advocating for endangered species
drafting environmental legislation
preserving wildlife habitat
Green Ballot Proposed Legislation
The pilgrims of early Massachusetts developed a set of Blue Laws to legislate morality and prohibit “sins” such as dancing, singing, card playing, gambling, and drinking. At Green Ballot, we are working to develop a set of Green Laws that will help to preserve clean rivers, marshes, lakes, and aquifers; as well as endangered flora and fauna species that inhabit our forests, meadows, and mountaintops. Green Ballot’s extensive legislative agenda includes:
TESHA – Green Ballot is developing the legal framework for TESHA (The Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Act) as well as for TESHO (The Threatened and Endangered Ocean Species Habitat Act).
THE MULTIPLE USE DOCTRINE – Green Ballot is drafting a revision of the multiple use doctrine now in place at the US Forest Service and at other branches of government involved in administration of our natural resources. Currently, preservation of wildlife and wildlife habitat is placed (at best) on an equal footing with uses such as mining, timber harvesting, coal mining, and fracking, yet wildlife populations are declining everywhere as a result of these other uses. The preservation of wildlife and wildlife habitat must become the primary use on most public lands in rural areas – especially in mountains, forests, marshes, rivers and lakes. Uses such as fossil fuel extraction and mineral extraction must not be allowed to undermine the preservation of declining species. We are working to eliminate timber harvesting entirely as a permitted use on lands owned by the American public due to its extreme adverse impacts upon wildlife.
THE TAYLOR GRAZING ACT – Green Ballot is drafting a revision of the Taylor Grazing Act to require greater protections for endangered and threatened species, but also to allow more sustainable grazing across portions of the 247 million acres of BLM land. Per ecologist Allan Savory, grazing is the best tool available for preventing arid lands and farm lands from turning to desert. Millions more acres can be opened up to sustainable grazing in most of the states west of the Mississippi River. While overgrazing is devastating to the environment, sustainable grazing by cattle, goats, sheep, horses, bison, and llama can help to rejuvenate wildlife habitat; enrich the soil; and prevent desertification.
THE CONNECTIVE WILDERNESS AND GENETIC DIVERSITY ACT – Green Ballot is drafting the Connective Wilderness and Genetic Diversity Act to help threatened and endangered species reach wintering grounds; distant sources for food and clean water; and a population of other animals in their species with which to breed. This Act would allow for the creation and expansion of wildlife passage corridors; the removal of fences; unimpeded access of wildlife to rivers, lakes, and other water sources; etc…
THE TIMBER PHASE-OUT ACT – Green Ballot Drafting the Act to Phase Out Timber Harvesting from Government Lands. We accept that the national parks and national forests can be home to a range of uses from mining to fossil fuel extraction, but we stress wildlife habitat as the most essential use of these lands. Almost nothing is more destructive to endangered, threatened, and declining species that the systematic and ongoing destruction of the trees, woodlands, and forests that form such an essential and ancient element of wildlife habitat.
The Global Forest and Jungle Preservation Act – According to GreenPeace, 97% of the habitat of the Sumatran Tiger has disappeared as a result of palm oil plantations; timber harvesting; slash and burn farming; cattle grazing; mining; fossil fuel extraction; dam building, and suburbanization. Whatever the people of Indonesia are able to accomplish at the eleventh hour to save the tiger and myriad other species that are vanishing with it, the rich biological diversity of what was formerly an island paradise, will never return. Similarly, what will happen to the lush forests, jungles, and riparian environments of Myanmar, now that this country is opening up to the world for business? Cuba still has forests and jungles full of biological diversity, but what will happen to these wildlife habitats now that they are opening up the USA and other western countries for business? What will happen to the forests of Siberia which are larger than any of the Earth’s otherree remaining temperate climate forests? Europe, China, India, and the Middle Eastern countries have already cut down the vast majority of their forests – will they turn to Siberia next and cut down the habitat of the Siberian tiger and the many other threatened and endangered species of that region?
Green Ballot is also working on the following legislation:
THE CLEAR CUTTING REDUCTION ACT -- Drafting the Clear Cutting Reduction Act. Clear cutting refers to the felling and removal of all trees from a given tract of forest. One forestry expert refers to the practice as "an ecological trauma that has no precedent in nature except for a major volcanic eruption."
