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Document 51 of 162.

April 23, 2000, Sunday

SECTION: Local; Ed. Final; Pg. 12A

LENGTH: 595 words

HEADLINE: EARTH DAY SPARKS GATHERING OUTSIDE PSC HEADQUARTERS
ENVIRONMENTALISTS URGE PEOPLE TO JOIN IN PLEDGE TO INVEST, BUY, WORK ECOLOGICALLY

BYLINE: By Ann Carnahan, News Staff Writer

BODY:

Local environmentalists marked Earth Day's 30th anniversary Saturday by calling for a move toward cleaner power, cleaner cars, cleaner air and cleaner investments.

About 20 activists gathered outside Public Service Co. headquarters in downtown Denver in front of a papier-mache globe spewing dry-ice "steam" from two smokestacks.

"Power plants are the No. 1 source of the pollutants that cause smog and soot in our air, acid rain, mercury poisoning of our fish and global warming," said Stacey Pogue, field organizer for the Colorado Public Interest Research Group. "In part, this is because the Clean Air Act contains loopholes, allowing older power plants to emit more pollution than newer ones."

At least 117 million people live in areas where it is unsafe to breathe on certain days because of smog, Pogue said.

Members of CoPIRG, the Sierra Club and students from Metropolitan State College said Earth Day is different than 30 years ago. Today, instead of going to the government asking for bans, activists are going directly to the corporations.

The activists also seem smaller in number. On the first Earth Day, millions of people joined to demonstrate concern for the environment.

During their news conference Saturday, environmentalists urged support for ecopledge.com, a national campaign that encourages people not to buy from, invest in or apply to work for companies that needlessly harm the environment.

The activists carried signs that read "I Won't Work for a Pollution Company" and one that showed a license plate of "CLN NRG."

Afterward, they walked to the 16th Street Mall to collect signatures for ecopledge.com and the Clean Energy Agenda, a plan for a cleaner energy future. Signatures also were gathered in Boulder, Fort Collins, Greeley, Pueblo and Gunnison.

A key focus of the agenda is automobiles, the largest non-industrial source of the pollutants that create smog.

Linda Berti, energy chair of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Sierra Club, said sport utility vehicles and other light trucks emit as much as three times more smog-forming air pollution as the average car.

In 1975, Congress passed the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, setting miles-per-gallon standards for cars and light trucks - one of the most successful energy-saving measures ever enacted.

"Raising CAFE standards is the biggest single step the U.S. can take to curb its dependence on oil as well as to curb global warming," Berti said.

Last fall, the Environmental Protection Agency began requiring SUVs under 8,500 pounds to meet clean-car standards. However, the EPA gives automakers a break on the larger SUVs, allowing them an extra two years to comply.

"The technology is there. They could increase miles per gallon without sacrificing some of the really nice features of SUVs," Berti said.

Sheila Williams, a Metro student, spoke about ecopledge.com and said each of its company targets is urged to take one specific action to end environmentally harmful business operations.

For example, BP Amoco is asked to withdraw its plans for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The six other target companies are Citigroup, Disney, Price Waterhouse, Coopers, Nestle, General Electric and Coca-Cola.

"Once again, the time has come for students to make history," Williams said. "The last generation took their demands to Congress and the White House. Our generation is taking environmental demands straight to companies themselves through strategic action in the marketplace."

LOAD-DATE: April 26, 2000

Document 51 of 162.


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