DAILY GRIST WEEKLY COMPILATION / 4-30-2005
1.
There Is a Lord God
Woodpecker thought extinct rediscovered; birders weep like babies
It was spotted several times -- once even filmed -- over the past year and a half. Now, ornithologists writing in the journal Science have officially confirmed the existence of at least one ivory-billed woodpecker, a miraculously tangible token of a species long thought extinct. The discovery -- referred to variously as "a spiritual experience," "thrilling beyond words," and "kind of like finding Elvis" -- was enough to bring at least one grown man to tears. With a wingspan of three feet, the ivory-billed woodpecker is the largest in North America. It was once sought for its feathers, used in women's hats, and for its bill, believed by Native Americans to have magical powers. It became known as the Lord God bird, says ornithologist John Fitzpatrick, because when people saw it, they'd exclaim "Lord God, look at that bird." Conservationists are working in concert with state and federal officials to secure the swampy area of eastern Arkansas where the bird was sighted, and plans to acquire more land in the area are in the works.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, Randolph E. Schmid, 28 Apr 2005
straight to the source: Reuters, Maggie Fox, 28 Apr 2005
straight to the source: The Washington Post, David Brown and Eric Pianin, 29 Apr 2005
2.
Johnson Scores
Senate confirms Johnson to head EPA
Scientist and career agency veteran Stephen Johnson is the new head of the U.S. EPA. After a confirmation process that was oddly turbulent given the mild-mannered bureaucrat's generally warm reception on both sides of the aisle, the Senate voted 61-37 just after midnight last night to approve a cloture motion, which put an end to the procedural roadblock in Johnson's way, and thereafter quickly confirmed him. The roadblock in question was a hold put on the confirmation by appropriately named Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.). Carper's beef was not with Johnson but with the Bush administration, which has refused to authorize studies of the relative effectiveness of alternatives to its Clear Skies legislation. Earlier, the confirmation was stalled by two other Democratic senators objecting to a study on child pesticide exposure, which Johnson agreed to scrap. He replaces Mike Leavitt, who left to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Good luck, Mr. Johnson.
straight to the source: Waste News, 29 Apr 2005
straight to the source: The Union-Tribune, Associated Press, Jim Abrams, 28 Apr 2005
see also, in Grist: Let Us Now Praise Innocuous Men -- Bush EPA nominee Steve Johnson garners praise and sympathy
3.
Overwhelming Scientific Consensus Grows Overwhelminger
Climate really changing, oceans reveal to researchers
Hey, did you know that the globe is warming? Really and for true! A new study by researchers at NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and Columbia University, published in the journal Science this week, concludes that global warming is real. Really. Lead scientist James Hansen calls the new data a "smoking gun" that confirms the earth's "energy imbalance" -- the difference between the amount of heat the earth absorbs and what it radiates into space. Seems the oceans are a key piece of the puzzle, acting as a repository for much of the heat trapped by the greenhouse effect. Using diving robots (ooh!), the team demonstrated a rise in temperature that matches the predictions of computer models. Meanwhile, the ocean is slowly releasing stored heat, in itself enough to raise the global temp yet another degree Fahrenheit over the next century. "There can no longer be substantial doubt that human-made gases are the cause of most observed warming," Hansen said, demonstrating a rather hopeful view of human nature.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Miguel Bustillo, 29 Apr 2005
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Carl T. Hall, 29 Apr 2005
straight to the source: The Washington Times, Joyce Howard Price, 29 Apr 2005
4.
Will & Disgrace
Environmental-justice advocate forced out of job by Louisiana AG
Long-time and widely respected environmental-justice advocate Willie Fontenot, a community liaison officer for the Louisiana attorney general's office, recently led a student tour group past an ExxonMobil refinery with a checkered safety history, snapping pictures along the way. The next day, he was abruptly forced to resign, without being given a reason.
Muckraker investigates the details of Fontenot's suspicious compulsory retirement.
new in Muckraker: Will & Disgrace
sign up: Receive word by email each time a new Muckraker column hits the scene
5.
Strongarm of the Law
Supreme Court rules that pesticide makers are liable for damages
The U.S. Supreme Court has acted to restore a measure of sanity to the world of pesticides and weed-killers. In the 1990s, lawyers for big chemical companies pushed a novel interpretation of the 1972 federal law governing pesticides: By submitting pesticides for approval by the U.S. EPA, they said, companies thereby gained immunity from any future lawsuits over damage caused by the chemicals. Several lower courts fell for it, and in 2001, the Bush administration formally adopted the pro-industry position. But in a ruling yesterday on a case involving peanut farmers whose crops were wiped out by a Dow Chemical pesticide called Strongarm, the Supremes reversed the lower court rulings and rejected the industry's legal interpretation. In fact, Justice John Paul Stevens' majority opinion called it "particularly dubious," especially in light of the fact that the EPA relies solely on manufacturer-provided information in approving pesticides.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage, 28 Apr 2005
6.
