League of Conservation Voters - Re: Oppose Anti-Environment Riders on FY 2001 Department of Agriculture Appropriations

Re: Oppose Anti-Environment Riders on FY 2001 Department of Agriculture Appropriations

Dear Representative,

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is the nonpartisan, political voice of the national environmental community. Each year, LCV publishes the National Environmental Scorecard, which details the voting records of Members of Congress on environmental legislation. The Scorecard is distributed to LCV members, concerned voters nationwide, and the press.

The League of Conservation Voters is disappointed that the House Appropriations Committee has chosen to include anti-environment riders on the FY 2001 Agriculture appropriations bill. LCV urges you to vote for amendments to strip these anti-environmental riders from the bill.

LCV urges you to support an amendment to strike, in its entirety, Emerson (R-MO)/Knollenberg (R-MI) language in the bill and to oppose any modifications of that amendment. The Emerson/Knollenberg rider could:

prevent virtually all U.S. participation in international activity on climate change, including ongoing negotiations; prevent U.S. involvement in finalizing rules to enable the export of clean technologies to developing countries, frustrating efforts to expand their participation in climate change mitigation; and stop efforts to measure the emission reduction potentials and costs of actions such as increased energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy. The Emerson/Knollenberg rider could prevent the US from protecting its interests in the international process.

LCV urges you to support an amendment offered by Reps. Sue Kelly (R-NY) and Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) to remove language from the bill that prohibits the use of Department of Agriculture funds to carry out the American Heritage Rivers Initiative. This rider would put at a disadvantage river communities in 25 states by preventing the Natural Resources Conservation Service from participating in, or funding through its conservation programs, any regional planning and restoration activities in American Heritage Rivers watersheds.

LCV also urges you to support an amendment offered by Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Charles Bass (R-NH) and Connie Morella (R-MD) that would prevent Wildlife Services from spending funds on its highly controversial livestock protection program, under which more than 100,000 coyotes, black bears, mountain lions, and other predators are killed each year. Despite advances in the development of non-lethal alternatives for predator control, and despite directives from Congress to favor such non-lethal methods, Wildlife Services trappers routinely use lethal means to kill any predator within the vicinity of livestock, terming it "preventative predator control" and often killing endangered and threatened species as well as other non-target species. This amendment does not cut other parts of the Wildlife Services budget that prevent bird strikes at airports and protect endangered species.

LCV's Political Advisory Committee will consider including votes on these issues in compiling LCV's 2000 Scorecard. If you need more information, please call Betsy Loyless in my office at 202/785-8683.

Sincerely,