DAILY GRIST / WEEKLY COMPLIATION
1.
A CURRENT AFFAIR
New data on warming oceans are strong evidence for climate change
Measurements of ocean temperatures presented yesterday constitute (still more) compelling evidence that global warming is upon us, say scientists. The data, introduced at the annual gathering of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, show that temperature readings in the oceans for the past 40 years line up almost exactly with the predictions of climate models. Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography spun several different scenarios to explain the warming -- natural climate variability, solar radiation, volcanic activity -- but "what absolutely nailed it was greenhouse warming," said lead researcher Tim Barnett. Also at the AAAS conference, a separate research team presented findings showing that some 4,800 cubic miles of freshwater had melted from Arctic ice and drifted into the northern Atlantic, threatening the conveyor belt of currents that moves warm tropical water north to keep the climate around the U.S. Northeast and Northern Europe temperate. "The debate over whether or not there is a global-warming signal is now over, at least for rational people," said Barnett.
straight to the source: Knight-Ridder, Seth Borenstein, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4365>
straight to the source: BBC News, Paul Rincon, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4366>
straight to the source: The Union-Tribune, Bruce Lieberman, 18 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4367>
straight to the source: Reuters, Maggie Fox, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4368>
2.
EXTREME MAKEOVER: FACTORY EDITION
Russian factories hatch plans to make money from Kyoto
Businesses in the Russian town of Archangel have big plans for capitalizing on the Kyoto Protocol. Under the treaty, more-developed countries can help meet their commitments by financing cleaner technologies in dirty facilities elsewhere, like the ones in Archangel. Vadim Eremeev of Archangel's Energy Efficiency Fund is blunt: "It's no secret that we see Kyoto as cheap money to help us modernize. There's huge scope for that across Russia." Taking another strategy, Archangel Pulp and Paper mill has set a voluntary goal of cutting its greenhouse-gas emissions by 12 percent, even while increasing production, figuring it can sell the resulting credits for up to $25 million, making money to reinvest in further modernization and efficiency measures. But while many in the business sector want to move fast to benefit from the newly enacted treaty, the Russian government is lagging behind in coming up with an implementation plan.
straight to the source: BBC News, Sarah Rainsford, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4369>
3.
IT TAKES A PILLAGE TO RAZE THE WILD
Illegal logging operation in Indonesia feeds China's appetite for wood
A three-year investigation of some of the last remaining intact tropical forests in the Asia-Pacific region has revealed an enormous international smuggling ring, possibly the largest in the world involving a single type of wood, says a report from two enviro groups. In a billion-dollar-a-year operation, the criminals have been logging merbau trees -- used mainly for hardwood flooring -- from Indonesia's Papua province at a rate of more than 10 million cubic feet per month, according to the report. Despite an Indonesian government ban on the export of logs, "[t]here's no denying that military officers are involved in illegal logging," said Muhammad Yayat Alfianto of Telapak, one the groups that worked on the report. By paying bribes totaling some $200,000 per shipment, the loggers were able to transport the trees to a harbor in eastern China, activists say. Ever-ravenous China has become the world's largest consumer of illegal timber, according to the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency.
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Reuters, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4360>
straight to the source: Terra Daily, Agence France-Presse, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4361>
4.
CITIES SLICKER
Seattle, other U.S. cities to hammer out their own Kyoto-like reductions
The Kyoto Protocol has arrived, and though the Bush administration has opted out, others in the U.S. are not so climate oblivious. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels announced Wednesday he's leading an effort to get major U.S. cities to agree to Kyoto-like reductions of their greenhouse-gas emissions, to show the feds that "the cost is minimal or there isn't a cost at all," he said. The mayors of 10 other cities including Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, and Portland, Ore., have already expressed interest in the effort, to be formalized in June at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Chicago. To help Seattle find creative ways of meeting Kyoto targets, Nickels has created a "green ribbon" coalition chaired by Denis Hayes, environmental leader and coordinator of the first Earth Day, and current-but-soon-to-be-former CEO of Starbucks Orin Smith. "This is not going to be 'turn out your lights when you leave rooms.' We'll be looking for ways we can dramatically decarbonize the economy and at the same time make it robust," said Hayes.
straight to the source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Kathy Mulady, 17 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4363>
straight to the source: Seattle Times, Bob Young, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4364>
5.