A Vroom of One's Own
Umbra discusses eco-retrofitting of muscle cars, ruins birthday surprise
A reader's husband craves one of those new-fangled alternative-fuel cars, but she wants to surprise him for his birthday with something completely different -- an eco-souped-up muscle car. She comes to advice maven Umbra Fisk to learn how, exactly, to do the souping.
new in Ask Umbra: A Vroom of One's Own
sign up: Receive word by email when new Ask Umbra columns hit the scene
7.
Access of Evil
Gas drilling limited by equipment, workers -- not access to federal land
To hear the Bush administration tell it, domestic energy production is limited by lack of access to federal lands. Vice President Dick Cheney is galled that "large parts of the Rocky Mountain West are off-limits." But according to government records, industry experts, and local officials, there's plenty of access for gas drilling. In fact, there's so much access that there's not enough person-power and equipment to keep up with it. The Bureau of Land Management issued a record number of gas-drilling permits last year, outnumbering the available drilling rigs and qualified workers. And industry officials don't expect to catch up anytime soon, as it can take a year or more for delivery of new rigs. Even as new training schools open up, energy companies have asked for some 5,000 new workers over the next five years just to fulfill current leases. The apparent disconnect between Bush policy -- more access! -- and, well, the truth has left some energy analysts puzzled.
straight to the source: The Washington Post, Blaine Harden, 28 Apr 2005
8.
You Just Keep on Pushing My Love Over the Borderline
Former Iron Curtain may become continent-spanning greenbelt
The fabled Iron Curtain that separated Western Europe from the communist countries of Eastern Europe was once one of the most dangerous places on earth. But in the post-Cold War era, a coalition of conservation and community-development groups has ambitious plans to transform it into a string of parks, nature preserves, and organic farms. Already parks exist in Germany, between Finland and Russia, and between Austria and the Czech Republic and Hungary. Though there's resistance from governments that aren't quite yet chummy -- say, Greece and Macedonia -- and farmers that chafe at organic restrictions, organizers envision a grassroots, largely voluntary effort involving both public and privately owned land. "The idea is to interlink the needs of people and nature, because they're not incompatible," says Andrew Terry of the World Conservation Union, which is coordinating the project. "Protected areas should be places that allow humans and wildlife to live together."
straight to the source: The Christian Science Monitor, Colin Woodard, 28 Apr 2005
9.
Higher Ed
An interview with actor and eco-activist Edward Norton
In a culture so accustomed to casually impugning the intelligence of celebrities, a conversation with actor Edward Norton is a real eye-opener. He talks about the Solar Neighbors program he founded with BP, which installs solar panels on low-income housing in Los Angeles, his family's legacy of green activism, and his disgust with the Bush administration's environmental policies, in a chat with Amanda Griscom Little.
new in Main Dish: Higher Ed
10.
Moot Causes
Bush pushes refineries and nuke plants as solution to high energy prices
Many analysts say high energy prices are the result of inefficient use of non-renewable resources. President Bush does not employ any of those analysts. In a speech today, he will propose to address the "root causes" of high energy prices by, um, increasing the inefficient use of non-renewable resources. His five proposals will likely end up in the energy bill by the time the Senate votes on it. They are: encourage the construction of oil refineries on closed military bases; encourage the construction of nuclear power plants by easing the licensing process and providing federal risk insurance (long live the free market!); increase federal authority -- i.e., decrease state authority -- over the siting of liquefied natural gas terminals; encourage other countries to promote nuclear, "clean coal," and other slightly less polluting energy sources; and allow purchases of cars and trucks running on "clean diesel" to receive the same tax credit already slated for hybrid and fuel- cell vehicles.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Warren Vieth, 27 Apr 2005
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, H. Josef Hebert, 27 Apr 2005
11.
Ceci N'est Pas une Wipe
Disposable wipes not just for baby bums anymore
The season of spring cleaning is upon us, and for many Americans that means taking to dirty surfaces with a few -- or a few million -- disposable wipes. With varieties specially made for scrubbing, dusting, disinfecting, and buffing everything from microwaves to granite countertops to leather goods, it's estimated that North Americans used some 83,000 tons of disposable wipes last year. Cleaning-wipe manufacturers, including Proctor & Gamble, 3M, and SC Johnson, say they are just giving consumers what they want -- quick and easy cleaning products. But these throwaway goods are not just adding to landfills, says solid-waste specialist P. Aarne Vesilind; pollution is spewed and fossil fuels are squandered as ever-growing heaps of wipes and other dumb disposables are hauled away from homes to far-off dumps.
straight to the source: The Seattle Times, Chicago Tribune, Karen Klages, 24 Apr 2005
see also, in Grist: Umbra Fisk on our "throw it away" culture
12.
Texaco to Ecuador: Have You Tried a Swiffer?
