In This Issue
- PROGRESS IN PERU
- TRADE ACT
- WATER
- CONGRESS MOVES FORWARD ON CLIMATE LEGISLATION
- CHINA AND CLIMATE CHANGE
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The Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach has been teeming with the energy and activity of five full-time interns. Two of our interns (Andrei Paz and Tae Moon Kwon) are Columban deacons, and we are pleased to have them with us to learn more about social justice advocacy. Our two new University interns are from Creighton University (Emily Ruskamp) and Washington University-St. Louis (Martín Witchger). Thank you to all who responded to our action alert on Peru. Your voices were heard, as you can read below.
Michelle Melcher Knight (Advocacy/Outreach Associate)
PROGRESS IN PERU
On June 5, Peruvian police opened fire on a group of protesters near Bagua in the Peruvian Amazon, resulting in at least 33 deaths. The indigenous people have been protesting the Free Trade Agreement with the United States and the recent Peruvian decrees that granted the government control over the resources of the Amazon basin. The legislative decrees violated the rights of the indigenous people and rendered them virtually powerless over their own land. The Peruvian Congress repealed the decrees on June 18 following two months of protests. Similar decrees and the Free Trade Agreement remain in place.
The Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach collected letters written by Columban missionaries and supporters who urged the Peruvian government to repeal the decrees and reconsider the Free Trade Agreement with more respect for the rights of the indigenous people. The letters were delivered to Minister Manuel Talavera, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Peruvian Embassy in Washington D.C. on June 17.
Jessica Gaulter (Migration Intern)
TRADE ACT
The CCAO, along with many other trade and economic justice advocacy groups, is supporting the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act of 2009, known as the TRADE Act. This act, which will be introduced in the House by Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine), would create policy space for a new approach to trade, including a revision of existing trade agreements, evaluating human rights, security, social, and environmental factors in the U.S. and abroad. CCAO sent letters to our representatives urging co-sponsorship of the bill. The goal among organizations promoting the bill is to exceed 100 original co-sponsors. After the bill is introduced, we urge you to find out if your representative is a co-sponsor, and, if not, to express your support for co-sponsorship.
Emily Ruskamp (Economic Justice Intern)
WATER
The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee passed the Clean Water Restoration Act (S. 787), which will restore protection of the United States’ fresh water resources that are critical for clean drinking water and fish and wildlife habitats. It has not yet been voted on in the full Senate. The CCAO wrote to members of the EPW committee asking them to maintain the integrity of the original bill, as it was threatened with amendments that would have weakened its provisions. It was passed out of committee without any of these restrictions. The bill will amend the Clean Water Act of 1972 and will clarify the jurisdiction of the federal government over waters of the United States. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 110 million Americans get their drinking water from public supplies fed in whole or in part by ephemeral or intermittent streams vulnerable to pollution.
Andrei Paz (Columban Deacon and CCAO intern)
CONGRESS MOVES FORWARD ON CLIMATE LEGISLATION
Committees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate have written energy-climate bills that are on the agenda to be debated and voted on in their respective chambers. As this is being written, the Waxman-Markey bill (HR 2454), named the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, is set to go to the House floor on June 26 for debate. The outlook is mixed for this bill that establishes renewable energy standards, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions restrictions, and a cap-and-trade market among other systems to work for a clean energy future. Our office would like to see increased funding for international adaptation that would help developing countries deal with the effects of climate change. We also advocate for a more highly regulated carbon market as well as stricter emissions reductions that will better ensure a clean energy conversion. Depending on what the Waxman-Markey bill contains will determine if the bill will pass the House and go forward as the ever-growing need for climate action continues.
Martín Witchger (Environmental Justice Intern)
CHINA AND CLIMATE CHANGE
The conference: China: The Challenge of Environmental Enforcement and Its Countermeasures presented by Wang Canfa, a professor in environmental law from China University of Political Science & Law and the director of the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims (CLAPV), emphasized the necessity of cooperation on environmental law and enforcement, and public awareness and practice. He said that China has many good environmental laws, but it is very difficult to make the laws work in China because of political, regional and economic reasons. To address these problems, The CLAPV center is training environmental law enforcement and court officials, helping pollution victims through use of a hotline, education and counseling, promoting and improving enforcement of environmental law through continual contact with legal experts, lawyers, practitioners, and scholars, and educating the public about how to respond when their rights are violated. During his presentation, Professor Wang stated that: “China improves enforcement of environmental laws, but it is going very slowly, and we are working on it.”
Tae Moon Kwon (Columban Deacon and CCAO intern)
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