[lit-ideas] enviornoment
- From: eternitytime1@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 18:43:34 -0500
Hi, Lawrence,
Oh, I thought that you, at least, would have read and let me know if the
National Park land in Arizona was worth writing a letter about!
Still, besides that, there is SO much that has been done in regards to the
environment--just because.
Here are a couple of items--and YES--Alaska has been dealt with by the Bush
Admin. (I mentioned that in my previous post, too...<sigh> Shades of
Andy/Irene must have fallen on your house!)
As to the budget for education! Ouch. Oh, please. Obviously you have NO idea.
Each budget year, Bush has tried to totally eliminate Even Start, Head Start,
etc.--and this year is no exception. (not to mention Parents as Teachers, etc)
In my Red State area, it's been rather difficult for many of the child
advocates to deal with--but, fortunately, we have Kit Bond (moderate
Republican) who is completely and totally pro-child and (also fortunately)
rather savvy in the ways of the Hill. So, even though funding has consistently
been cut through the years for these programs (Which have oodles of information
and studies showing how well they work--Even Start especially)--they have not
been completely eliminated.
Bush has them completely eliminated AGAIN in this budget.
Obviously you have no idea of the havoc that No Child Left Behind has placed on
school districts. They may have had problems before--but even the ones who were
doing a relatively decent job have been overwhelmed. A couple of
states--Hawaii for one--completely declines, now, any federal education money
for their state because of the unfunded mandates of No Child Left Behind.
There are lawsuits from states (including Republican ones) towards our federal
gov't because of this.
It's simply been horrible.
(I should get my friend who is the school superindenent to respond to some of
this...he is very articulate ...and emailed me just the other day about yet one
more unfunded mandate that is going to cause his little district a great deal
of grief. (the geo-demographics of his school district are fascinating--if you
look at the mysegments.com site, he has extremely wealthy and extremely poor...)
I'll try to get you a list of what his budget means for kids, esp education...
Best,
Marlena in Missouri
In the News: Proposed Forest Service and BLM Land Sales Spark
Vocal Opposition
Proposals in the President's FY 07 budget to sell off a billion
dollars worth of public lands have drawn opposition from the
East to the West, from hunters and anglers to conservationists,
from Republicans to Democrats. Lawmakers are already pledging to
fight the Forest Service's proposal to sell $800 million worth
of land and are looking to find alternative funding sources to
assist rural counties that do not include selling off America's
natural heritage. In addition to proposing to sell Forest
Service lands, the budget also called for the liquidation of up
to 500, 000 acres of BLM land. There have been no details given
on this provision except a revenue target of $182 million.
For a PDF fact sheet about the Forest Service and BLM sales:
http://wilderness.org/Library/Documents/upload/Factsheet-LandSellOff.pdf
For a state-by-state listing of the proposed Forest Service
acreage to be sold, go to:
http://www.wilderness.org/Library/Documents/ProposedLandSalesFY2007.cfm
AND
Did you know? Alaska's Northeast National Petroleum Reserve
Update
Ignoring vocal opposition from Alaska Natives, scientists and
sportsmen, on January 11, 2006 the Bush Administration opened
for leasing 100 percent of the internationally significant
Teshekpuk Lake Special Area in the Northeast Planning Area of
the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA). The decision
eliminates long-established wildlife and environmental
protections first put in place by Reagan Administration Interior
Secretary James Watt. Congress and three Secretaries of the
Interior have recognized the ecological importance of the area,
however the new plan would fragment the area's critical wildlife
habitat.
Since 2002 the Bush Administration has made more than 18 million
acres on Alaska's North Slope and in the Federal waters offshore
of Alaska available to oil companies for leasing. Alaska's North
Slope is our nation's only arctic ecosystem. A balanced approach
would give wilderness protection to the coastal plain of the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and permanent protection for the
most biologically and culturally important areas of NPRA while
maximizing oil and gas potential in the central arctic around
Prudhoe Bay and elsewhere in the Petroleum Reserve.
Conservation groups will ask DOI to delay the fall lease sale
and/or modify the sale not to include the internationally
recognized area around Teshekpuk Lake.
For more information on this and other issues impacting Alaska,
please visit:
http://www.wilderness.org/WhereWeWork/Alaska/index.cfm
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