Texaco haunted by dirty legacy in Ecuador
At a ChevronTexaco shareholder meeting today in California, Amazonian community leaders, celebrities, and activists will confront company officials, focusing attention anew on Texaco's messy legacy in Ecuador. Twenty years of oil exploration in the nation left much of the western edge of the Amazon rainforest in ecological ruin and many villagers with unusually high rates of illness. Though Texaco fled Ecuador back in 1992, its joint venture with the nation's state oil company left behind some 600 unlined open sludge pits, compromised or destroyed about 2.5 million acres of rainforest, and released an estimated 20 billion gallons of wastewater directly into waterways. For its part, ChevronTexaco says it took care of the contamination in 1995 when it paid $40 million in cleanup costs to the Ecuadorian government. But locals and enviros estimate that a thorough cleanup would run about $6 billion, precisely what activists are seeking in cases winding through U.S. and Ecuadori an courts.
straight to the source: The Independent, Andrew Gumbel, 27 Apr 2005
13.
Gettin' Busy
U.S. business getting with it on climate change
Talk about how the U.S. private sector is taking global warming seriously often flirts with wishful thinking. But we are nothing if not wishful. And flirty. So here goes: It looks like momentum is gathering in the U.S. business community to forthrightly address the issue of climate change. In part due to shareholder and activist lobbying, a growing number of companies are releasing reports on the financial risks associated with warming, including American Electric Power and Cinergy, two of the nation's largest electric-power generators. Just this week, J.P. Morgan Chase, the country's third-largest bank, announced an aggressive climate policy, joining Citigroup and Bank of America. Last month, Duke Energy CEO Paul Anderson called for a federal tax on carbon-dioxide emissions. Exelon CEO John Rowe called for mandatory restraints on same. Says Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, a coalition of investors and enviros, "Change is slow, painfully slow, so we have a long way to go, but progress is unquestionably being made."
straight to the source: Scripps Howard News Service, Joan Lowy, 26 Apr 2005
14.
Next: Clay Aiken Draws a Line In the Sands of Tuvalu
Hollywood celebs travel to Arctic to raise global-warming awareness
Matt Peterson of Global Green spends his time pondering this weighty question: "[I]n an age and culture that's celebrity-obsessed, how do you in a smart and savvy way use the celebrity to shine the light on the science, on the facts, and on the solution?" When it comes to global warming, the answer is obvious, isn't it? Simply fly Hollywood hotties Salma Hayek and Jake Gyllenhaal to the edge of the Arctic Circle, where they -- with help from some 500 Inuit villagers -- spell out the words "Arctic Warning" on an open patch of snow-covered ice. Take aerial photos. Then stand back and wait for ecological turnaround! Ah, we kid. Hayek and Gyllenhaal were good-humored about the whole thing, and Hayek herself stated what must have been on everyone's mind: "There's something wrong with the idea that celebrities have to get involved for people to be interested." Yes, but Salma, we arrange activist stunts in the culture we have, not the culture we might want or wish to have.
straight to the source: The Washington Post, Juliet Eilperin, 26 Apr 2005
15.
Iceland of Make-Believe
Fascinating facts about a country you could win a trip to
You know, ever since we got into the business of shilling Iceland in order to promote our sweepstakes, we've learned an awful lot of fascinating stuff. And now we've moved past shilling -- we just want to share! Guess how many people in Iceland believe in elves? Guess which U.S. state is the same size as Iceland? Guess where Iceland falls on a global sustainability index? You'll never guess. So read our Counter Culture instead.
new in Counter Culture: Iceland of Make-Believe
new in Grist: Find out how you could win a trip to Iceland
16.
What's the Time? It's Time to Get Iliamna
Proposed Alaskan mine may threaten salmon wonderland
Near the shores of vast Lake Iliamna in southern Alaska, locals are worried that a huge proposed open-pit mine at the region's headwaters could imperil legendary salmon runs. The story is familiar enough: an economically depressed, mineral-rich area gets courted by slick mining-company officials promising jobs and little-to-no ecological damage from its proposed 14-square-mile, $1.5 billion mine complex. Stakes are high on both sides. In one corner, Northern Dynasty Mines Inc., thirsty for what's billed as the largest gold deposit in North America and the second-largest copper deposit; in the other corner, a small Native Alaskan town subsisting primarily on the area's fish, wary of the company's claims but hungry for jobs. Caught somewhere in the middle is "one of the most special places for salmon anywhere," as University of Washington biologist Thomas Quinn calls it. Ultimate approval of the mine is up to state and federal officials.
straight to the source: The New York Times, Lisa W. Drew, 26 Apr 2005
17.
Guppy Love
Young urban professionals hip to green-building scene
The trend now has a name. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Guppys: Green urban professionals who are young. (Yeah, we didn't say it was a clever name.) Portland, Ore., has become the epicenter of a movement by the storied "creative class" to find, build, or remodel eco-friendly houses. Guppys are seeking out solar panels, passive heating and cooling systems, green roofs, and recycled materials, and are even -- gasp! -- sacrificing square footage in the quest for greener dwellings. This kind of construction costs more on the front end, which at least for now restricts it to higher-end hipsters, but the long-term energy savings can, in some cases, more than compensate. But money is not the only consideration. "Building green is both a very practical, self-interested activity, in terms of lower operating costs, and it also has a deeper spiritual value to many people taking responsibility for the impacts they have," says Portland architect Alan Scott.
straight to the source: The Christian Science Monitor, Elizabeth Armstrong Moore, 26 Apr 2005
18.
