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Chris Devers, chairman of the Pauma Band of Mission Indians and newly elected treasurer of NTEC (left) and
LynDee Wells, NTEC General Counsel (right) and an unidentified participant inspect a conference souvenir. |
Green Bay, May 1-5, 2005. The National Tribal Environmental Council convened its 12th annual conference at the Oneida Tribe's Radisson Hotel and Conference Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The workshops and policy seminars provide tribal leaders, environmental policy makers, and program directors to learn of the practical implications of recent statutory and regulatory changes and litigation. NTEC's conference is also a policy forum at which tribes can define and advance a national tribal environmental agenda.
The conference featured workshops on restoration and reuse of contaminated sites, air, water and other important environmental issues currently of concern in Indian country. Merv Tano, president of the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management was asked to moderate the panel on sustainable development and to participate on the panel on cap and trade issues related to the newly promulgated mercury rules.
Sustainable Development. This session, with Mike Connolly of the Campo Band of Kumeyaay Indians; Jill Sherman, the director of the Pechanga Environmental Department; and Daryl Williams of the Tulalip Tribes as panelists, went a long way toward developing the indicia of successful tribal development. In his introduction, Merv Tano challenged the tribal leaders and program managers who spoke on the "practical applications of sustainable development at the tribal level" to also explain how those practical applications responded to and affected the:
Stripped down to the basics, the sustainable development session was not just an exposition of successful sustainable applications, but the explanation of why those applications have been successful and sustainable.
Cap and Trade Programs. On March 15, 2005, EPA issued the Clean Air Mercury Rule to permanently cap and reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants for the first time ever. The Clean Air Mercury Rule establishes “standards of performance” limiting mercury emissions from new and existing coal-fired power plants and creates a market-based cap-and-trade program that will reduce nationwide utility emissions of mercury in two distinct phases. The first phase cap is 38 tons and emissions will be reduced by taking advantage of “co-benefit” reductions – that is, mercury reductions achieved by reducing sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions under the Clean Air Interstate Rule. In the second phase, due in 2018, coal-fired power plants will be subject to a second cap, which will reduce emissions to 15 tons upon full implementation. For more information on the Clean Air Mercury Rule see: http://www.epa.gov/air/mercury rule/index.htm.
Because of the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management's work on distributive justice Merv Tano was invited to be on the Cap and Trade panel. In his presentation, Tano pointed out that cap and trade programs assume all people are, in general, affected similarly by emissions such as mercury. The unique political, legal, and cultural status of Indian tribes play no part in the decisionmaking. Yet native peoples cite increases in the incidence of cancer, asthma and other diseases as evidence of the health impacts of the contamination of their landscapes. However, with few exceptions, the health consequences of native peoples' interaction with their landscapes are difficult to determine. Exposure to environmental contaminants doesn't occur as a single isolated event involving a single, identifiable chemical, in a readily ascertainable dose. In fact, the opposite is typical. Environmental exposures happen over time. They are usually low level, chronic, and in the form of complex mixtures. Bacteria, viruses, or other infective agents may also play a role. There is another aspect to the problem that is generally unstated, i.e., the role played by genetics. As Richard Sharp, a biomedical ethicist formerly at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and now at the Baylor College of Medicine stated when describing the diseases faced by Indian people, “they are diseases in which genetics loads the gun, but the environment pulls the trigger.” What is needed, Tano suggested, is a research project to identify the known and potential genetic bases of the health consequences of native peoples' interactions with their landscapes and the ethical, legal, social, cultural, and religious implications of incorporating genetic data in risk assessments and environmental decision making.
Each year the Secretary of Defense honors installations, teams and individuals for outstanding work in Department of Defense environmental programs. For the past four years, Merv Tano, president of the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management has served as an expert judge for the cultural resources management category of the Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards. This year there was a tie between the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, and the 14th Airlift Wing, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. Both received awards.