NUN OF THE ABOVE
Nun slain while campaigning against Amazon destruction
Through heart-rending tragedy, international attention was focused with unusual intensity this week on rainforest destruction in Brazil. Dorothy Stang, an elderly nun working to slow the devastation of the Amazon by organizing locals against the powerful (and largely illegal) logging and ranching operations bent on expanding their land holdings, was gunned down Saturday by two assailants believed to have been hired by those very operations. Some are comparing her murder to that of legendary Brazilian rubber tapper and Amazon activist Chico Mendes, who was shot 16 years ago by ranchers. Thousands of mourners attended Stang's funeral Tuesday in the tiny Amazon town of Anapu. Popular outcry against the slaying and the general lawlessness of the area prompted Brazilian officials Wednesday to dispatch some 2,000 troops to the region to restore order. Activists hope the increased attention will prompt federal officials to do even more, but many are doubtful.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Henry Chu, 16 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4344>
straight to the source: Reuters, Leonardo Pedro, 16 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4346>
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, Michael Astor, 16 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4347>
6.
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE COOKIES
China passes U.S. as reining consumerism champion
America, for years the world's largest, proudest consumer, has been dethroned. Say hello to China, now the world's most consumingest nation, according to a recent survey by the Earth Policy Institute. China now beats the U.S. in consumption of four out of five basic commodities, including grain, meat, steel, and coal. The fifth, however -- oil -- is still no contest (whew!): The U.S. continues to burn triple what China does in order to power, among other things, cars, of which Americans have almost 10 times more than the Chinese. Unfortunately for consumption patriots out there, the details are pretty grim: China leads in coal consumption by some 40 percent. It used more than twice the steel Americans did in 2003. China noshed 64 million tons of meat in 2004 to the U.S.'s 38 million. Add in the fact that China's 1.3 billion citizens also go through more refrigerators, cell phones, and TVs than do Americans, and this is a dark day indeed.
straight to the source: BBC News, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4351>
straight to the source: China Daily, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4352>
straight to the source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Associated Press, William C. Mann, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4353>
7.
DELAY OF SHAME
Senate committee delays vote on Clear Skies
In what clean-air advocates called a "major victory for the environment," the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday postponed a decision on Bush's Clear Skies Act. A vote had been scheduled to determine whether the bill would advance to the Senate floor, but with 18 committee members deadlocked on the legislation, Committee Chair James Inhofe (R-Okla.) decided not to risk a bill kill and instead set a new date for a vote: March 2. Inhofe said the committee just needs to "spend some quality time together" to discuss revisions -- such as moving the 2018 deadline for compliance up two years and adding some $650 million in subsidies for coal-burning utilities -- so that they can "determine if there is middle ground." Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who was targeted by bill supporters as a possible swing voter, isn't convinced the extra time will change anything: "I don't know if we're going to be able to reach a compromise," he said.
straight to the source: The New York Times, Michael Janofsky, 17 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4348>
straight to the source: Connecticut Post, Peter Urban, 17 Feb 2005
://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4349>
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, John Heilprin, 16 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4350>
8.
GALE POLISH
Norton has a gay old time snowmobiling in Yellowstone
The debate over snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park has taken a decidedly Potemkin turn. This week, Interior Secretary Gale Norton visited the park to give the vehicles a personal endorsement, fleecing up for a three-hour ride through sub-zero temperatures. Though two National Park Service environmental assessments have found that the "environmentally preferred" approach would be to ban the vehicles entirely from the park's fragile winter ecosystem, Norton was having none of it. She even went so far as to dismiss the alternative of snowcoaches -- which are increasingly popular and more environmentally benign -- by saying they are "not as special as a snowmobile." Norton promised yet another environmental review that would emphasize "access," and said she might try to remove the requirement that snowmobilers be accompanied by a trained guide.
straight to the source: The New York Times, Felicity Barringer, 17 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4354>
straight to the source: The Washington Post, T. R. Reid, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4355>
straight to the source: Billings Gazette, Mike Stark, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4356>
9.
ROLL YOUR OWN KYOTO
Ross Gelbspan promotes a campaign for a people's ratification of Kyoto
The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect today. Hipster countries like Estonia and Turkmenistan are on board, but boring old square Bush has kept the U.S. out. Americans may be frustrated, wondering how they can get with it. Writer Ross Gelbspan has a simple answer: ratify the treaty yourself. He explains how and why -- in Soapbox, today on the Grist Magazine website.
today in Grist: What on earth is a person supposed to do? -- by Ross Gelbspan <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4341>
10.
ARE YOU LISTENING, OLDSMOBILE?
