Liberty Matters News Service

11/17/97

Issue 1, Volume 20

(c) 1997 Liberty Matters

Last month, more than 60 Eco-terrorists from Earth First! stormed the district office of Rep. Frank Riggs (R-CA) in Eureka. The EF group, which is trying to lock up 60,000 acres of privately owned forest, was led by an environmentalist wearing a ski mask and carrying a walkie-talkie. While Rigg’s staff called police, the protesters trashed and vandalized the office "throwing bark and sawdust six inches deep on office equipment, desks and floor." They then wheeled in and dropped a gigantic tree stump, that according to a staffer, sounded like a bomb going off. Four women wore metal sleeves and chained themselves to the stump. After several attempts by the Police to remove the protestors, law enforcement eventually used pepper spray to force the protestors to unchain themselves. Last Thursday, the protesters went back to the Congressman’s office and staged a media event in which they charged the police with brutality, handed out awards to themselves for protesting, and "demonized" the Congressman. Faxback Doc. 212

Two weeks of intense negotiations among delegates from 150 nations ended with little progress toward a final agreement on how to reduce greenhouse gases that allegedly cause global warming. The Clinton administration is pushing for an agreement so he can have a signing ceremony of the Climate Change Protocal in Kyoto, Japan in December. Despite 18 hour work days, delegates could not agree on targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, a timeframe for reductions, which countries should be bound and how monitoring will be enforced. To prove just how split the scientific community is on this issue, a four-part series in the Washington Post stated that: "Another decade of research is likely needed to solve some of global warming’s most perplexing riddles." Believe it or not, one of the suggested "techno-fixes" for global warming is "launching vast sheets of foil into orbit" to cool regions of Earth. In a related story, Undersecretary of State Tim Wirth outraged GOP leaders last week by telling them privately that they should "keep their mouths shut and not criticize" the Clinton administration’s global warming stance heading into next month’s climate change conference in Kyoto. The White House defended the statement by saying it was meant to ensure the US speaks with "one voice" in Japan..... So much for free speech!

The House Resources Committee approved by voice vote HR 1567 introduced by Rep. Jim Hansen (R-UT) that would study "massive areas" of federal, state and private lands east of the Texas Panhandle "that might be suitable for wilderness protection." However, Jim Saxton (R-NJ), convinced the committee that the bill’s sponsor had gone too far by including private lands in the wilderness study and got private and state lands exempted from the study. That struck a chord with many Westerners, including Committee Chairman Don Young (R-AK) who said: "You’ve (Eastern legislators) run over us, stepped on us, spit on us and kicked us." Since the Wilderness Act was passed in 1964, four million acres have been designated in the East, whereas 100 million acres have been designated in the West… do unto others… Faxback Doc. 213

The American Policy Center is leading the nationwide "Strike for Liberty" scheduled for December 5, 1997 to protest President Clinton’s signing of the Climate Change Protocol, which would mandate rolling back energy use within the United States to 15% less than 1990 levels. The Center is coordinating truckers, farmers, service clubs, family groups and other organizations along with the national conservative media to rally in protest of Clinton’s actions. Already, major events are being organized in 14 states, thousands of truckers are preparing to stop on the side of the road for one hour, and farmers are planning to drive equipment into key cities. To find out how you can help, contact the Center at (703) 925-0881 or at their website www.americanpolicy.org. You can also get a list of specific activities and locations order Faxback Doc. 211 & 211a