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According to the United Nations Children's Fund,
one in six children in the world's richest nations live in poverty, with
the United States and Britain among the worst. A report by UNICEF published
(week of 6/13/00) stated that despite rising incomes in the world's 29
wealthiest nations, 47 million live in families so impoverished that their
health and well-being are at risk.
Mexico rated most poorly in terms of children
living in relative poverty: More than 26 percent of children live in households
with an income below 50 percent of the national median. The United States
came next, with 22.4 percent; followed by Italy, 20.5 percent; Britain,
19.8 percent; Turkey, 19.7 percent; and Ireland, 16.8 percent. Rated the
best were Sweden, Norway and Finland, with 2.6 percent, 3.9 percent and
4.3 percent respectively.
A survey of children living in absolute poverty
- defined as households with incomes below the U.S. official poverty line
converted into national currencies - showed Poland was the worst, with
93.1 percent; followed by Hungary, 90.6 percent; the Czech Republic, 83.1
percent; Spain, 42.8 percent; Italy, 36.1 percent; and Britain, 29.1 percent.
San Francisco
Examiner, Associated Press, Sue Leeman
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(Week of 6/19/00) the US Senate
overwhelmingly approved an aid package (95-4) worth $934 million to help
Colombian President Andres Pastrana wage war on the illegal drug trade
that is fueling a bloody conflict in his country and flooding many US cities
with cocaine and heroin. The agreement includes hardware, a fleet of 60
helicopters and funds for US military training of counter-narcotics brigades
in the Colombian army and national police. The passing of this measure
marked a dramatic escalation of the US military's role in the drug wars
of Latin America, which are widely believed to be a growing threat to US
national security. The US House of Representatives have already backed
a measure to give $1.7 billion in aid to Colombia , and will be reconciled
with the Senate's package in a conference of both chambers before being
signed by President Clinton. Clinton commented, "The quicker we can reach
an agreement and show that the United States is committed to...fighting
the drug wars in Colombia and to strengthening the oldest democracy in
Latin America, the better off we're going to be".
77% of World Campaign voters felt that this bill
was not an appropriate step towards fighting the war on drugs. (A
spiritually advanced society has no need for drug addiction. Perhaps,
this is what voters should strive for.)
Reuters News
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In response to a worsening drought in Afghanistan,
the
United States decided to set aside sanctions (week of 6/19/00)
and sent 40,000 tons of wheat to those most affected. Sanctions on
trade and investment have been in place against the ruling Taliban government
since last year over their insistence of harboring alleged terrorist Osama
bin Laden. US Ambassador to Pakistan, William Milam stated, "We have the
highest regard for the people of Afghanistan and the sanctions are largely
against the government and not against the people." (So how does
the U.S. get 40,000 tons of wheat passed an estranged government?)According
to the Taliban and the United Nations, Afghanistan's nomadic tribes have
been hit hardest by the drought, with their livestock almost completely
wiped out.
San Francisco Examiner, Associated Press, Zahid
Hussain |
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(Week of 6/19/00) the World Health Organization
(WHO) issued a report assessing health care programs around the world.
The evaluation was based on a value-for-money basis for the first time,
in order to inform countries on how to provide better health care with
available resources. WHO Director-General Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland believes
that today, "global health has become an issue of economic growth and human
security" and hoped that this report would "shift the focus from opinion
and ideology toward evidence and knowledge". The most striking example
of this is Oman, who just two decades ago had 23 percent of their children
dying before their fifth birthday. Yet due to reform, Oman was ranked
8th in the WHO report, even though they spend considerably less on healthcare
than the United States which was ranked 37th. The report was based
on healthy life expectancy, the efficiency and equality of the health system
and whether it responds to the social and financial needs of the people
it serves. France, Italy, Andorra and Malta headed the list, while Sierra
Leone, Myanmar and the Congo were at the bottom.
Reuters News, Patricia Reaney
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(Week of 6/26/00), the UN Development
Programme released it's Human Development Report 2000, naming Canada the
best place to live in the world for the seventh straight year. The report
ranks 174 nations according to income, health care, life expectancy and
educational levels. For the first time, the report also looked at
the relationship between human rights and development. Norway, the United
States and Australia followed Canada in overall rankings, while Sierra
Leone, Niger and Burkina Faso were named the three least developed nations.
