From: | Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@cpeo.org> |
Date: | Thu, 19 Feb 1998 15:51:46 -0800 (PST) |
Reply: | cpeo-military |
Subject: | COHEN LETTER |
The following is a letter to Secretary of Defense Cohen as referenced the earlier posting excerpted from Defense Environmental Alert. Aimee Houghton ************** January 22, 1998 The Honorable William S. Cohen Secretary of Defense Department of Defense 1000 Pentagon The Pentagon Washington, D.C. 20301 Re: E.O. 12114 -- Military-Related Environmental Impacts Overseas Dear Bill: While you were in the House and Senate, we had a chance to work together to solve a number of environmental problems over the years. Now I write to you in your capacity as the Secretary of Defense. Friends of the Earth is concerned that the Department of Defense has never developed appropriate procedures to implement Executive Order 12114 on Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions, which was signed nearly 20 years ago by President Jimmy Carter. Partly as a consequence of this failure, the Department of Defense is abrogating its leadership responsibilities in managing the environmental effects of its mission outside our nation's borders. Currently, the Department of Defense is confronting serious military-related environmental problems with Bermuda, Canada, Okinawa, Panama, the Philippines, and India. The fiscal year 1998 Defense Authorization Bill contains seminal language codifying Department of Defense environmental responsibilities overseas. Congress was forced to act because the Department of Defense has been unable to manage these problems. This coming year, by all indications, Congress will be forced to act again. The time has come to implement E.O. 12114 for military-related environmental effects abroad. The Department of Defense still does not have comprehensive and reasonable mechanisms to meet its own needs, must less those of Congress, the Administration, or affected nations. E.O. 12114 is a critical and elemental tool to afford decision makers, including yourself and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the information they need to reflect and make prescient diplomatic, national security, and international commercial, competitive, and export promotion decisions. While not a panacea to the environmental problems you are facing, E.O. 12114 does require the preparation of documents that are the building blocks of responsible environmental management and stewardship. It also provides a structure for the exchange of information with other federal agencies and affected nations. Friends of the Earth would like to meet with you to discuss these issues. The Department of Defense must ensure that decision makers, including its own personnel, have clear, useful mechanisms to handle these problems that affect human health and safety, economic well-being, and shared environmental goals. Thank you for your consideration of this issue so vital to our nation's national security in the 21st century. I look forward to meeting with you at your earliest convenience. Sincerely, Brent Blackwelder President --------------21DF02864E9FB3A9A1792028-- |
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