SALMON SETBACK. Wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest
are dangerously close to extinction. The best way to save them, activists argue, is to
breach four dams on the lower Snake River in eastern Washington. In July, the Clinton
administration failed to take that bold step, postponing a decision on dam removal for at
least five years. This followed the testimony of thousands of salmon supporters at public
hearings, and 100,000 postcards (many from Sierra readers) demanding removal of
the dams. (See "Salmon's Second Coming" March/April 2000.)
ECO-WARRIORS CONVICTED. After being held without bail
for 15 months, Mexican activist Rodolfo Montiel, who received the prestigious Goldman
Environmental Prize for eco-heroism, was sentenced in August to almost 7 years in jail,
and his compaņero Teodoro Cabrera to 10 years. The two ecologistas, who
fought to save Mexico's rapidly dwindling old-growth forests, were convicted on drug and
weapons charges. The only evidence was "confessions" signed after five days of
torture. Supporters, including the Sierra Club and Amnesty International, continue to
campaign for the pair's freedom (see "Defending the Forest, and Other Crimes," July/August
2000).
GAS-GUZZLERS NO MORE? Although higher gas mileages
would reduce pollution and slow global warming, Congress has refused even to study
revising the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for cars and light trucks --
until now. The Senate finally took steps to repeal a five-year gag order on the topic. In
June, it mandated that the Department of Transportation and the National Academy of
Sciences study raising the CAFE requirements. Later in the summer, both Ford and General
Motors promised to increase the fuel economy of their gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles.
(See "Arms Race on the Highway,"
November/December 1999.)
DIOXIN IS DEADLY.The EPA finally admitted in June what
environmentalists have suspected for years: The chemical dioxin causes cancer. Waste
incineration and the production of plastics and paper pulp are among the main sources of
this persistent pollutant. Activists hope the findings of the draft report will advance
their campaign to regulate industrial emissions of dioxin. (See "Hormone Imposters,"
January/February 1997.)
TAKU RIVER REPRIEVED. In June, a British Columbia
Supreme Court judge temporarily blocked construction of the Tulsequah Chief Mine, a
project near Juneau, Alaska, that has incited activists on both sides of the border. The
proposed mine would threaten the health of a tributary of the Taku River, a teeming salmon
run flowing through the coastal rainforest of Canada and Alaska. The judge ruled that the
provincial government must address the concerns of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation,
whose traditional territory would be severed by a 100-mile access road, and reconsider its
approval of the mine. (See "Tallying the Taku"
March/April 1998.)
BIOPIRATES THWARTED. In May, the European Patent Office
revoked a six-year-old patent on an anti-fungal product derived from the neem tree, citing
the plant's centuries-old use in India as a medicine, insecticide, and contraceptive. The
ruling against patent-holders W. R. Grace and the U.S. Department of Agriculture was
heralded by activists as a blow to "biopiracy," or corporate ownership of the
rights to living organisms. (See "Lust for Life" May/June 2000.)