Pension fund pressures companies to be more responsible on climate
The California Public Employees' Retirement System -- the largest public pension fund in the U.S., an economic powerhouse with some $182.9 billion in assets -- voted Monday to use its significant clout to help fight global warming. Specifically, CalPERS is asking companies in the Financial Times 500 to disclose investment info related to their carbon emissions, requesting that auto manufacturers reveal their emission-reduction plans, and demanding that utilities report the risks associated with their greenhouse-gas releases. Lest the fund be ignored, it appears to be making an example of automakers whose representatives didn't show up to a scheduled meeting in Sacramento, where they were to defend the companies' legal battle against California's new auto-emissions regulations. The fund is considering including two of the car manufacturers in a public listing of companies it says have poor economic performance, excessive executive compensation, and poor corporate governance practices. Oh, snap!
straight to the source: Sacramento Bee, Gilbert Chan, 15 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4334>
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg News, 15 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4335>
11.
WAVE HELLO
Ocean energy poised for takeoff
Though wind power is the fastest-growing renewable energy source, many researchers, power companies, and municipal officials are looking to the oceans for juice. Though it is in its infancy, ocean power -- generated from either waves or the tides beneath -- shows great promise. According to the Electric Power Research Institute, the amount of wave energy off U.S. coasts represents nine to 10 times the power generated by the nation's hydroelectric dams. Test projects are in the works for New York's East River, San Francisco, and Hawaii. Though they caution that the effects of ocean turbines on wildlife need to be carefully studied, most environmental groups are optimistic. "The bedrock of a robust electricity system is a diversity of energy sources," said EPRI's Hank Courtright. Adds Jared Blumenfeld of San Francisco's environment department, "We need to take some calculated risks with new technologies."
straight to the source: Reuters, Leonard Anderson and Timothy Gardner, 13 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4338>
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Christopher Reynolds, 15 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4339>
straight to the source: The Honolulu Advertiser, Jan TenBruggencate, 16 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4340>
12.
MAATHAI ON THE PRIZE
An interview with Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai
If the leaders of the U.S. environmental movement need a shot of adrenaline, they would do well to sit down with Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. In the face of daunting odds, Maathai founded a movement that inspired women to plant 30 million trees in Kenya, helped bring down that nation's corrupt regime, and then joined its new government, first as a member of parliament, then as assistant minister for environment and natural resources. What does her work have to do with peace, and what could Americans learn from it? Plenty, as she explains in an interview with Amanda Griscom Little -- today on the Grist Magazine website.
today in Grist: Wangari Maathai chats about her work, her prize, and her plans for the future -- in Main Dish
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4333>
13.
YOU'LL NEVER DRIVE ALONE
Carpooling, car-sharing companies offer driving alternatives
Eighty-four percent of commuters who use a car to get to work say they drive alone, and more than half say it's because carpooling is inconvenient, according to a recent survey on traffic issues conducted by major news organizations. But a company called NuRide is trying to change that. Its website hosts a directory of participating D.C.-area commuters and makes it simpler for folks heading in the same direction at the same time to arrange car pools. Meanwhile, car-sharing companies like Flexcar and Zipcar place vehicles throughout urban areas and allow members to reserve the nearest car for short trips. Says Zipcar CEO Scott Griffith, "Our members are savvy. They don't need to own a car to enjoy mobility." Now, big-city businesses are getting savvy too; Seattle engineering firm URS Corp. sold five of its fleet cars after joining Flexcar, and the company now saves $12,000 a year in parking fees alone. Flexcar user Joan Steelquist says the benefits extend beyond saving money: "[S]haring cars with others gives me the good feeling of being part of a community."
straight to the source: Time, Perry Bacon Jr., 14 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4325>
straight to the source: Time, Margot Roosevelt, 14 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4324>
14.
ASK YOUR DEALER TODAY! Organic marijuana certification sought in California county
Need your pot, but worried about all the chemi ... dude, you gonna eat that? Wait, where were we? Oh, for all those who prefer their pot free of toxic chemicals (and have a user card allowing them to smoke it for medical purposes, of course), there's good news from Mendocino County, Calif. -- the very county that last year brought you the first ban on genetically modified crops in the nation. Now it's working on another first: certifying marijuana as organic. Concerned about consumer health and safety, two medical-marijuana growers in the area asked the county for organic certification, and now county officials are appealing to the California ag secretary for direction on how to proceed. As there are practically no marijuana-specific agricultural products on the market, some growers have been treating cannabis with chemicals developed for ornamental plants, which worries Mendocino officials. "We regulate wine grape growers and pear growers and everybody else, so why shouldn't we also regulate pot growers?" asked Tony Linegar, the county's assistant agricultural commissioner.
straight to the source: Daily Journal, Associated Press, 15 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4332>
15.