The report also gauged progress for women through
a gender equality index that measures the number of women in parliament,
government, professional or technical jobs and their average earnings compared
to men. The top countries in this category were Norway, Iceland and Sweden,
with Canada dropping to eighth place. Japan, ranked ninth place in the
overall rankings, was ranked a low 41st on the gender equality index. The
report showed that relative prosperity is accompanied by relative poverty
as well. The US has
the highest gross national product, yet it ranks first in poverty rates among the 18 richest countries.
Reuters News, Evelyn Leopold
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(7/13/00), the US House of Representatives
approved a $13.8 billion foreign aid bill to help ease the crippling debts
of the world's poorest nations(!!!). Although this bill increased the money
available from $82 million to $225 million, it still falls short of the
$472 million the White House has requested. The money will be used to meet
US obligations towards the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative
among the wealthier governments. This initiative was created in 1996
by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to help alleviate
or forgive the debts of 40 nations. The measure in the House was
proposed by California Democrat Maxine Walters, who noted that a large
amount of the outstanding debts stemmed from loans given to corrupt rulers
who are no longer in power. President Clinton has threatened to veto the
initiative if it doesn't provide the funding he sees as fully necessary
to implement the plan. Other opponents of the bill noted that the US only
allocates less than one percent of it's entire budget for foreign aid.
Many see the need to provide more for developing nations in a time when
the US is enjoying unprecedented prosperity.
Associated Press, Pauline Jelinek
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(7/03/01), Recently, Russia test fired one of its 26-year old "Stiletto" ballistic missiles, which can be equipped with multiple warheads, as a countermeasure to US President Bush's national missile defense plans. Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to stack multiple nuclear warheads atop the missiles if the US goes ahead with its rocket shield program. Officials say that the missiles could carry up to six warheads each.
(You think I was kidding about burning trees?)
The Washington Post
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Human activities have destroyed 11% of the globe's arable land, the size of China and India combined. The loss of land and soil threatens the world's ability to provide food in support of today¹s population. Every year, the world's farmers must feed 78 million more people with 27 billion fewer tons of top soil.
USAID |
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Nearly 250 million people live in 20 countries
experiencing a scarcity of both forest and freshwater resources. This number could increase to 800 million people in 26 countries by 2025.
Population Action International |
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Hunger 2000
Former US Senator and current US representative
to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, George McGovern
is lobbying foreign ambassadors to help implement an international school
lunch program. The program will use the surplus farm commodities of donor
countries to provide a daily hot and nutritious meal to every school child
at lunchtime in developing and poor countries. While this isn't the only
attempt to supply school lunches to the poor, it would be the first joint
effort by national governments to structure internal programs already instituted
by poor nations. An international long-term program would cost approximately
$3 billion a year. US President Bill Clinton has already pledged $300
million to start a pilot program that will begin this September and
is expected to feed 9 million school children. The UN says there are approximately
300 million children of school age in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern
Europe of which 130 million do not attend school and are illiterate. McGovern
said in a statement, "Parents will send their kids to school when they
know there is going to be food. Dollar for dollar it is the best investment
we can make on creating a healthier, better educated and more effective
global citizenry".
Reuters News, Randy Fabi
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A report released Monday, (8/21/00) by the US Congressional
Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress, shows international
arms sales increased to $30.3 billion this year, the highest it has been
since peaking immediately after the Gulf War. The United States again remained
the largest supplier of arms with an estimated $11.8 billion in sales,
more than doubling the $4.8 billion in arms sold by Russia. Germany and
China also emerged as major weapon suppliers, selling an estimated $4 billion
and $1.9 billion respectively. The report states that nearly two-thirds
of the arms sold were purchased by developing nations. The US was the top
provider of arms to the developing world with $8.1 billion in sales, followed
by Russia with $4.1 billion In the last decade the leading buyers
among developing nations have typically been Middle Eastern nations such
as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Yet this year South Africa
became the top buyer in the developing world by purchasing $3.3 billion
worth of weapons.
New York Times, Steven Lee Myers "Global Arms
Sales Swell to $30 Billion" (article must be purchased)
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A report sponsored by the United Nations recently
found that with the expansion of global trade over the last 20 years, there
has been a steady increase in the use of tobacco products, particularly
cigarettes. The study attributes the increase to cheaper prices brought
on by the ending of state monopolies on tobacco in Latin America, Asia
and Africa. Tobacco is gradually becoming the number one cause of death
in the world and will be responsible for an estimated 10 million deaths
per year by 2030. Two-thirds of these deaths are expected to occur in developing
nations.