Parris Island took the prize for its exemplary commitment to cultural resources by balancing mission needs with the protection of natural resources. Hickam won the award for its innovative cultural resource management program that forged multiple interagency partnerships, contracts and agreements with state, federal and educational institutions.
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Sharon Terry and Merv Tano.
Sharon, a long time supporter of the Institute is President and CEO of the Genetic Alliance and the founding Executive Director of PXE International, a lay advocacy group for the genetic condition pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE).
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Cambridge, MA, May 13-14, 2005. For the past 18 months the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics has been working on an NIH sponsored project to explore more fully the various positions on new and controversial issues surrounding DNA profiling and to educate policymakers so that they better understand privacy and civil liberty issues involved in the application of DNA technology to the criminal justice system. To meet these objectives, ASLME has been conducting a series of workshops with a wide range of stakeholders including, physicians, ethicists, attorneys, educators, scientists, forensic experts, and government officials. Merv Tano of the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management participated in these workshops.
The workshops start with a public plenary session to establish the theme and scope of the later concurrent small group discussions. The workshop discussions were are in three groups of eight or fewer participants, including the group discussion leader. For the third workshop, Frederick R. Bieber of the Harvard Medical School, David Lazer of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and Mark Rothstein of the University of Louisville, consultants on the project, served as discussion leaders.
Much of the third workshop tracked issues the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management addressed in its work on the Human Genome Project, e.g., obligations to sample donors and ownership of samples. Sharon Terry of the Genetic Alliance and PXE International described the Alliance's bio-bank. Sharon and her husband Patrick Terry provided much of the intellectual capital and inspiration for the Institute's work on tribal-controlled tissue banks. Also participating was Hank Greely of the Stanford Law School who spoke of the five Cs of researchers' obligations to sample donors: Consent; Control; Confidentiality; Communication of Results; and Commercialization. Summaries of the workshops and other information about the DNA Fingerprinting and Civil Liberties project can be found on the ASLME web site at http://www.aslme.org/dna_04/index.php.
NAID/ADC 2005 Annual Conference
This will be the first national conference dealing with the impacts of the new Base Realignment and Closure list and other important topics for defense communities like privatization, outsourcing, and community-installation partnerships.
June 4-7, 2005
Colorado Convention Center
Denver, Colorado
Information and registration at http://www.defensecommunities.org/AnnualConference/index.html.
Council of Energy Resource Tribes Indian Energy Solutions 2005
June 21-22, 2005
Morongo Casino~Resort~Spa
Cabazon, California
Information and registration at http://www.certredearth.com/content.php?page=events&title=Events.
Intertribal
Agriculture Council
Export Readiness Seminar
June 29 – 30, 2005
Radisson Hotel & Convention Center
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Information at jbyrd@indianaglink.com or 406-259-3525
StormCon, The North American Surface Water Quality Conference & Exposition
This is the place to be to learn about technical, managerial, and technological solutions to stormwater management.
July 18-21, 2005
JW Marriott Grande Lakes
Orlando, Florida
See the conference program at www.StormCon.com.
10th Annual Conference on Genetics & Ethics in the 21st Century: Direct to Consumer Marketing of Genetic Services and Genetic Tests
The Given Institute of the University of Colorado
The focus of this year's conference is direct to consumer marketing of genetic services and genetic tests.
This broadly-based conference targets health care professionals and physicians, researchers, businesses, ethicists, attorneys, ethics committee members, institutional review board members, and individuals interested in the impact of genetic medicine on personal and institutional action.
July 22-24, 2005
Aspen, Colorado
Contact: MaryLou Wallace, 303-
315-5096
or
marylou.wallace@uchsc.edu
UIDA Native American Small Business
Conference & Trade Show
July 25-28, 2005
Walt Disney World Disney's Coronado Springs Resort
Lake Buena Vista, Florida
For more information call: 770-494-0431
Brownfields 2005 Conference
November 2-4, 2005
Colorado Convention Center
Denver, Colorado
Information and registration at http://www.brownfields2005.org/en/index.aspx