HUNDTING SEASON
Karen Hundt, Chattanooga urban planner, InterActivates
Karen Hundt says the biggest challenge facing environmentalists is not out in the wilderness -- it's in the cities. What better recycling could be done, she asks, than to reuse the buildings and sewers already built in downtown areas? She helps to do just that in Chattanooga, Tenn., which has become a model for urban redevelopment. Hundt explains why she believes suburban sprawl is nasty, but developers aren't -- in InterActivist, today on the Grist Magazine website. Send Hundt a question of your own by noon PST on Wednesday, Feb. 16; we'll publish Hundt's responses on Friday.
today in Grist: Karen Hundt of Chattanooga's Planning & Design Studio answers Grist's questions -- in InterActivist
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4312>
16.
THAT'S TRAWL, FOLKS
Bottom-trawling ban proposed for sensitive Alaskan waters
Paving the way for the largest fishing ban of its kind, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted unanimously last Thursday to ban bottom trawling on more than half a million square miles of ocean near Alaska's Aleutian Islands -- an area more than twice the size of California. Bottom trawling involves dragging weighted nets along the ocean floor, essentially bulldozing everything in their path, most notably deep-water corals and other sensitive habitat areas. Conservation groups applauded the move, of course, but so did fishing groups, recognizing that conservation is needed if the ecosystem is to continue producing healthy fish populations. The ban would apply largely to areas where little or no trawling is currently done, but it would limit the future spread of fishing. As bottom-trawl fisher David Fraser wrote to the council members, "If in the future we are unable to harvest up to our quotas, it doesn't mean we should seek new fishing grounds. It means we need to reexamine whether we have been managing conservatively enough."
straight to the source: Seattle Times, Craig Welch, 11 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4305>
straight to the source: Anchorage Daily News, Wesley Loy, 11 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4302>
17.
BRAZILNESS AS USUAL
Amazon forests not doing well
If Amazonian rainforests are, as the old saying goes, the lungs of the world, then our respiratory outlook is not good. The forests face a trio of threats. There are fire and logging, as poor farmers, cattle ranchers, and agribusinesses clear land for crops or cattle. Then there's "dieback," whereby the forest vegetation dies from lack of water, which is driven by drought, which is driven by climate change, which is driven by excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is exacerbated by fire, logging, and dieback in the Amazonian rainforest. Ah, such tangled webs we weave. Attempts to break the cycle have been inauspicious. Last year, Brazil's Workers' Party, led by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, suspended logging licenses in an attempt to slow deforestation of the Amazon. In response, loggers and their allies rioted, blockaded a major highway, burned buses, threatened to seize an airport and dump poisonous chemicals in rivers, and promised that "blood will flow." The government vowed not to "cave into blackmail," and then, uh, caved into blackmail, restoring the licenses last week. And so the world's lung cancer progresses, untreated.
straight to the source: The Boston Globe, Associated Press, Charles J. Hanley, 12 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4310>
straight to the source: The New York Times, Larry Rohter, 13 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4311>
18.
NEXT AND THE CITY Learning about green cities and emissions markets at Verdopolis
Modern zoos are built with a range of natural-looking features and diverse stimuli, but modern cities are more like the barren, featureless cages of 19th century zoos. This is one of the provocative insights that got Emily Gertz's brain spinning at Verdopolis, a New York City confab on the "future green city." She reports back on what cities designed for humans might look like, as well as the current state of carbon emissions trading markets (much more exciting than they sound!), in Dispatches -- today on the Grist Magazine website.
today in Grist: Learning how to make cities more like zoos -- in Dispatches <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4313>
today in Grist: Fun with carbon emissions trading -- in Dispatches
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4314>
19.
SIX PERCENT UNDER
Canadian businesses find boon in Kyoto
Canadian renewable-energy companies are anxiously awaiting Feb. 16. That's the day the Kyoto Protocol goes into effect, and with Canada's target of a 6 percent cut in emissions from 1990 levels by 2010, companies selling green, low-or-no-emissions technology are expecting to see quite a bit of their own green. "What's happening -- which is a very pivotal change and I think timely -- is that we're broadening our visibility," says unwitting punster Art Aylesworth of Carmanah Technologies Inc., which develops solar-powered lighting systems. David Demers, whose company's technology allows engines to run on alternative fuels, agrees: "It's going to help us encourage people to look at alternatives, it's going to help us be more energy efficient." Canada's national plan for implementing Kyoto will be announced on Feb. 23 along with the federal budget.