Chicago Tribune News Services
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| 2.47 acres
of rainforest are destroyed each second, 214,000 each day, and 78 million
each year.
Grist
Magazine, Natural Resources Defense Council
www.EcologyFund.com
is a new Web site which gives the public the opportunity to "click" to
preserve wilderness at no cost to them. Visitors to EcologyFund.com can
save 276 square feet of land each day by clicking on projects in Patagonia,
US Wilderness Areas, and the Amazon Basin Rainforest. In the eight weeks
since the site launched over 700 acres of land has been saved. EcologyFund.com
currently works with the World Land Trust and the Wilderness Land Trust.
These land trusts purchase the threatened lands with the sponsorship funds
received from site advertisers. All the money from the site sponsors goes
to the land trusts. Bookmark www.EcologyFund.com and with just
a few seconds a day you can preserve wilderness land for
future generations.
EcologyFund.com
http://www.EcologyFund.com
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The United States government announced (week of 3/9/01) that seed corn to be sold
to farmers this year contains small traces of a genetically
engineered variety of the grain. The strain, known as StarLink,
prompted huge recalls of food last year due to concerns over the
safety of genetically modified food and has only been approved
for animal consumption. The strain contains a spliced gene that
produces a protein normally produced by the bacillus
thuringienis, or Bt, that kills the crop eating European corn
borer. Many feel that these products may hold hidden harmful
long-term effects. While there is no immediate threat to public
health because the seeds have yet to be planted, the findings may
have a significant effect on American corn sales overseas.
European and Asian buyers have already said they would refuse to
purchase corn tainted with StarLink. The US exported a total of
$5.9 billion worth of corn in 1999.
SFGate.com, Washington Post
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(5/31/01) A trailer filled with 18 tons of brodifacoum rat-poison pellets plunged into the sea off Kaikoura, New Zealand, one of the few places in the world where whales feed all year long and home to large colonies of dolphins and seals. Public health officials said the spill would not immediately kill marine life due to its time release nature, but it posed a significant threat none the less. (Even if it was an accident this may be the end of New Zealand as one of the most treasured natural resources on this planet.)
San Jose Mercury News, Associated Press
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1. SAVING WILDLIFE: Conservationists defend Endangered Species Act
2. SENATE SHAKEUP: Changeover can't stop Bush energy plan
3. POISON ALERT: Extremists threaten public health
4. DIRTY WATER: Bush budget slashes EPA enforcement
5. GLOBAL WARMING: Explorer sees shrinking of Arctic ice
6. WHALE WATCHERS: Scientists concerned that oil rigs may harm whales
1. SAVING WILDLIFE: Conservationists defend Endangered Species Act
Famed primatologist Jane Goodall joined conservationists this week
in an aggressive effort to save the Endangered Species Act from Bush administration attempts to cripple the landmark law. The administration wants to effectively deny citizens the right under the statute to petition their government to protect imperiled wildlife. Also under changes proposed by the White House, Interior Secretary Gale Norton would gain the sole authority to decide which animals and plants are placed on the endangered species list.
Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen warned that
"politics would trump science" if Norton is making these decisions
and "there would be no serious federal effort in this country to save additional endangered species."
To read Schlickeisen's full statement, click here:
At events held across the country, conservationists released a
report by Defenders of Wildlife and other groups warning that many
species – including Cerulean warblers, Aleutian sea otters, New
England cottontails, and wolverines -- already are in danger of
extinction while waiting for protection under the law.
Click here to read the report:
"Not only does the miracle of biodiversity enrich and beautify our
lives, but the many species that exist are like rivets in an airplane
-- an airplane that keeps us all aloft," actor Ed Begley Jr. said
in Los Angeles. "How many rivets can we lose before we all crash
and burn?" Goodall said: "It is tragic to see how much of the
natural world we have despoiled. We do not have much time left. We
must act now."
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Speak out against the Bush administration's attempt
to gut the Endangered Species Act. Send a free e-mail today to your
elected representatives voicing your support for maintaining this
important law to save imperiled wildlife for future generations.
Go to http://www.denaction.org and select the alert "Help Save
Endangered Species." Congress will debate this issue soon, so take
action now. Don't let the White House take away your right to
petition the government on behalf of endangered wildlife.
