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ABOUT CEEI We do this by relating reliable information as well as stating information that is documented and presented with the best intentions. CEEI is not an activist organization in the traditional sense. We do however advocate that original sources and data are of great value for the care and restoration of all species and earth's habitat. CEEI is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and is affiliated with The Idaho Sporting Congress, Cascadia Times, Idaho Conservation League, Idaho Rivers United, Western Watersheds Project, Environmental Resource Center of Ketchum, Idaho and with the University of Idaho Education Department.
In terms of focus and circulation, CEEI connects with
hundreds of middle schools, 12,000 high schools and junior colleges and
3,400 colleges and universities all over the United States. It has been on
the Internet since 1992 -- pioneering Internet environmental education.
CEEI'S HISTORY AND NEW MISSION BACKGROUND CEEI conducted a poll in 1996 and found that, with a sample of 1,000 interviews, 99.9% did not know that Idaho had any polluted streams. (This poll was conducted in Ketchum, in the heart of the Idaho Rockies). CEEI notes that the actual Idaho list would take up to 19 pages of an average size tabloid. (The media cites all the 1 column, two inch stories they have run every two years about polluted streams as released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)). It turns out that Idaho had 962 streams that were polluted. Federal Judge Dwyer in Seattle then ordered Idaho to submit to the EPA the higher number because of evidence supplied by the Idaho Sporting Congress. In 1995 CEEI developed "a new way to look at the environment" by publishing the entire list of 23,000 303(d) streams in the United States and all associated information relating to the CWA, on the net at www.wcei.org. The Clean Water Act report to Congress did not mention that only 19% of the streams in the country had been surveyed or the fact that most streams are incubators of Giardia (a bacteria that causes intestinal disease in humans and that is transmitted by livestock). It did not mention that most of the waterways in the East were also polluted by airborne mercury produced by coal fired generating plants. It was also determined that state committees usually vetted these stream lists to protect farmer, rancher and mining interests (state legislators realized that pesticides, fertilizers, and mining chemicals were bound to show up in these lists). The CWA report, as provided to Congress in 1992, compiled by the EPA contained a total of 21,000 streams. Today the official lists report almost 30,000 polluted streams. CEEI believes, given all the factors cited above, that the actual number of 303(d) streams is more likely to be around 200,000 to 400,000. (CEEI simply doesn't know -- and neither does the EPA). EPA reports of the 2000 and 2002 surveys included only 12 and 14 states respectively, leaving out 81% of the states that had reported on time -- according to the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), the EPA advised that they simply couldn't get the work done (approximately 5,000 streams were reported versus 40,000 streams cited by the states as polluted). The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, San Francisco Chronicle, LA Times and other media outlets ignored this story. Far worse, both the relevant Republican and Democratic committees in the House and Senate also ignored EPA's inability to comply with the law. The problem that CEEI has had with this list is that it presents a woefully short and distorted view of the true picture and status of the nation's waterways and water resources. We know that organizations like the Heinz Center in Washington DC surveyed many areas of concern about ecosystem health and found that the Clean Water Act simply was not producing surveys that could be used. They (150 leading scientists) made the statement that "it may be that all waterways may be polluted in the country right now with chemicals". see The State of the Nations Eco Systems (2002) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of the organization "Riverkeepers" believes that most streams, particularly on the Eastern Seaboard (east of most of the coal fired generating plants) are at risk and that the fish caught in them should be released and not consumed as most of them contain high levels of mercury. (This is well documented in the publication "Crimes against Nature"). In addition, streams being destroyed by mountain top mining in West Virginia are not listed. It is CEEI's current mission to produce a new Endangered Species Early Warning (ESEW) web site to increase awareness of the magnitude of polluted streams in the United States. This information is a major indicator of environmental health, and represents the status of habitat data for hundreds of species -- including those that have not yet made the official lists but are at risk. With the release of the ACIA's Arctic Climate Assessment Status Report on November 8, 2004 a paradigm shift is occurring. The country now faces climate and habitat problems for humans as well. The species that are at risk and have been identified by the WCU ( World Conservation Union ) and the UN now number 15,000. In addition, 185 Arctic communities are going to be moved soon due to rising sea levels caused by global warming. CEEI's new web site <www.esew.org> will be focusing on those species that are now at risk (including humans) as determined by 8 nations that belong to the ACIA. In it's report, the ACIA demonstrates a wealth of knowledge - the sheer magnitude of evidence indicates that even if we start to clean up the air now, it will take 1,000 years to restore the planet's equilibrium. Various computer models show that within 50 to 100 years most of the glacier ice and snow will be gone, that sea levels will rise (possibly 4 to 6 feet during this century) and that weather patterns will become increasingly unstable. America and the rest of the World, have been experiencing violent changes in weather patterns for the past ten years. (The 2004 hurricane season in Florida comes to mind and one can only speculate on whether the drought in the western United States for the last 7 years is indicative of what is to come.)
It is the mission of CEEI to stay abreast of
this information using both it's ESEW and polluted stream (303(d)) web
sites (and 11 additional sites now on the drawing board) to advance the
awareness of current environmental knowledge and to provide factual,
supporting data as well as other reports, photos, news articles, surveys,
observations by native peoples, retired experts, students, scientists,
bird watchers, ranchers and farmers. In short, by all people that
concerned about their future on this the only planet we occupy.
MORE ABOUT THE ESEW WEB SITE PROJECT ESEW is focusing on collecting data on species in North America that are in danger, and integrating this information with a huge amount of habitat and watershed data. It has cross links to data on the first CEEI site, "America's Polluted Streams and Restoration Strategies" (APSRS) at www.wcei.org. The new ESEW web site incorporates information on 7 species classes (mammals, invertebrates, birds, fish, reptiles, plants and amphibians). These species will be listed by threatened, endangered and extinct categories. The new ESEW web site will also list all the species that are threatened or endangered or thought to be extinct, by state and by ecosystem. It will be the most comprehensive web site on environmental status published so far on the Internet and is the only web site that is aimed at relating habitat status to threatened and endangered species.
The new web site will also include a provision
for viewers to input their comments for species that may be in trouble and
for publishing them to the site.
Phase 3 will gather additional information
(articles and reports that describe habitats) and focus on species’
inability to adapt. This will be a continuing project. Everyone can contribute. CEEI urgently needs volunteer researchers! LEARN MORE.
CEEI has been nominated three
times for having the most important environmental website in the United
States. The first nomination was for the Sunset Magazine award in 2001,
the second was for the United Nations Environmental Programme Global 500
Award in 2002, and the third was for the United Nations Champions of the
Earth Award in 2003. |
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