straight to the source: The Globe and Mail, Canadian Press, Craig Wong, 14 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4308>
straight to the source: The Globe and Mail, Jeff Sallot, 12 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4309>
A CURRENT AFFAIR
New data on warming oceans are strong evidence for climate change
Measurements of ocean temperatures presented yesterday constitute (still more) compelling evidence that global warming is upon us, say scientists. The data, introduced at the annual gathering of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, show that temperature readings in the oceans for the past 40 years line up almost exactly with the predictions of climate models. Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography spun several different scenarios to explain the warming -- natural climate variability, solar radiation, volcanic activity -- but "what absolutely nailed it was greenhouse warming," said lead researcher Tim Barnett. Also at the AAAS conference, a separate research team presented findings showing that some 4,800 cubic miles of freshwater had melted from Arctic ice and drifted into the northern Atlantic, threatening the conveyor belt of currents that moves warm tropical water north to keep the climate around the U.S. Northeast and Northern Europe temperate. "The debate over whether or not there is a global-warming signal is now over, at least for rational people," said Barnett.
straight to the source: Knight-Ridder, Seth Borenstein, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4365>
straight to the source: BBC News, Paul Rincon, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4366>
straight to the source: The Union-Tribune, Bruce Lieberman, 18 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4367>
straight to the source: Reuters, Maggie Fox, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4368>
2.
EXTREME MAKEOVER: FACTORY EDITION
Russian factories hatch plans to make money from Kyoto
Businesses in the Russian town of Archangel have big plans for capitalizing on the Kyoto Protocol. Under the treaty, more-developed countries can help meet their commitments by financing cleaner technologies in dirty facilities elsewhere, like the ones in Archangel. Vadim Eremeev of Archangel's Energy Efficiency Fund is blunt: "It's no secret that we see Kyoto as cheap money to help us modernize. There's huge scope for that across Russia." Taking another strategy, Archangel Pulp and Paper mill has set a voluntary goal of cutting its greenhouse-gas emissions by 12 percent, even while increasing production, figuring it can sell the resulting credits for up to $25 million, making money to reinvest in further modernization and efficiency measures. But while many in the business sector want to move fast to benefit from the newly enacted treaty, the Russian government is lagging behind in coming up with an implementation plan.
straight to the source: BBC News, Sarah Rainsford, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4369>
3.
IT TAKES A PILLAGE TO RAZE THE WILD
Illegal logging operation in Indonesia feeds China's appetite for wood
A three-year investigation of some of the last remaining intact tropical forests in the Asia-Pacific region has revealed an enormous international smuggling ring, possibly the largest in the world involving a single type of wood, says a report from two enviro groups. In a billion-dollar-a-year operation, the criminals have been logging merbau trees -- used mainly for hardwood flooring -- from Indonesia's Papua province at a rate of more than 10 million cubic feet per month, according to the report. Despite an Indonesian government ban on the export of logs, "[t]here's no denying that military officers are involved in illegal logging," said Muhammad Yayat Alfianto of Telapak, one the groups that worked on the report. By paying bribes totaling some $200,000 per shipment, the loggers were able to transport the trees to a harbor in eastern China, activists say. Ever-ravenous China has become the world's largest consumer of illegal timber, according to the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency.
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Reuters, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4360>
straight to the source: Terra Daily, Agence France-Presse, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4361>
4.
CITIES SLICKER
Seattle, other U.S. cities to hammer out their own Kyoto-like reductions
The Kyoto Protocol has arrived, and though the Bush administration has opted out, others in the U.S. are not so climate oblivious. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels announced Wednesday he's leading an effort to get major U.S. cities to agree to Kyoto-like reductions of their greenhouse-gas emissions, to show the feds that "the cost is minimal or there isn't a cost at all," he said. The mayors of 10 other cities including Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, and Portland, Ore., have already expressed interest in the effort, to be formalized in June at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Chicago. To help Seattle find creative ways of meeting Kyoto targets, Nickels has created a "green ribbon" coalition chaired by Denis Hayes, environmental leader and coordinator of the first Earth Day, and current-but-soon-to-be-former CEO of Starbucks Orin Smith. "This is not going to be 'turn out your lights when you leave rooms.' We'll be looking for ways we can dramatically decarbonize the economy and at the same time make it robust," said Hayes.
straight to the source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Kathy Mulady, 17 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4363>
straight to the source: Seattle Times, Bob Young, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4364>
5.
