This is a listing of current education/action campaigns of interest to DC Metro SftP. Please contact SftP to get your campaign listed here
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Global Warming DC Metro Outlook: Raghu Rhagavan Power Point
Posted August 11, 2008 (also test mp3)

Bechtel At It Again
  Posted Jan 19, 2008

From Marcela Olivera, Food & Water Watch's Latin American Coordinator at fwwatch.org:

Raw sewage. Hepatitis A. Discrimination. No running water. San Francisco-based corporation Bechtel is misbehaving in Ecuador. When Bechtel tripled water rates for poor Bolivians and criminalized the catching of rainwater, the world responded. Thousands of people from dozens of countries sent letters to the corporation and rallied outside its San Francisco headquarters. In 2000, Bechtel left Bolivia under pressure. Now history seems to be repeating itself in Ecuador. Tell CEO Riley Bechtel not to make the same mistake twice.Tell CEO Riley Bechtel enough is enough! More information and a sample letter here!

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DC Urban Gardners
  Posted May 26, 2007

Your neighbors have created a group dedicated to making the District
of Columbia greener by promoting volunteerism through horticulture
and establishing a place where gardeners and environmentalists of
all stripes can gather and make their voices heard.
This is a grass roots organization that is reaching out to every ward
in the city and mobilizing resources to assist greening efforts of
all kinds. If you would like to join us, first consider signing on
to our Yahoo! Group,
http://www.dc- urban-gardeners. com/

Reduce E-waste in DC
  Posted Apr 25, 2007

Student-Run Recycling Program - any time, day or night, 24/7 Drop donations on the porch at 3630 Everett Street, NW (a small one-way street off the intersection of Nebraska Avenue & Reno Road).Acceptable items are: - Fax/Copier/Printer Ink Cartridges - Laser and Inkjet Cartridges - Used Cell Phones - Laptops (w/ power cord) - PDAs (any type) - Computers/CPUs - Monitors (**NOTE: AS OF 9/21/06 THERE IS A $6 FEE PER MONITOR**) - Printers, Keyboards - Computer Speakers & Peripherals - Scanners, Small Fax & Copiers (PLEASE NOTE: I *CANNOT* accept TVs, Stereo Equipment, Radios, DVDs, VCRs, Landline Phones, or TiVos, as my recycler in Colorado does not process these items. Thank You). All items collected will be shipped and refurbished/recycled for reuse by Access Computers. All toxics will be disposed of according to EPA guidelines! This is a ZERO LANDFILL program! Thank you for recycling over 14,000 lbs. of toxic, NON-biodegradable e-waste in the DC-MD area! Questions? Contact Nick Morgan at nmorgan@maret.org NOTE: An excellent NY Times article on discarded cell phones appeared in the edition of Jan 13, 2008.
ALSO: DC itself is accepting hazardous waste from time to time at the parking lot of Carter-Barron Amphitheater- see http://dpw.dc.gov/dpw/site/default.asp (April 6, 2008)

Say No to Bottled Water
  Received Apr 21, 2007

This Earth Day, you can do something simple to help save the Earth. Ask 10 friends to Break the Habit. The bottled water habit, that is. Did you know... ... bottled water contributes to global warming?1 ... bottled water is less safe than our tap water?2 ... drinking bottled water undermines confidence in public tap water? Join us as we break the bottled water habit. Click here to take the No Bottled Water pledge.

[1] It takes more than 47 million gallons of oil to produce plastic water bottles for Americans every year. Eliminating those bottles would be like taking 100,000 cars off the road and 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. "The Real Cost
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/02/18/EDG56N6OA41.DTL

[2] The Environmental Protection Agency requires rigorous testing of tap water to ensure quality. Both regulation and enforcement of bottled water safety is weaker than that of tap water safety. Olson, Erik D. et al. "Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?" Natural Resources Defense Council

[3] "Upscale Restaurants Shun Bottled Water" ABC News, March 29, 2007 http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2990824

No Rush to Vaccinate
  Received Mar 6, 2007

Campaign to stop mandatory hpv vaccines in DC schools: Young women in the District are facing the reality that they may have to be vaccinated for a sexually transmitted disease in order to go to school! The Bill: B17-0030 -- "HPV VACCINATION AND REPORTING ACT OF 2007". There is a bill currently in the Health Committee, led by At-Large Councilman David Catania, which would lock in the Merck pharmaceutical company as the lone distributor of a largely untested vaccination that has ties to preventing Human Papilloma Virus or HPV. HPV has been known in rare cases to spur on cervical cancer in women.

Radiation Exposure Limits to be Relaxed?
Received Feb 23, 2007

A radiation exposure-setting body, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), is poised to release their report, Recommendations, to allow more and higher radiation exposures to people, animals and the environment. ICRP says it is accepting comments on their document Draft ICRP Recommendations, but they are not issuing an official comment period. Further, Recommendations is missing its abstract, editorial and summary. Since these are the portions that many of the public and press will read, it should go without saying they need to be included for comment before this document is approved and finalized. Go to http://www.icrp.org/draft_interpretation.asp for further details.

IMMEDIATELY: Send comments asking for an official comment period of 90 days. Tell ICRP the document must include the abstract, editorial and summary for public comment. Tell ICRP that they must adopt the precautionary approach in their standards. Many comments have expressed a serious concern that ICRP is making recommendations which ignore scientific data in favor of more exposure, essentially ensuring that national radiation regulators will adopt unprotective radiation standards. ICRP has tried to justify its positions without actually addressing the concerns expressed repeatedly by the public. We reiterate the need for ICRP to take a precautionary approach in their standards. Send comments by email to Scientific Secretary of ICRP, Dr Jack Valentin (scient.secretary@ircp.org)

Maryland and global warming
Received Feb 20, 2007

Maryland is considering a Global Warming Solutions bill HB 890/ SB 409 which would put in place a cap-and-trade system by 2013 and reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, modeled after Shwarzenegger's California plan. This bill needs a lot of pushing to get passed this year. Without help, the most likely outcome is it will not get out of committee. Contact Josh Tulkin at Chesapeake Climate Action Network 301-891-6726 josh@chesapeakeclimate.org Links to follow the bill at the state's legislative website (including bill text, amendments, floor votes, hearing dates, etc.) are http://mlis.state.md.us/2007rs/billfile/hb0890.htm (house) http://mlis.state.md.us/2007rs/billfile/sb0409.htm (senate)
(See correspondence section for commentary on this campaign)

Introducing the Casey Trees Endowment Fund: Their mission is to restore, enhance, and protect the tree canopy of the Nation's Capital. Their Living Legacy Campaign, launched last Arbor Day is intended to protect and nurture DC's largest trees.

The fund has announced f ree classes at Casey Trees, beginning with "Planting and Care of Trees", where you learn to select and prepare a tree planting site, choose an appropriate tree species for the site, and properly plant the tree to ensure survival. You also learn techniques critical to maintaining urban tree health, including mulching, watering and pruning. This is followed by community tree planting and maintenance projects.