Author! Author!
Booker Prize-winning author Ian McEwan waxes poetic on climate change
From 35,000 feet above the earth's surface, you can see awe-inspiring views of vast, open spaces. Unless, that is, you're flying over spots like Mexico City and Beijing, in which case you'll see "a great rim of grime -- as though detached from an unwashed bathtub," as British novelist Ian McEwan puts it. In a piece first published on openDemocracy.net, which is hosting an interactive global discussion on climate change, the author of Saturday, Atonement, and Enduring Love ponders what we should do with these images once back on solid ground, and how we can face up to the complexities of climate change.
new in Soapbox: Let's Talk About Climate Change
see also, at openDemocracy: The Politics of Climate Change
19.
Before Sunset
Language in budget bill could unravel federal environmental protections
Buried deep in the 2,000-page budget bill President Bush recently sent to Congress is a three-sentence provision that threatens to eviscerate environmental and other protections. Authored by the White House Office of Management and Budget, the provision would, if passed unamended, subject any and all federal programs to the scrutiny of a "Sunset Commission." The eight-member panel, appointed by the president, would have the power to kill any programs not "producing results." Programs deemed non-productive would "automatically terminate unless the Congress took action to continue them." "This is potentially devastating," warned Wesley Warren, who served in the OMB under President Clinton. "In short order, this could knock out protections that have been built up over a generation." The provision raises thorny constitutional questions, as it would subject congressional powers to what amounts to executive approval. Still, says Clay Johnson of the Bush OMB, "We just think it makes sense."
straight to the source: Rolling Stone, Osha Gray Davidson, 05 May 2005
20.
Shock and Thaw
New Yorker launches three-part exploration of climate change
Writer Elizabeth Kolbert must have single-handedly accelerated global warming with the jet fuel she burned visiting the Arctic, Iceland, Greenland, Alaska, and the Antarctic to research a big three-part series on climate change for The New Yorker. What did she find? Well, it's all melting. The Alaskan village of Shishmaref is going to be uprooted and moved en masse, thanks to increasing exposure to rising tides and grumpy weather. The Arctic sea ice is melting, thus reducing its reflectivity, thus absorbing more energy, thus melting faster (and so on). Greenland's ice sheet is melting, raising sea levels and possibly altering the ocean currents that keep the world's temperate zones temperate. Meanwhile, the third part of a big multi-country climate report -- the part on the actions governments need to take -- is being delayed by the U.S. delegation, which doesn't like the word "mandatory." If you haven't slit your wrists yet, get ready for part two ...
straight to the source: The New Yorker, Elizabeth Kolbert, 25 Apr 2005
21.
Everything Coal Is New Again
Congress seeks tax money to make defunct "clean coal" plant dirty again
For aficionados of government pork, the energy bill that recently passed the House is the gift that keeps on giving. The latest gem uncovered is a provision that would offer $125 million in loan guarantees to a "clean coal" power plant in Alaska. Now, this pork isn't going to build the plant -- that $117 million ship sailed years ago. No, this new pork is going to convert the "clean coal" plant back into an old-fashioned "dirty coal" plant that, um, works. You see, the experimental facility, originally built in the late '90s just outside Denali National Park, cost more than projected, produced power only intermittently, and was more or less a fiasco. Five years ago, it was closed down, and now it sits unused. Activists who were worried about it back when it was "clean" are even more worried now. But Alaska's congressional delegation, which squeezed the provision in, hastens to assure us that all is well. Says an aide to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), "It's certainly not a boondoggle." Whew.
straight to the source: The Washington Post, Justin Blum, 24 Apr 2005
22.
The Loan Changer
J.P. Morgan to green lending policies
Today, New York banking giant J.P. Morgan Chase will issue new lending policies with an environmental bent. Although the company denies it was pressured into the shift, the bank's pledge is similar to those made in recent months by other financial institutions like Citigroup and Bank of America that have faced pressure from shareholder campaigns and activist groups like the Rainforest Action Network. J.P. Morgan's new guidelines are expected to tie greenhouse-gas emissions to financial costs in the loan review process and set up "No Go Zones" -- areas where the bank will refuse financing for environmentally damaging industries like logging. "This is increasingly becoming the way all banks operate," says Steve Lippman of Trillium Asset Management, one of the socially responsible investment firms that helped lobby for the policy shift. "J.P. Morgan is now raising the bar for the sector."
