[pf] Fw: An appeal from Rachel's

by Kaleopono

22 December 2000 22:47 UTC

Some of you may have the means and desire to support the Environmental
Research Foundation which publishes Rachel's Environmental Newsletter during
the coming year.  Kaleopono
______


----- Original Message -----
From: <rachel@rachel.org>
To: <rachel-weekly@europe.std.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2000 9:02 AM
Subject: An appeal from Rachel's


> December 19, 2000
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> Once again during the Holiday season we are asking you to support
> Rachel's Environment & Health News.
>
> As you know, no one else does exactly what we do. Here are some
> of the stories we are working on now:
>
> ** The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) admitted this year that
> the amount of plutonium and other radioactive elements released
> into soils, or buried in flimsy containers, during the past 40
> years is at least 10 times as high as previously estimated. The
> DOE admission came in response to a report by a public-interest
> research group, the Institute for Energy and Environmental
> Research (IEER) in Takoma Park, Maryland. What's most interesting
> is that compelling new evidence indicates that radioactive
> elements move through soil much faster than previously supposed.
> In response to all this new information, the DOE has announced
> that it has no intention of revising its clean-up policies. (New
> York Times October 21, pg. A11.)
>
> ** The human version of mad cow disease looks as if it will
> strike large numbers of people in England during the next 2
> decades, even though the disease now seems under control in
> British cattle. The latency period for this disease is 25 to 30
> years, and more cases are occurring in humans each year. During
> 2000, 24 people died of the disease in England, compared to 14 in
> 1999. Scientists had initially hoped the maximum number of
> victims would not exceed 20,000 but "now that looks unlikely"
> according to a report in the New Scientist November 4 (pg. 9). In
> a lengthy report published in October, the British government
> admitted that the growing epidemic was allowed to spread because
> officials gave the public false reassurances of the safety of
> beef and failed to take precautionary action.
>
> ** Corporate power is continuing to grow in the U.S. and the
> guarantees of the first amendment are shrinking. For example, the
> USA Network was forced to cancel a documentary film it was making
> about an incident in Seattle in which a woman tainted Excedrin
> capsules with cyanide to kill her husband, then placed bottles of
> tainted Excedrin on store shelves to make the death appear to be
> the work of a lunatic. According to the Los Angeles Times (Dec.
> 6, pg. 1), the pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson threatened
> to pull all its advertising from USA Network, and threatened to
> try to persuade other drug companies to do likewise if the
> documentary aired. USA Network buckled.
>
> ** The link between Parkinson's disease and pesticide exposure
> was highlighted anew this year when researchers found they could
> induce the symptoms of Parkinson's in rats by exposing them to
> rotenone, an ingredient found in 680 different household
> pesticides that are widely used on lawns and gardens. (New York
> Times Nov. 5, pg. 29)
>
> We are asking for your support because subscription payments just
> cover our printing and mailing costs. So the costs of most of our
> work aren't covered by subscription fees.
>
> Besides printing and mailing costs, we have to maintain an
> extensive library of current science and medical journals.
> Sometimes we have to do considerable research to get the details
> right, and to understand the policies behind the news, so we use
> phone and fax. And of course, there are all the day-to-day
> activities, such as managing our mailing lists, maintaining our
> computers, purchasing office supplies, and paying the rent. I'm
> sure you get the picture.
>
> I hope you will consider helping us this year, so we can keep
> bringing you the news. We think it's paying off -- after ten
> years of writing about the precautionary principle, we are seeing
> it catch on here and in Europe, and risk assessors everywhere are
> finding themselves on the defensive. New ways of making decisions
> will lead to fundamentally different decisions, so -- despite all
> the bad news - there is hope.
>
> To help support Rachel's, please fill out the form below or go to
> http://www.giveforchange.com/interact/item.asp?cat=
> Environment&itemno=ERF-22-2331479-00&pos=19&html=nonprofits.html
> to make a contribution online. If you DO make a contribution
> online, please send E-mail to maria@rachel.org letting us know.
>
> Yours sincerely,
>
> Peter Montague
> Editor
>
> P.S. Some of you want to know want to know the production cost
> for one subscription. This year a subscription cost us $13.52 per
> subscriber.
>
>
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>
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>
> Please return this form and your contribution to:
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>
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