by Renee Kjartan

Students at the University of Washington in Seattle are demanding that the school administration divest all stock held in companies belonging to the Global Climate Coalition. This is a group of companies including Exxon, Mobil, General Motors, Chevron, Ford, and Texaco. The GCC denies that global warming is a problem. Students at Harvard, Stanford, Evergreen College, Pacific Lutheran University, and several other institutions are also demanding divestment of all university-held stocks in these corporations. A resolution by the UW Student Senate stated, in part, "Whereas ...the average global temperature will increase 4-6 degrees F by the year 2010, which will lead to increased rainfall, droughts, flooding, heat waves, wetland destruction, diminished fresh water supply and increased exposure to new disease...," the university should get rid of its stocks in companies belonging to the GCC. Less than one percent of UW's holdings are in these companies.

Atmosphere Alliance Increases the Pressure

The Atmosphere Alliance, which works to stem global warming by educating people on the issue and advocating clean fuel policies, has doubled its strength by merging with the Energy Outreach Center. It is now called Climate Solutions. Its latest report, "Global Warming Is Here: The Scientific Evidence," presents urgent new data on melting glaciers, rising seas, thawing of the permafrost, water cycle intensification and effects on plants and animal life. The report concluded: "Researching, developing, and commercializing carbon-free primary power technologies capable of 10-30 terrawatts by the mid-21st century could require efforts [on the scale of the] Manhattan Project or the Apollo space program....Perhaps the greatest challenge in the history of civilization, the global climate crisis calls upon us to act decisively and without delay." For a copy of the report, contact atmosphere@olywa.net or eoc@olywa.net; (360) 352-1763.

The Real Pests Are Pesticides

Every year in the U.S. some 4.5 billion pounds of pesticides are sprayed on farms, lawns, railroad beds, forests, and elsewhere. Another 700 million pounds are exported to developing countries, where they often perpetrate even more damage, according to Pesticide Action Network (PAN), an international group working in over 60 countries to promote alternatives to managing unwanted insects. Of course, the exported pesticides come right back to this county, borne by (and contaminating) water or air, and in the form of imports. The chemicals have even migrated to the poles, where high levels of pesticide ingredients are found in native people, whales, and penguins. PAN is working to enforce a worldwide methyl bromide ban. This is extremely toxic and is "the most potent ozone depletor known," according to the Western Environmental Law Center, which is fighting to ban methyl bromide from use in California fields. PAN is also working for stricter regulations and pesticide phase-outs, and to help the cotton industry switch to organic cotton (conventional cotton uses some 25 percent of the world's insecticides). To get involved, send $35 to Pesticide Action Network, 49 Powell St., Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102; panna@pana.org; www.panna.org.

Mass Transit Stuck In Olympia Traffic

Transportation Choices (formerly Alt-Trans) tried like heck, but it was a tough year in Olympia as this coalition of over 70 organizations tried to get something other than car-focused legislation through the legislature. The state passed Referendum 49, allocating billions of dollars for highways, with only a few alternate (bike, pedestrian, mass transit) modes of transportation permitted under the terms of the bill. Nevertheless, Transportation Choices was able to 1) marshal a nearly continuous lobbying presence in Olympia; 2) secure almost-certain funding for a second train between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.; and 3) wrest a promise to renovate the King Street Station. Transportation Choices member groups include the Sierra Club, Washington State Department of Transportation, Pierce Transit, and more. To get involved: PO Box 131, Seattle, 98111; (206) 298-9338.

Time to Speak Out If you Want Forests

For years the National Forest Service has sold timber from national forests, losing billions of dollars while practically giving away the trees. Mining, cattle grazing, ski resorts, and other concessions have also taken their toll on the forests. Now there's a bill before Congress, H.R. 1396, the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act, that would halt government timber sales on federal lands. Only four percent of the United States old growth forests remain, with some 75 percent of the ancient trees within the national forests, according to the Sierra Club. In place of the 96 percent of forests that have been destroyed, there are 440,000 miles of roads, incalculable damage to the environment and forest habitats. An excellent periodical on this subject is Inner Voice, published by the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics. These are forest workers themselves, seeing and reporting first-hand on what is happening to the forests where they work. To subscribe, send $30 to FSEEE, POB 11615, Eugene, OR 97440.