straight to the source: The Wall Street Journal, Jim Carlton, 25 Apr 2005 (access ain't free)
see also, in Grist: Not Just Lippman Service -- Green investment expert Steve Lippman answers Grist's questions
There Is a Lord God
Woodpecker thought extinct rediscovered; birders weep like babies
It was spotted several times -- once even filmed -- over the past year and a half. Now, ornithologists writing in the journal Science have officially confirmed the existence of at least one ivory-billed woodpecker, a miraculously tangible token of a species long thought extinct. The discovery -- referred to variously as "a spiritual experience," "thrilling beyond words," and "kind of like finding Elvis" -- was enough to bring at least one grown man to tears. With a wingspan of three feet, the ivory-billed woodpecker is the largest in North America. It was once sought for its feathers, used in women's hats, and for its bill, believed by Native Americans to have magical powers. It became known as the Lord God bird, says ornithologist John Fitzpatrick, because when people saw it, they'd exclaim "Lord God, look at that bird." Conservationists are working in concert with state and federal officials to secure the swampy area of eastern Arkansas where the bird was sighted, and plans to acquire more land in the area are in the works.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, Randolph E. Schmid, 28 Apr 2005
straight to the source: Reuters, Maggie Fox, 28 Apr 2005
straight to the source: The Washington Post, David Brown and Eric Pianin, 29 Apr 2005
2.
Johnson Scores
Senate confirms Johnson to head EPA
Scientist and career agency veteran Stephen Johnson is the new head of the U.S. EPA. After a confirmation process that was oddly turbulent given the mild-mannered bureaucrat's generally warm reception on both sides of the aisle, the Senate voted 61-37 just after midnight last night to approve a cloture motion, which put an end to the procedural roadblock in Johnson's way, and thereafter quickly confirmed him. The roadblock in question was a hold put on the confirmation by appropriately named Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.). Carper's beef was not with Johnson but with the Bush administration, which has refused to authorize studies of the relative effectiveness of alternatives to its Clear Skies legislation. Earlier, the confirmation was stalled by two other Democratic senators objecting to a study on child pesticide exposure, which Johnson agreed to scrap. He replaces Mike Leavitt, who left to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Good luck, Mr. Johnson.
straight to the source: Waste News, 29 Apr 2005
straight to the source: The Union-Tribune, Associated Press, Jim Abrams, 28 Apr 2005
see also, in Grist: Let Us Now Praise Innocuous Men -- Bush EPA nominee Steve Johnson garners praise and sympathy
3.
Overwhelming Scientific Consensus Grows Overwhelminger
Climate really changing, oceans reveal to researchers
Hey, did you know that the globe is warming? Really and for true! A new study by researchers at NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and Columbia University, published in the journal Science this week, concludes that global warming is real. Really. Lead scientist James Hansen calls the new data a "smoking gun" that confirms the earth's "energy imbalance" -- the difference between the amount of heat the earth absorbs and what it radiates into space. Seems the oceans are a key piece of the puzzle, acting as a repository for much of the heat trapped by the greenhouse effect. Using diving robots (ooh!), the team demonstrated a rise in temperature that matches the predictions of computer models. Meanwhile, the ocean is slowly releasing stored heat, in itself enough to raise the global temp yet another degree Fahrenheit over the next century. "There can no longer be substantial doubt that human-made gases are the cause of most observed warming," Hansen said, demonstrating a rather hopeful view of human nature.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Miguel Bustillo, 29 Apr 2005
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Carl T. Hall, 29 Apr 2005
straight to the source: The Washington Times, Joyce Howard Price, 29 Apr 2005
4.
Will & Disgrace
Environmental-justice advocate forced out of job by Louisiana AG
Long-time and widely respected environmental-justice advocate Willie Fontenot, a community liaison officer for the Louisiana attorney general's office, recently led a student tour group past an ExxonMobil refinery with a checkered safety history, snapping pictures along the way. The next day, he was abruptly forced to resign, without being given a reason.
Muckraker investigates the details of Fontenot's suspicious compulsory retirement.
new in Muckraker: Will & Disgrace
sign up: Receive word by email each time a new Muckraker column hits the scene
5.
Strongarm of the Law
Supreme Court rules that pesticide makers are liable for damages
The U.S. Supreme Court has acted to restore a measure of sanity to the world of pesticides and weed-killers. In the 1990s, lawyers for big chemical companies pushed a novel interpretation of the 1972 federal law governing pesticides: By submitting pesticides for approval by the U.S. EPA, they said, companies thereby gained immunity from any future lawsuits over damage caused by the chemicals. Several lower courts fell for it, and in 2001, the Bush administration formally adopted the pro-industry position. But in a ruling yesterday on a case involving peanut farmers whose crops were wiped out by a Dow Chemical pesticide called Strongarm, the Supremes reversed the lower court rulings and rejected the industry's legal interpretation. In fact, Justice John Paul Stevens' majority opinion called it "particularly dubious," especially in light of the fact that the EPA relies solely on manufacturer-provided information in approving pesticides.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage, 28 Apr 2005
6.
