National parks face funding shortfalls
Environment America staff and activists are calling on members of
Congress to restore funds to America’s national parks. The parks
currently face a funding shortfall of $800 million annually, forcing a
backlog of maintenance problems, staffing cuts, and a paring down of
educational programs in the parks.
The good news is that the president’s fiscal year 2008 budget
proposed a record increase in operating funds. Now, it’s up to Congress
to include the increased funding in the final budget. As Congress
deliberates on the budget, we’re making sure they’re hearing from the
people that hold these places dear, and not just from the powerful
special interests such as logging and mining companies that have a
stake in despoiling the parks. In particular, Environment California is
urging members to ask Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), who is the chair
of the Senate Interior Appropriations Committee, to make funding the
parks a higher priority.
Congress to take up mountaintop removal
In August the Bush administration moved to make it easier for the
coal industry to engage in an outrageous, outdated practice known as
“mountaintop removal.” In West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio and other
states, coal companies literally blast the tops off of mountains in
order to get at seams of coal, dumping the debris into nearby lakes and
streams. The mining debris irrevocably changes the scenic beauty of the
rivers and streams and pollutes waterways that host a diversity of
species. The administration’s rule change would make it far more
difficult to challenge mountaintop removal in court under the Clean
Water Act.
Many Environment America members objected to the president’s rollbacks
and have lobbied members of Congress to overturn the rule change. So
far, Reps. Frank Pallone (N.J.) and Christopher Shays (Conn.) have
added 107 co-sponsors to the legislation, which would do just that. The
bill faces an uphill battle; similar legislation failed to pass in the
last three sessions of Congress.
Unless we take action soon, Lake Tahoe may lose its famed clarity.