2. SENATE SHAKEUP: Changeover can't stop Bush energy plan
The Bush energy plan may have been stalled by the changeover in
political control of the Senate. Big Oil champion Frank Murkowski
of Alaska is out, and the moderate Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico is
in as chairman of the powerful Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee. Bingaman opposes oil drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge -- a key plank in the Bush energy plan. Vermont's
Jim Jeffords, whose defection from the GOP caused the Senate
shakeup, now is in line to chair the Environment and Public Works
Committee. He's against drilling in the Arctic refuge, too, and
he's co-sponsor of legislation to sharply reduce power-plant
emissions of greenhouse gases. But conservationists are pointing
out that the administration still controls major aspects of the
energy agenda that don't depend on legislation. Only 20 of the Bush
plan's 105 energy proposals require congressional action. The White
House can enact many of its proposals through executive orders.
Click here to learn how the Bush energy plan would weaken protections for public land and wildlife.
3. POISON ALERT: Extremists threaten public health
Five wolves have been poisoned illegally in Idaho by Compound 1080 -–
one of the world's deadliest substances –- and the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service has issued a public-health alert warning
backcountry visitors to take extra precautions with their pets and
children. The wolves are believed to have been poisoned by
extremists bent on driving the animals out of the Idaho wilderness.
In recent testimony before the state Legislature, a leader of an
anti-wolf group called Fish and Wildlife officials "criminals and
liars" for supporting reintroduction of wolves into the wild. He
added, "We don't want one wolf in Idaho unless it's in a zoo."
Odorless and tasteless, 1080 causes convulsions, vomiting, spinal
pressure, renal failure, and eventual organ failure. It's deadly to
humans, and there's no known antidote. "We are very concerned for
the safety of dogs and children, as well as wildlife that may be
harmed by this illegal practice," Fish and Wildlife Service Special
Agent Paul Weyland said. Defenders of Wildlife has offered a $2,500
reward for the capture of those responsible for the poisonings.
If you happen to like animals
and want to do something nice for your furry companion,
then try PetSmart.
(Our pets may be all we have left after the Bush Administration is finished!)
4. DIRTY WATER: Bush budget slashes EPA enforcement
Fully one-quarter of the nation's largest industrial, municipal and
federal facilities have recently violated the Clean Water Act.
That's according to a study by the U.S. Public Interest Research
Group. PIRG released its report last week in an attempt to stop the
Bush administration from cutting money for enforcement of the law.
PIRG said that EPA's failure to stop violations has left 40 percent
of the country's waters still unsafe for fishing or swimming. "It
is outrageous that the Bush administration is proposing to slash
enforcement budgets when more than one in four polluting facilities
is breaking the law," PIRG's Richard Caplan said. "We need clean
water now, and we have to start by requiring polluters to obey the
law."
5. GLOBAL WARMING: Explorer sees shrinking of Arctic ice
A Norwegian explorer who skied alone across the North Pole is
reporting that Arctic ice has thinned noticeably because of global
warming. Boerge Ousland measured the ice thickness as part of a
study by the Norwegian Polar Institute. He made similar measurements
during a 1994 trek. He said ice sheets were up to a meter thinner
in places. In another development involving climate change,
researchers in the science journal Nature reported that they have
identified factors that limit the effectiveness of trees in soaking
up carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. The study has major
implications since the United States, among other nations, has
claimed in global-warming treaty talks that forests are "carbon
sinks" and alleviate the need to reduce power-plant emissions.
6. WHALE WATCHERS: Scientists concerned that oil rigs may harm whales
Scientists are studying whether oil rigs are harming endangered
sperm whales in the Gulf of Mexico. "Basically, we have a breeding
population of 530 endangered sperm whales right in the middle of
one of the hottest areas for offshore oil development in the
continental U.S.," said marine biologist Randall Davis of Texas A&M
University, which is conducting the study. The scientists are firing
biopsy darts at whales and then collecting tissue for DNA analyses
as part of their study. They're worried that oil development, boat
traffic, chemicals and noise may harm the whales. A committee that
advises the Interior Department, meanwhile, has recommended that
Secretary Gale Norton consider allowing oil and gas exploration in
five areas now under moratorium: two off California, one off the
west coast of Florida, one off North Carolina's Outer Banks and a
fifth at George's Bank off the New England coast.
DENlines is a bi-weekly publication of the Campaign to Defend America's Environment, sponsored by Defenders of Wildlife and other leading national environmental groups.
Campaign to Defend America's Environment
1101 14th Street, NW, Suite 1400
Washington, DC 20005
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