NUN OF THE ABOVE
Nun slain while campaigning against Amazon destruction
Through heart-rending tragedy, international attention was focused with unusual intensity this week on rainforest destruction in Brazil. Dorothy Stang, an elderly nun working to slow the devastation of the Amazon by organizing locals against the powerful (and largely illegal) logging and ranching operations bent on expanding their land holdings, was gunned down Saturday by two assailants believed to have been hired by those very operations. Some are comparing her murder to that of legendary Brazilian rubber tapper and Amazon activist Chico Mendes, who was shot 16 years ago by ranchers. Thousands of mourners attended Stang's funeral Tuesday in the tiny Amazon town of Anapu. Popular outcry against the slaying and the general lawlessness of the area prompted Brazilian officials Wednesday to dispatch some 2,000 troops to the region to restore order. Activists hope the increased attention will prompt federal officials to do even more, but many are doubtful.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Henry Chu, 16 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4344>
straight to the source: Reuters, Leonardo Pedro, 16 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4346>
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, Michael Astor, 16 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4347>
6.
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE COOKIES
China passes U.S. as reining consumerism champion
America, for years the world's largest, proudest consumer, has been dethroned. Say hello to China, now the world's most consumingest nation, according to a recent survey by the Earth Policy Institute. China now beats the U.S. in consumption of four out of five basic commodities, including grain, meat, steel, and coal. The fifth, however -- oil -- is still no contest (whew!): The U.S. continues to burn triple what China does in order to power, among other things, cars, of which Americans have almost 10 times more than the Chinese. Unfortunately for consumption patriots out there, the details are pretty grim: China leads in coal consumption by some 40 percent. It used more than twice the steel Americans did in 2003. China noshed 64 million tons of meat in 2004 to the U.S.'s 38 million. Add in the fact that China's 1.3 billion citizens also go through more refrigerators, cell phones, and TVs than do Americans, and this is a dark day indeed.
straight to the source: BBC News, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4351>
straight to the source: China Daily, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4352>
straight to the source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Associated Press, William C. Mann, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4353>
7.
DELAY OF SHAME
Senate committee delays vote on Clear Skies
In what clean-air advocates called a "major victory for the environment," the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday postponed a decision on Bush's Clear Skies Act. A vote had been scheduled to determine whether the bill would advance to the Senate floor, but with 18 committee members deadlocked on the legislation, Committee Chair James Inhofe (R-Okla.) decided not to risk a bill kill and instead set a new date for a vote: March 2. Inhofe said the committee just needs to "spend some quality time together" to discuss revisions -- such as moving the 2018 deadline for compliance up two years and adding some $650 million in subsidies for coal-burning utilities -- so that they can "determine if there is middle ground." Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who was targeted by bill supporters as a possible swing voter, isn't convinced the extra time will change anything: "I don't know if we're going to be able to reach a compromise," he said.
straight to the source: The New York Times, Michael Janofsky, 17 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4348>
straight to the source: Connecticut Post, Peter Urban, 17 Feb 2005
://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4349>
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, John Heilprin, 16 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4350>
8.
GALE POLISH
Norton has a gay old time snowmobiling in Yellowstone
The debate over snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park has taken a decidedly Potemkin turn. This week, Interior Secretary Gale Norton visited the park to give the vehicles a personal endorsement, fleecing up for a three-hour ride through sub-zero temperatures. Though two National Park Service environmental assessments have found that the "environmentally preferred" approach would be to ban the vehicles entirely from the park's fragile winter ecosystem, Norton was having none of it. She even went so far as to dismiss the alternative of snowcoaches -- which are increasingly popular and more environmentally benign -- by saying they are "not as special as a snowmobile." Norton promised yet another environmental review that would emphasize "access," and said she might try to remove the requirement that snowmobilers be accompanied by a trained guide.
straight to the source: The New York Times, Felicity Barringer, 17 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4354>
straight to the source: The Washington Post, T. R. Reid, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4355>
straight to the source: Billings Gazette, Mike Stark, 17 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4356>
9.
ROLL YOUR OWN KYOTO
Ross Gelbspan promotes a campaign for a people's ratification of Kyoto
The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect today. Hipster countries like Estonia and Turkmenistan are on board, but boring old square Bush has kept the U.S. out. Americans may be frustrated, wondering how they can get with it. Writer Ross Gelbspan has a simple answer: ratify the treaty yourself. He explains how and why -- in Soapbox, today on the Grist Magazine website.
today in Grist: What on earth is a person supposed to do? -- by Ross Gelbspan <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4341>
10.
ARE YOU LISTENING, OLDSMOBILE?
