NRDC E MAIL NEWSLETTER 23NOV10

UPDATE on the campaign against mountaintop removal mining and the keystone tar sands pipeline and the battle to protect polar bears, and a link to the timeline of NRDC environmental victories.....

Email Address:   Hello, Activists! Join us on Facebook! Become a Buffalo Babysitter! Find this and other great holiday gifts at our new Green Gifts website. Join Us on Facebook! Connect with other BioGems Defenders and get the latest campaign updates on Facebook. "We must save our wild places before they are gone forever." -- From our Facebook wall Voices for the Wild BioGems Defenders hail from all over the globe -- read some of their stories here. Go to Voices for the Wild BioGems Update Thanks to the 29,000 BioGems Defenders who sent letters to keep oil and gas companies out of Colorado's Vermillion Basin. » See the timeline of victories we've won To Do Even More You can support NRDC's BioGems campaign to save these and other threatened wild places. » Donate Cumberland Plateau Stand strong against mountaintop mining Across the Cumberland Plateau, mountaintop removal mining is laying waste to some of the richest forest lands of the southern Appalachians. In this extreme form of strip mining, entire mountaintops are blown off to reach the coal beneath, and the resulting mining waste is typically dumped into valley streams -- either burying them or contaminating them with toxic materials. The situation has become so dire that the Environmental Protection Agency's regional office for West Virginia recently recommended the rare step of "vetoing" the permit for one such mine: the Spruce 1 mine, which would bury more than seven miles of streams and demolish more than 2,000 acres of forest. The veto would halt the mine, located near Logan, WV, and prevent further water contamination in local communities. Now more than ever, the EPA is facing big pressure from Big Coal to ignore the science on mountaintop mining. Please let the agency know that you support its efforts to stop this horrendous practice. » Tell the EPA to stand strong and finalize the veto of the Spruce 1 mine. In the News   STATE DEPARTMENT DELIBERATING ON TAR SANDS PIPELINE A few months ago, we called on you to write to President Obama and oppose plans for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The proposed 2,000-mile pipeline would bring polluting tar sands oil from downstream of Canada's Peace-Athabasca Delta across eight states and to the Gulf Coast, paving the way for additional mining and drilling in Canada's boreal forest. The dirty business of tar sands oil development has already contaminated rivers and lakes in northeastern Alberta, where millions of birds nest every year. More than 32,000 of you responded to our call to action. Now, the State Department -- the agency responsible for reviewing and approving the pipeline -- is giving serious consideration to the project, even though the draft analysis fails to address a host of environmental and public health problems. » Urge Secretary of State Clinton to say NO to the tar sands pipeline. A NEW CHANCE FOR POLAR BEARS? Earlier this month, a federal judge ordered the Interior Department to reconsider one of its rationales for not providing polar bears the highest level of protection under the Endangered Species Act when it listed polar bears as "threatened" in 2008. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit from NRDC, the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace. Polar bears are increasingly threatened by global warming, which is rapidly shrinking their sea ice habitat. The Interior Department must respond to the judge's ruling by December 23rd, after which the case will continue. We'll be sure to keep you updated on the next phase of our fight to save polar bears from extinction. Action Insider   GIVE GREEN GIFTS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON Looking for holiday gifts that will bring joy to your loved ones and help save the environment? They're easy to find at our new Green Gifts website! RESTORING RAINFORESTS IN COSTA RICA As part of our Revive a Rainforest campaign, our local partner has made great progress restoring a tropical rainforest in Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula. Read the latest progress report here. Thanks to all our BioGems Defenders who supported the campaign and helped make it possible! CALLING ALL BIRD LOVERS If you haven't already, make sure you visit WeLoveBirds.org to view all the amazing submissions to our 2nd annual photo contest, and submit your own before November 24th! Photo credits: Cedar Ridge near Sewanee, TN. © Stephen Alvarez, National Geographic; Whooping crane © istockphoto.com