A Vroom of One's Own
Umbra discusses eco-retrofitting of muscle cars, ruins birthday surprise
A reader's husband craves one of those new-fangled alternative-fuel cars, but she wants to surprise him for his birthday with something completely different -- an eco-souped-up muscle car. She comes to advice maven Umbra Fisk to learn how, exactly, to do the souping.
new in Ask Umbra: A Vroom of One's Own
sign up: Receive word by email when new Ask Umbra columns hit the scene
7.
Access of Evil
Gas drilling limited by equipment, workers -- not access to federal land
To hear the Bush administration tell it, domestic energy production is limited by lack of access to federal lands. Vice President Dick Cheney is galled that "large parts of the Rocky Mountain West are off-limits." But according to government records, industry experts, and local officials, there's plenty of access for gas drilling. In fact, there's so much access that there's not enough person-power and equipment to keep up with it. The Bureau of Land Management issued a record number of gas-drilling permits last year, outnumbering the available drilling rigs and qualified workers. And industry officials don't expect to catch up anytime soon, as it can take a year or more for delivery of new rigs. Even as new training schools open up, energy companies have asked for some 5,000 new workers over the next five years just to fulfill current leases. The apparent disconnect between Bush policy -- more access! -- and, well, the truth has left some energy analysts puzzled.
straight to the source: The Washington Post, Blaine Harden, 28 Apr 2005
8.
You Just Keep on Pushing My Love Over the Borderline
Former Iron Curtain may become continent-spanning greenbelt
The fabled Iron Curtain that separated Western Europe from the communist countries of Eastern Europe was once one of the most dangerous places on earth. But in the post-Cold War era, a coalition of conservation and community-development groups has ambitious plans to transform it into a string of parks, nature preserves, and organic farms. Already parks exist in Germany, between Finland and Russia, and between Austria and the Czech Republic and Hungary. Though there's resistance from governments that aren't quite yet chummy -- say, Greece and Macedonia -- and farmers that chafe at organic restrictions, organizers envision a grassroots, largely voluntary effort involving both public and privately owned land. "The idea is to interlink the needs of people and nature, because they're not incompatible," says Andrew Terry of the World Conservation Union, which is coordinating the project. "Protected areas should be places that allow humans and wildlife to live together."
straight to the source: The Christian Science Monitor, Colin Woodard, 28 Apr 2005
9.
Higher Ed
An interview with actor and eco-activist Edward Norton
In a culture so accustomed to casually impugning the intelligence of celebrities, a conversation with actor Edward Norton is a real eye-opener. He talks about the Solar Neighbors program he founded with BP, which installs solar panels on low-income housing in Los Angeles, his family's legacy of green activism, and his disgust with the Bush administration's environmental policies, in a chat with Amanda Griscom Little.
new in Main Dish: Higher Ed
10.
Moot Causes
Bush pushes refineries and nuke plants as solution to high energy prices
Many analysts say high energy prices are the result of inefficient use of non-renewable resources. President Bush does not employ any of those analysts. In a speech today, he will propose to address the "root causes" of high energy prices by, um, increasing the inefficient use of non-renewable resources. His five proposals will likely end up in the energy bill by the time the Senate votes on it. They are: encourage the construction of oil refineries on closed military bases; encourage the construction of nuclear power plants by easing the licensing process and providing federal risk insurance (long live the free market!); increase federal authority -- i.e., decrease state authority -- over the siting of liquefied natural gas terminals; encourage other countries to promote nuclear, "clean coal," and other slightly less polluting energy sources; and allow purchases of cars and trucks running on "clean diesel" to receive the same tax credit already slated for hybrid and fuel- cell vehicles.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Warren Vieth, 27 Apr 2005
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, H. Josef Hebert, 27 Apr 2005
11.
Ceci N'est Pas une Wipe
Disposable wipes not just for baby bums anymore
The season of spring cleaning is upon us, and for many Americans that means taking to dirty surfaces with a few -- or a few million -- disposable wipes. With varieties specially made for scrubbing, dusting, disinfecting, and buffing everything from microwaves to granite countertops to leather goods, it's estimated that North Americans used some 83,000 tons of disposable wipes last year. Cleaning-wipe manufacturers, including Proctor & Gamble, 3M, and SC Johnson, say they are just giving consumers what they want -- quick and easy cleaning products. But these throwaway goods are not just adding to landfills, says solid-waste specialist P. Aarne Vesilind; pollution is spewed and fossil fuels are squandered as ever-growing heaps of wipes and other dumb disposables are hauled away from homes to far-off dumps.
straight to the source: The Seattle Times, Chicago Tribune, Karen Klages, 24 Apr 2005
see also, in Grist: Umbra Fisk on our "throw it away" culture
12.
Texaco to Ecuador: Have You Tried a Swiffer?