Pension fund pressures companies to be more responsible on climate
The California Public Employees' Retirement System -- the largest public pension fund in the U.S., an economic powerhouse with some $182.9 billion in assets -- voted Monday to use its significant clout to help fight global warming. Specifically, CalPERS is asking companies in the Financial Times 500 to disclose investment info related to their carbon emissions, requesting that auto manufacturers reveal their emission-reduction plans, and demanding that utilities report the risks associated with their greenhouse-gas releases. Lest the fund be ignored, it appears to be making an example of automakers whose representatives didn't show up to a scheduled meeting in Sacramento, where they were to defend the companies' legal battle against California's new auto-emissions regulations. The fund is considering including two of the car manufacturers in a public listing of companies it says have poor economic performance, excessive executive compensation, and poor corporate governance practices. Oh, snap!
straight to the source: Sacramento Bee, Gilbert Chan, 15 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4334>
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg News, 15 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4335>
11.
WAVE HELLO
Ocean energy poised for takeoff
Though wind power is the fastest-growing renewable energy source, many researchers, power companies, and municipal officials are looking to the oceans for juice. Though it is in its infancy, ocean power -- generated from either waves or the tides beneath -- shows great promise. According to the Electric Power Research Institute, the amount of wave energy off U.S. coasts represents nine to 10 times the power generated by the nation's hydroelectric dams. Test projects are in the works for New York's East River, San Francisco, and Hawaii. Though they caution that the effects of ocean turbines on wildlife need to be carefully studied, most environmental groups are optimistic. "The bedrock of a robust electricity system is a diversity of energy sources," said EPRI's Hank Courtright. Adds Jared Blumenfeld of San Francisco's environment department, "We need to take some calculated risks with new technologies."
straight to the source: Reuters, Leonard Anderson and Timothy Gardner, 13 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4338>
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Christopher Reynolds, 15 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4339>
straight to the source: The Honolulu Advertiser, Jan TenBruggencate, 16 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4340>
12.
MAATHAI ON THE PRIZE
An interview with Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai
If the leaders of the U.S. environmental movement need a shot of adrenaline, they would do well to sit down with Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. In the face of daunting odds, Maathai founded a movement that inspired women to plant 30 million trees in Kenya, helped bring down that nation's corrupt regime, and then joined its new government, first as a member of parliament, then as assistant minister for environment and natural resources. What does her work have to do with peace, and what could Americans learn from it? Plenty, as she explains in an interview with Amanda Griscom Little -- today on the Grist Magazine website.
today in Grist: Wangari Maathai chats about her work, her prize, and her plans for the future -- in Main Dish
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4333>
13.
YOU'LL NEVER DRIVE ALONE
Carpooling, car-sharing companies offer driving alternatives
Eighty-four percent of commuters who use a car to get to work say they drive alone, and more than half say it's because carpooling is inconvenient, according to a recent survey on traffic issues conducted by major news organizations. But a company called NuRide is trying to change that. Its website hosts a directory of participating D.C.-area commuters and makes it simpler for folks heading in the same direction at the same time to arrange car pools. Meanwhile, car-sharing companies like Flexcar and Zipcar place vehicles throughout urban areas and allow members to reserve the nearest car for short trips. Says Zipcar CEO Scott Griffith, "Our members are savvy. They don't need to own a car to enjoy mobility." Now, big-city businesses are getting savvy too; Seattle engineering firm URS Corp. sold five of its fleet cars after joining Flexcar, and the company now saves $12,000 a year in parking fees alone. Flexcar user Joan Steelquist says the benefits extend beyond saving money: "[S]haring cars with others gives me the good feeling of being part of a community."
straight to the source: Time, Perry Bacon Jr., 14 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4325>
straight to the source: Time, Margot Roosevelt, 14 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4324>
14.
ASK YOUR DEALER TODAY! Organic marijuana certification sought in California county
Need your pot, but worried about all the chemi ... dude, you gonna eat that? Wait, where were we? Oh, for all those who prefer their pot free of toxic chemicals (and have a user card allowing them to smoke it for medical purposes, of course), there's good news from Mendocino County, Calif. -- the very county that last year brought you the first ban on genetically modified crops in the nation. Now it's working on another first: certifying marijuana as organic. Concerned about consumer health and safety, two medical-marijuana growers in the area asked the county for organic certification, and now county officials are appealing to the California ag secretary for direction on how to proceed. As there are practically no marijuana-specific agricultural products on the market, some growers have been treating cannabis with chemicals developed for ornamental plants, which worries Mendocino officials. "We regulate wine grape growers and pear growers and everybody else, so why shouldn't we also regulate pot growers?" asked Tony Linegar, the county's assistant agricultural commissioner.
straight to the source: Daily Journal, Associated Press, 15 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4332>
15.
