For Immediate Release: February 4, 2014
Contacts: Randy Hayes 202-547-9359 Dr. Brent Blackwelder 202-422-7753
Foundation Earth & Friends of the Earth Commend Senator Leahy for His Leadership on the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014
Vermonters owe great thanks to Senator Patrick Leahy for his leadership in the Appropriations Committee. In the recently passed Consolidated Appropriations Act, Senator Leahy obtained the inclusion of important provisions that require the U.S. government to oppose funding by the international financial institutions for large projects that destroy tropical rainforests and river fisheries, and condemn indigenous peoples’ lands without their consent.
“Senator Leahy’s action will help prevent the waste of taxpayers’ money on costly boondoggles and stops the U.S. government from supporting environmentally destructive projects that wreck people’s lives,” said Dr. Brent Blackwelder, President Emeritus of Friends of the Earth.
“Senator Leahy recognized that urgent action was needed to prevent more deforestation in the tropics and to save fisheries and lands that people around the world depend on for survival,” said Randy Hayes, Executive Director of Foundation Earth, and founder of the Rainforest Action Network.
FOR FURTHER DETAILS INCLUDING ACTUAL BILL LANGUAGE: go to www.FDNearth.org Home Page: World Bank Fight: Interim victory for rainforests & rivers