Texaco haunted by dirty legacy in Ecuador
At a ChevronTexaco shareholder meeting today in California, Amazonian community leaders, celebrities, and activists will confront company officials, focusing attention anew on Texaco's messy legacy in Ecuador. Twenty years of oil exploration in the nation left much of the western edge of the Amazon rainforest in ecological ruin and many villagers with unusually high rates of illness. Though Texaco fled Ecuador back in 1992, its joint venture with the nation's state oil company left behind some 600 unlined open sludge pits, compromised or destroyed about 2.5 million acres of rainforest, and released an estimated 20 billion gallons of wastewater directly into waterways. For its part, ChevronTexaco says it took care of the contamination in 1995 when it paid $40 million in cleanup costs to the Ecuadorian government. But locals and enviros estimate that a thorough cleanup would run about $6 billion, precisely what activists are seeking in cases winding through U.S. and Ecuadori an courts.
straight to the source: The Independent, Andrew Gumbel, 27 Apr 2005
13.
Gettin' Busy
U.S. business getting with it on climate change
Talk about how the U.S. private sector is taking global warming seriously often flirts with wishful thinking. But we are nothing if not wishful. And flirty. So here goes: It looks like momentum is gathering in the U.S. business community to forthrightly address the issue of climate change. In part due to shareholder and activist lobbying, a growing number of companies are releasing reports on the financial risks associated with warming, including American Electric Power and Cinergy, two of the nation's largest electric-power generators. Just this week, J.P. Morgan Chase, the country's third-largest bank, announced an aggressive climate policy, joining Citigroup and Bank of America. Last month, Duke Energy CEO Paul Anderson called for a federal tax on carbon-dioxide emissions. Exelon CEO John Rowe called for mandatory restraints on same. Says Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, a coalition of investors and enviros, "Change is slow, painfully slow, so we have a long way to go, but progress is unquestionably being made."
straight to the source: Scripps Howard News Service, Joan Lowy, 26 Apr 2005
14.
Next: Clay Aiken Draws a Line In the Sands of Tuvalu
Hollywood celebs travel to Arctic to raise global-warming awareness
Matt Peterson of Global Green spends his time pondering this weighty question: "[I]n an age and culture that's celebrity-obsessed, how do you in a smart and savvy way use the celebrity to shine the light on the science, on the facts, and on the solution?" When it comes to global warming, the answer is obvious, isn't it? Simply fly Hollywood hotties Salma Hayek and Jake Gyllenhaal to the edge of the Arctic Circle, where they -- with help from some 500 Inuit villagers -- spell out the words "Arctic Warning" on an open patch of snow-covered ice. Take aerial photos. Then stand back and wait for ecological turnaround! Ah, we kid. Hayek and Gyllenhaal were good-humored about the whole thing, and Hayek herself stated what must have been on everyone's mind: "There's something wrong with the idea that celebrities have to get involved for people to be interested." Yes, but Salma, we arrange activist stunts in the culture we have, not the culture we might want or wish to have.
straight to the source: The Washington Post, Juliet Eilperin, 26 Apr 2005
15.
Iceland of Make-Believe
Fascinating facts about a country you could win a trip to
You know, ever since we got into the business of shilling Iceland in order to promote our sweepstakes, we've learned an awful lot of fascinating stuff. And now we've moved past shilling -- we just want to share! Guess how many people in Iceland believe in elves? Guess which U.S. state is the same size as Iceland? Guess where Iceland falls on a global sustainability index? You'll never guess. So read our Counter Culture instead.
new in Counter Culture: Iceland of Make-Believe
new in Grist: Find out how you could win a trip to Iceland
16.
What's the Time? It's Time to Get Iliamna
Proposed Alaskan mine may threaten salmon wonderland
Near the shores of vast Lake Iliamna in southern Alaska, locals are worried that a huge proposed open-pit mine at the region's headwaters could imperil legendary salmon runs. The story is familiar enough: an economically depressed, mineral-rich area gets courted by slick mining-company officials promising jobs and little-to-no ecological damage from its proposed 14-square-mile, $1.5 billion mine complex. Stakes are high on both sides. In one corner, Northern Dynasty Mines Inc., thirsty for what's billed as the largest gold deposit in North America and the second-largest copper deposit; in the other corner, a small Native Alaskan town subsisting primarily on the area's fish, wary of the company's claims but hungry for jobs. Caught somewhere in the middle is "one of the most special places for salmon anywhere," as University of Washington biologist Thomas Quinn calls it. Ultimate approval of the mine is up to state and federal officials.
straight to the source: The New York Times, Lisa W. Drew, 26 Apr 2005
17.
Guppy Love
Young urban professionals hip to green-building scene
The trend now has a name. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Guppys: Green urban professionals who are young. (Yeah, we didn't say it was a clever name.) Portland, Ore., has become the epicenter of a movement by the storied "creative class" to find, build, or remodel eco-friendly houses. Guppys are seeking out solar panels, passive heating and cooling systems, green roofs, and recycled materials, and are even -- gasp! -- sacrificing square footage in the quest for greener dwellings. This kind of construction costs more on the front end, which at least for now restricts it to higher-end hipsters, but the long-term energy savings can, in some cases, more than compensate. But money is not the only consideration. "Building green is both a very practical, self-interested activity, in terms of lower operating costs, and it also has a deeper spiritual value to many people taking responsibility for the impacts they have," says Portland architect Alan Scott.
straight to the source: The Christian Science Monitor, Elizabeth Armstrong Moore, 26 Apr 2005
18.
