vote Yes for the bipartisan Appalachia Restoration Act (S. 696), which would curtail coal companies' ability to dump waste from surface coal mining into headwater streams. America's Appalachian Mountains are under siege. Mountaintop removal mining ravages the landscapes, harms communities, destroys irreplaceable natural resources and threatens the region's unique heritage. This destructive strip mining practice has blasted hundreds of mountaintops to rubble, wiped out forests and the wildlife that depend on them and buried countless streams. More than 1,200 miles of streams and rivers have been destroyed or otherwise directly polluted by coal mining waste in central Appalachia in just a 10-year span. Coal companies should no longer be allowed to blow up mountains, turn streams into waste dumps and clear-cut some of the most biologically diverse forests in the world. Nor should they be allowed to destroy the quality of life for those who call Appalachia home. It is time for our nation to invest in clean, renewable energy sources that will safely and efficiently fuel our future. Please support the Appalachia Restoration Act (S. 696) and do everything you can to help ensure its passage. http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_042109 http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~r/EarthAction/~3/A0x4BPl5fyE/nrdcaction_031009 <P><IMG height=60 alt="" hspace=3 src="http://www.nrdc.org/images/homeicons/coalashspill.gif" width=60 align=left>America's coal-fired power plants and industrial facilities produce millions of tons of contaminated coal waste, which includes toxic metals like arsenic, mercury and lead. Send a message telling the EPA to protect communities and water sources across the country by setting strict regulations for contaminated coal waste disposal.</P> <P align=center><A href="javascript:LearnMoreWindow('http://www.nrdcaction.org/learnmore/031009.html');" align="Center"><IMG height=23 alt="Learn More About This Issue" src="http://img.getactivehub.com/aflcio/custom_images/nrdc/learn_more.gif" width=186 border=0></A></P><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~ff/EarthAction?a=A0x4BPl5fyE:3m9trWCkJW4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/EarthAction?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~ff/EarthAction?a=A0x4BPl5fyE:3m9trWCkJW4:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/EarthAction?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://rss.nrdcfeeds.org/~ff/EarthAction?a=A0x4BPl5fyE:3m9trWCkJW4:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/EarthAction?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/EarthAction/~4/A0x4BPl5fyE" height="1" width="1"/> alert 2009-03-10 2020-01-20 http://img.getactivehub.com/alert_images/act_now.gif Administrator Lisa Jackson, Environmental Protection Agency I urge you and your staff at the EPA to set strict and protective federal regulations for the management and disposal of contaminated coal combustion waste. Current law allows the EPA to regulate this type of waste, and the agency has recently expressed its intention to issue regulations. At present, states are allowed to implement a patchwork of weak regulations that fail to address many of the risks posed by this toxic waste. Meanwhile, poorly constructed disposal facilities continue to pollute water sources with arsenic, heavy metals and other contaminants. The toxic spill of coal ash sludge from a surface impoundment at the TVA Kingston Fossil plant in Roane County, Tennessee in December 2008 demonstrates the risk of accidents and contamination from poorly regulated facilities. A risk assessment commissioned by the EPA shows that certain types of coal combustion waste disposal sites pose a cancer risk nearly 1,000 times the acceptable level; the EPA also has identified sites in 13 states where environmental damage caused by coal combustion waste disposal is known or suspected to have occurred. The EPA must act to protect our water sources and the health of communities near coal combustion waste disposal facilities. I urge you to establish rules requiring effective pollution controls and monitoring systems at all landfills that receive coal combustion waste and prohibiting the construction of new surface impoundments for these wastes. http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_031009