THE TREASURE TREE ACT -- Drafting the National Treasure Trees Act to prevent the cutting of trees located at high elevations (where it takes much longer to reach maturity); for endangered and threatened trees of all species; and for trees that take hundreds of years to mature and that can live to be 1,000 to 2,000 years old. Any tree that can live to be 100 years old or more, and cannot grow to maturity within our own lifespan, should be considered a national treasure, and should be exempt from harvesting. (Such trees are absolutely vital for as wildlife habitat. They have numerous other invaluable functions including acting as carbon sinks and preventing soil erosion.)
THE REDWOOD AND SEQUOIA TREE PRESERVATION ACT
THE WATERSHED AND AQUIFER PROTECTION ACT
TRAPPING -- Even with some of the most endangered species, fur trappers seem to feel that they have a right to trap animals for sport or profit. The wolverine is down in number to only 300 in the lower 48 states, yet requests for trapping permits are still being made. Green Ballot is developing legislation to prevent illegal trapping of certain species and to prohibit the legal trapping of declining species from wolverines to the black-footed ferret.
HIPRA -- Drafting the Herbicide, Insecticide, Pesticide and Rodenticide Act (HIPRA) to begin phasing out use of these chemicals that have ruined our aquifers and watersheds; and that have caused so much harm to bird species through the thinning of bird egg shells from DDT use; to the passing of ingested chemicals when one species feeds on another species that has ingested these toxic chemicals; to Colony Collapse Disorder that has devastated the honey bee population.
THE OPEN PIT MINING, STRIP MINE REPLANTING, REMEDIATION AND SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES ACT
REVISING THE MINING ACT OF 1872 -- Revising the Mining Act of 1872 and the Hardrock Mining Act to ensure greater habitat protection and more thorough reclamation practices. This revision would also include imposing a small royalty on mining revenues (to be used for wildlife conservation purposes), and would phase out new mining claims.
ENVIRONMENTAL VIOLATIONS AS CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- Drafting legislation to make environmental violations criminal rather than civil offenses, and requiring the US military; FBI; CIA; and other government enforcement and investigation agencies to enforce environmental laws such as those related to illegal cutting of trees; polluting of rivers, lakes, and water sheds; killing, poisoning, or otherwise taking threatened and endangered species; and other forms of environmental degradation.
GREATER ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY -- Drafting legislation to provide the Environmental Protection Agency; Department of Commerce; and other agencies with greater powers to enforce environmental laws and to collect larger fines to offset staff costs related to investigation, enforcement, and remediation. Environmental violations should be paid for by corporations that are creating these violations; and enforcement staff should be paid out of fines that are collected rather than out of general funds gleaned through property tax or income tax. Individuals and corporations that participate in driving species into endangered status or into extinction should face time in prison rather than getting a free pass for committing such violations, as is now the case. This should especially apply to the illegal trafficking of endangered birds, fish, flora, mammals, ivory, feathers, etc…
REQUIRING CORPORATIONS IN BANKRUPTCY TO PAY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION --Revising corporate bankruptcy laws and procedures that allow companies to avoid paying clean up costs for the environmental degradation they have caused. (This may involve allowing the government to claim corporate lands for wildlife habitat from companies that have outstanding taxes state, local, or federal taxes; government loans, grants, and subsidies; as well as unproductive tax abatements). Avoiding the payment of environmental remediation costs through use of the bankruptcy process is an example of what the economist Paul Krugman describes as privatizing profits and socializing losses. (We have recently seen bankruptcy settlements where the owners of the bankrupt company were also members of the firm that was successful in purchasing the bankrupt resource extraction company. This maneuver allowed the partners of the original company to stay in control, but relieved them of environmental remediation costs as well as of responsibility for paying the pensions and health care costs of thousands of their terminated employees!)
BRINGING THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT INTO ALIGNMENT WITH THE RED LIST -- Drafting legislation to add more endangered and threatened species to the Endangered Species Act. Currently, legislators and corporate lobbyists are working to eliminate species from the Endangered Species list so that they can forge ahead with environmentally destructive business projects. It is actually the Red List, promulgated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which is much more accurate at showing what species are endangered or threatened. The list of Endangered and Threatened Species associated with the US Endangered Species Act is less scientific than the Red List. It is also vulnerable to lobbying by corporate interests and weak legislators who are fearful of losing donations to their re-election campaigns from corporate polluters.
