ustxtxb_obs_1997_04_25_50_00017-00000_000.pdf

Page 18

by

publican colleagues to oppose ita parliamentary tactic that sends a bill back to the Calendars Committee to schedule it for floor debate. Hodge pleaded with Grusendorf, who was unmoved, then moved on to the four Republicans who had backed him: Gary Elkins, Talmadge Heflin, Charlie Howard, and Robert Talton. “They haven’t seen the end of this bill,” Hodge said after spending almost an hour trying to persuade brie of them to change his vote. “If they can’t vote for this bill, maybe what we need is a bill that provides sanctions for developers who don’t provide services.” GENOCIDE IS PAINLESS. The indigenous people of Irian Jaya have suffered a set back in their struggle against Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold. On April 9 in New Orleans, U.S. District Judge Stan wood Duval Jr. dismissed Amungme tribal leader Tom Beanal’s $6 billion law suit against Freeport. The suit asked dam ages from Freeport for alleged environ mental and human rights abuses committed near its Irian Jaya mine. Duval dismissed the suit partly on the grounds that its claim of international environ ,:z mental abuse is invalid because no inter < national environmental law, per se, exists. Furthermore, the judge had doubts about Beanal's specific charge of "cultural genocide" against Freeport. But before Jim Bob Moffett and other Freeport officials begin uncorking the champagne bottles inside their New Orleans headquarters, they better brace themselves for more court time. Judge ,Duval allowed Beanal and his attorney, Martin Regan, to amend the allegations against Freeport and refile. A determined Regan told the New Orleans Times-Picayune, "It is our intention to immediately amend the complaint to bring in specific allegations about human rights...as the judge seemed to direct. It will be absolutely amended." And in perhaps his most important ruling, as the Times-Picayune reported, Duval stated that Beanal and other Amungme tribe members have the right to bring a civil suit against Freeport in a U.S. court. Jim Bob isn't off the hook, just yet. EN-DOWING EDUCATION. Dupont and Exxon were among the funders of the April 10-12 "A Question of Balance" conference in Houston, convened by critics of environmental education. Industry spokespeople were most prominently represented at the conference, while nature centers and environmental groups had a smaller presence, according to Linda Shead, director of the Galveston Bay Foundation. The industry reps called for an "inclusive" approach to teaching children about the environment, distributing "educational" materials of their own design. Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission Chairman Barry R. McBee addressed the conference April 11, telling his audience that the current "great debate" over environmental education is "needed, because all of us concede there may have been abuses in the past. As the father of a very inquisitive five-yearold...I am con cerned. ...Con cerned when he casually tells me that boats are bad, because their propellers injure crea tures in our oceans and lakes and streams.... Concerned when he offhandedly comments that making things is bad because it causes pollution, and pollution hurts people....Concerned because, from today until he graduates from high school...he could be subjected to that kind of influence over and over and over again...." Arguing that schools are using "propaganda" to turn out radicals like Barry McBee's young son, a number of the same corporations who sponsored the Houston conference would like to repeal the 1990 National Environmental Education Act. In a recent report, Endangered Education, the Center for CommercialFree Public Education has detailed the corporate-funded push to eliminate state and federal funding for environmental education. Meanwhile, the center's Marianne Manilov notes, certain corporations are distributing such instructive stuff as Dow's "Chemapalooza," a music video that explains to kids that everything is made of chemicals. TRADE SURPLUS. One-thousand and sixtyeight guns bought in Texas were used in out-of-state crimes in 1996, according to New York Congressman Charles Schumer. In a study of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms statistics, Schumer's , staff found that Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Georgia accounted for 25 percent of guns linked to northern crimes. Texas ranked second in gun exports, after Florida, the point of origin for 1,243 guns. "States like Florida and Texas...with weak gun laws, have become gun bazaars for the gunrunner, and it's time to put them out of business," said Schumer. Just like them Yankeesdelighted to export Republicans by the gross, but when Texans start to make a few bucks on firearms, they want to shut down free trade. WACO FILM DATES. The Dan Gifford/ William Gazecki documentary on the 1993 assault on the religious group led by David Koresh, WacoThe Rules of Engagement, reviewed by Dick Reavis in the March 14 Observer \("Illuminating USA Film Festival in Dallas April 21 and Austin Film Festival May 2-8. Wrote Reavis, "Rules of Engagement pre sents a new and serious de mand kir an unfettered re examination of what happened four years ago at Mount Carmel." s*. "VFW T.A A " iNkRNAtak ti t kitittQp