HUNDTING SEASON
Karen Hundt, Chattanooga urban planner, InterActivates
Karen Hundt says the biggest challenge facing environmentalists is not out in the wilderness -- it's in the cities. What better recycling could be done, she asks, than to reuse the buildings and sewers already built in downtown areas? She helps to do just that in Chattanooga, Tenn., which has become a model for urban redevelopment. Hundt explains why she believes suburban sprawl is nasty, but developers aren't -- in InterActivist, today on the Grist Magazine website. Send Hundt a question of your own by noon PST on Wednesday, Feb. 16; we'll publish Hundt's responses on Friday.
today in Grist: Karen Hundt of Chattanooga's Planning & Design Studio answers Grist's questions -- in InterActivist
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4312>
16.
THAT'S TRAWL, FOLKS
Bottom-trawling ban proposed for sensitive Alaskan waters
Paving the way for the largest fishing ban of its kind, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted unanimously last Thursday to ban bottom trawling on more than half a million square miles of ocean near Alaska's Aleutian Islands -- an area more than twice the size of California. Bottom trawling involves dragging weighted nets along the ocean floor, essentially bulldozing everything in their path, most notably deep-water corals and other sensitive habitat areas. Conservation groups applauded the move, of course, but so did fishing groups, recognizing that conservation is needed if the ecosystem is to continue producing healthy fish populations. The ban would apply largely to areas where little or no trawling is currently done, but it would limit the future spread of fishing. As bottom-trawl fisher David Fraser wrote to the council members, "If in the future we are unable to harvest up to our quotas, it doesn't mean we should seek new fishing grounds. It means we need to reexamine whether we have been managing conservatively enough."
straight to the source: Seattle Times, Craig Welch, 11 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4305>
straight to the source: Anchorage Daily News, Wesley Loy, 11 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4302>
17.
BRAZILNESS AS USUAL
Amazon forests not doing well
If Amazonian rainforests are, as the old saying goes, the lungs of the world, then our respiratory outlook is not good. The forests face a trio of threats. There are fire and logging, as poor farmers, cattle ranchers, and agribusinesses clear land for crops or cattle. Then there's "dieback," whereby the forest vegetation dies from lack of water, which is driven by drought, which is driven by climate change, which is driven by excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is exacerbated by fire, logging, and dieback in the Amazonian rainforest. Ah, such tangled webs we weave. Attempts to break the cycle have been inauspicious. Last year, Brazil's Workers' Party, led by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, suspended logging licenses in an attempt to slow deforestation of the Amazon. In response, loggers and their allies rioted, blockaded a major highway, burned buses, threatened to seize an airport and dump poisonous chemicals in rivers, and promised that "blood will flow." The government vowed not to "cave into blackmail," and then, uh, caved into blackmail, restoring the licenses last week. And so the world's lung cancer progresses, untreated.
straight to the source: The Boston Globe, Associated Press, Charles J. Hanley, 12 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4310>
straight to the source: The New York Times, Larry Rohter, 13 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4311>
18.
NEXT AND THE CITY Learning about green cities and emissions markets at Verdopolis
Modern zoos are built with a range of natural-looking features and diverse stimuli, but modern cities are more like the barren, featureless cages of 19th century zoos. This is one of the provocative insights that got Emily Gertz's brain spinning at Verdopolis, a New York City confab on the "future green city." She reports back on what cities designed for humans might look like, as well as the current state of carbon emissions trading markets (much more exciting than they sound!), in Dispatches -- today on the Grist Magazine website.
today in Grist: Learning how to make cities more like zoos -- in Dispatches <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4313>
today in Grist: Fun with carbon emissions trading -- in Dispatches
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4314>
19.
SIX PERCENT UNDER
Canadian businesses find boon in Kyoto
Canadian renewable-energy companies are anxiously awaiting Feb. 16. That's the day the Kyoto Protocol goes into effect, and with Canada's target of a 6 percent cut in emissions from 1990 levels by 2010, companies selling green, low-or-no-emissions technology are expecting to see quite a bit of their own green. "What's happening -- which is a very pivotal change and I think timely -- is that we're broadening our visibility," says unwitting punster Art Aylesworth of Carmanah Technologies Inc., which develops solar-powered lighting systems. David Demers, whose company's technology allows engines to run on alternative fuels, agrees: "It's going to help us encourage people to look at alternatives, it's going to help us be more energy efficient." Canada's national plan for implementing Kyoto will be announced on Feb. 23 along with the federal budget.
straight to the source: The Globe and Mail, Canadian Press, Craig Wong, 14 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4308>
straight to the source: The Globe and Mail, Jeff Sallot, 12 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4309>
posted by T. Scott Brineman at 10:32 AM
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