GREENLINING -- Drafting laws in support of Green Line lending practices. Laws need to be drafted to prohibit state, federal, and local governments from lending funds; guaranteeing project loans; providing tax incentives or abatements; or issuing bonds for projects that are environmentally destructive. This includes most fossil fuel extraction projects (now that solar, wind, and geothermal energy sources are available); dam building projects; and logging projects. Many banks, international lending agencies, foreign governments, and investment firms have already set a precedent by enacting their own greenlining legislation and regulations.
GRANTING LEGAL STANDING ON BEHALF OF NATURE -- Drafting a constitutional amendment at both the federal and state levels to allow all citizens to sue corporations, individuals, and governments on behalf of nature. This right is already written into the constitutions of Bolivia and Ecuador, so it can be implemented into law in the US if there is a collective will to do so. The law would allow individuals to initiate law suits on behalf of animals, birds, fish, marine mammals, trees, mountains, wetlands, forests, etc… which are a part of our natural heritage, yet which are increasingly vulnerable to threats from industrialization; suburbanization; pollution; construction of dams and roads; drainage; and other vectors of wildlife habitat destruction. These natural resources can not advocate on their own behalf, so we must advocate for them.
FORESTS AND WETLANDS AS PUBLIC DOMAIN -- Drafting laws to return to the public domain all forests, wetlands, mountaintops, rivers, and other natural wonders that constitute critical wildlife habitat. Currently, the vast majority of rivers, lakes, woodlands, and critical habitat are privately owned by families and individuals; or are owned by corporations that profit from the destruction of wildlife habitat (lumber companies) or whose operations lead to tremendous environmental devastation (fracking, coal mining, metals extraction, etc…) The US is the only major country in the world where the majority of forests are owned by private interests.
PAYING TAXES WITH DONATIONS OF LAND -- Drafting legislation at the state and federal level to allow corporations and individuals to pay taxes with donations of ecologically valuable lands to be used as wildlife habitat conservation – instead of paying cash.
CHARTER FOR PROTECTION OF THE ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC -- Drafting legislation to strengthen the charters for protection of the Arctic and Antarctic. Both of these vast areas are valuable wildlife habitat for marine species, birds, and other wildlife, and they are increasingly vulnerable to commercialization, industrialization, and pollution as global warming accelerates and sea levels rise. Many large countries and large corporation have detailed plans to develop infrastructure in the Arctic and Antarctic (such as freight rail lines and ports), so that they can extract natural resources from the polar areas as soon as global temperatures warm by another degree or two.) But the poles constitute vital habitat for whales and many other species that could be harmed by the noise, traffic, pollution, toxic leaks, human settlements, and other manifestations of the resource extraction and development process.
ENFORCEMENT OF THE OCEAN FISH AND MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION ACT -- Revise legislation related to Ocean Fish and Marine Mammals to obtain better and fuller enforcement within all US waters, and (through treaties) in all international waters. Dumping nuclear wastes, toxic wastes, and hazardous wastes in the oceans is becoming more and more rampant and is difficult and expensive to investigate and eliminate. The oceans are becoming more and more polluted. This is causing increasing acidification in the oceans and is leading to a wide range of problems for fish, crustaceans, marine mammals and other ocean life including deformities, population decline, and habitat destruction.
INDUSTRIAL AND HOUSEHOLD CHEMICALS -- Drafting stronger legislation to prohibit the dumping of pollutants and household chemicals and industrial wastes into rivers, lakes, swamps, marshes, wetlands, and aquifers.
BOTTOM TRAWLING -- Drafting legislation to prohibit bottom trawling per the recommendations of ecologist Sylvia Earle and the Canadian Park and Wilderness Society.
MILITARY POLLUTION -- Drafting legislation to require the US military to decrease its pollution; wildlife habitat destruction; and its harmful impacts upon oceans, the atmosphere, endangered and threatened species; marine mammals; and the overall environmental impact in and around its 8,500 properties throughout the world.
PROPER BONDING -- Drafting legislation to allow courts to freeze the assets of companies that have not set aside enough funds to pay for remediation related to the breeching of dams for to mining operations; remediation from mudslides caused by corporate negligence; and from contamination of rivers and lakes from toxic tailings related to mining operations. This legislation would also include increased bonding amounts for mining projects; for fossil fuel extraction projects; for oil and pipelines; for truck, train, and ship spills of toxic chemicals and substances; and for fracking operations that can cause earthquakes and other substantial environmental damage. This legislation could include a range of remedies including the transfer of ecologically valuable lands to government conservation agencies, if the government is going to need to pay millions or billions of dollars for the remediation of damage to the environment.
Etcetera…