Author! Author!
Booker Prize-winning author Ian McEwan waxes poetic on climate change
From 35,000 feet above the earth's surface, you can see awe-inspiring views of vast, open spaces. Unless, that is, you're flying over spots like Mexico City and Beijing, in which case you'll see "a great rim of grime -- as though detached from an unwashed bathtub," as British novelist Ian McEwan puts it. In a piece first published on openDemocracy.net, which is hosting an interactive global discussion on climate change, the author of Saturday, Atonement, and Enduring Love ponders what we should do with these images once back on solid ground, and how we can face up to the complexities of climate change.
new in Soapbox: Let's Talk About Climate Change
see also, at openDemocracy: The Politics of Climate Change
19.
Before Sunset
Language in budget bill could unravel federal environmental protections
Buried deep in the 2,000-page budget bill President Bush recently sent to Congress is a three-sentence provision that threatens to eviscerate environmental and other protections. Authored by the White House Office of Management and Budget, the provision would, if passed unamended, subject any and all federal programs to the scrutiny of a "Sunset Commission." The eight-member panel, appointed by the president, would have the power to kill any programs not "producing results." Programs deemed non-productive would "automatically terminate unless the Congress took action to continue them." "This is potentially devastating," warned Wesley Warren, who served in the OMB under President Clinton. "In short order, this could knock out protections that have been built up over a generation." The provision raises thorny constitutional questions, as it would subject congressional powers to what amounts to executive approval. Still, says Clay Johnson of the Bush OMB, "We just think it makes sense."
straight to the source: Rolling Stone, Osha Gray Davidson, 05 May 2005
20.
Shock and Thaw
New Yorker launches three-part exploration of climate change
Writer Elizabeth Kolbert must have single-handedly accelerated global warming with the jet fuel she burned visiting the Arctic, Iceland, Greenland, Alaska, and the Antarctic to research a big three-part series on climate change for The New Yorker. What did she find? Well, it's all melting. The Alaskan village of Shishmaref is going to be uprooted and moved en masse, thanks to increasing exposure to rising tides and grumpy weather. The Arctic sea ice is melting, thus reducing its reflectivity, thus absorbing more energy, thus melting faster (and so on). Greenland's ice sheet is melting, raising sea levels and possibly altering the ocean currents that keep the world's temperate zones temperate. Meanwhile, the third part of a big multi-country climate report -- the part on the actions governments need to take -- is being delayed by the U.S. delegation, which doesn't like the word "mandatory." If you haven't slit your wrists yet, get ready for part two ...
straight to the source: The New Yorker, Elizabeth Kolbert, 25 Apr 2005
21.
Everything Coal Is New Again
Congress seeks tax money to make defunct "clean coal" plant dirty again
For aficionados of government pork, the energy bill that recently passed the House is the gift that keeps on giving. The latest gem uncovered is a provision that would offer $125 million in loan guarantees to a "clean coal" power plant in Alaska. Now, this pork isn't going to build the plant -- that $117 million ship sailed years ago. No, this new pork is going to convert the "clean coal" plant back into an old-fashioned "dirty coal" plant that, um, works. You see, the experimental facility, originally built in the late '90s just outside Denali National Park, cost more than projected, produced power only intermittently, and was more or less a fiasco. Five years ago, it was closed down, and now it sits unused. Activists who were worried about it back when it was "clean" are even more worried now. But Alaska's congressional delegation, which squeezed the provision in, hastens to assure us that all is well. Says an aide to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), "It's certainly not a boondoggle." Whew.
straight to the source: The Washington Post, Justin Blum, 24 Apr 2005
22.
The Loan Changer
J.P. Morgan to green lending policies
Today, New York banking giant J.P. Morgan Chase will issue new lending policies with an environmental bent. Although the company denies it was pressured into the shift, the bank's pledge is similar to those made in recent months by other financial institutions like Citigroup and Bank of America that have faced pressure from shareholder campaigns and activist groups like the Rainforest Action Network. J.P. Morgan's new guidelines are expected to tie greenhouse-gas emissions to financial costs in the loan review process and set up "No Go Zones" -- areas where the bank will refuse financing for environmentally damaging industries like logging. "This is increasingly becoming the way all banks operate," says Steve Lippman of Trillium Asset Management, one of the socially responsible investment firms that helped lobby for the policy shift. "J.P. Morgan is now raising the bar for the sector."
straight to the source: The Wall Street Journal, Jim Carlton, 25 Apr 2005 (access ain't free)
see also, in Grist: Not Just Lippman Service -- Green investment expert Steve Lippman answers Grist's questions
posted by T. Scott Brineman at 9:42 AM
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