The Daily Grist
The Pernicious Effects of Hollywood Liberalism
Californians believe global warming is real and want state to act
Most Californians believe their state should take action now to regulate human activities that are heating up the planet. According to a survey conducted by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, 86 percent think global warming will affect them or their descendants, and more than half of those think changes are already under way. Even among Golden State Republicans, only 20 percent say global warming will never happen, and only 9 percent of Californians overall are greenhouse deniers. The survey revealed that Californians don't trust the federal government on eco-issues, and they're not impressed with the local talent either: both President Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) got only 32 percent approval ratings for their environmental policies. Most Californians would like the state to mandate caps on greenhouse-gas emissions for new cars, create a statewide hydrogen-fueling network, and offer incentives for installing solar systems on buildings.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Maria Alicia Gaura, 21 Jul 2005
That's a Rappaport
Defenders of Wildlife VP Jamie Rappaport Clark answers readers' questions
As former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jamie Rappaport Clark has great respect for FWS biologists who are frustrated with their constant battles against the pro-industry policies favored by the current administration. In answering reader questions, Clark offers advice to conservation-minded government employees (keep on truckin'!), discusses her guarded skepticism toward Bush's nominee for FWS director, and explains why the scariest part about rewritten environmental policies is who is doing the rewriting.
new in InterActivist: That's a Rappaport
Weeding, Writing, 'Rithmetic
Locally grown foods catching on at college dining halls
The local-and-seasonal food movement is going to college. About 200 schools around the country have joined programs that supply them with locally grown foods, like Brown University in Providence, R.I., where locally farmed Pippin and Macoun apples proved so much more popular than Granny Smiths and Red Delicious that food-service buyers soon branched out to local tomatoes, peaches, and milk. And at the University of Montana in Missoula, nearly 20 percent of the dining-hall food budget goes to locally produced meat, wheat, and dairy products. Student-run farms have sprung up at about 60 schools in 27 states in the past 10 years or so, sometimes selling produce to dining halls or nearby restaurants, or donating it to food pantries. Some students find that earning healthier, tastier edibles with sweat equity lets them chill out from the demands of higher ed. "It's nice during school to be able to go out and get my hands dirty," said Kevin McAlpin, while tilling the soil at Oregon State University's student-run organic farm. "It's stress relief."
straight to the source: Star-Telegram, Associated Press, Julia Silverman, 22 Jul 2005
Between the Devil and the Deep Green Supercenter
Wal-Mart building two experimental green stores
Mega-giganto retailer Wal-Mart is conducting an experiment. No, not the world-domination experiment, a different one: It's constructing two "Supercenters" with green-building features designed to reduce energy and water use. The first, in Texas, will have solar cells embedded in skylights; runoff waste water will be captured and reused; heat from refrigeration units will warm water for the bathroom sinks; waste oil from the garage and food-service areas will be burned in a radiant floor-heating system; energy-efficient LED lights will illuminate the low-paid, uninsured, non-unionized Wal-Mart "associates" on the floor below. After three years, the results of the experiment will be assessed by independent agencies and shared publicly, and the most successful elements will be used in other Supercenters and likely in other big-box retail stores. "The No. 1 rule in retail is to get people in and have them hang around for a while," said Rick Fedrizzi of the U.S. Green Building Council. "In green spaces you have a sense of well-being." The move is, suffice to say, unlikely to mollify Wal-Mart's critics in the environmental and labor movements.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Roger Vincent, 20 Jul 2005
straight to the source: Denver Post, Bloomberg News, Lauren Coleman-Lochner, 20 Jul 2005
see also, in Grist: Another Brick in the Wal-Mart, by Umbra Fisk
Beak Truth to Power
Scientists question ivory-billed woodpecker evidence
Conservationists and bird lovers have been enjoying their euphoric high from the rediscovery of the legendary, turns-out-not-extinct-after-all ivory-billed woodpecker. So leave it to a trio of meddling scientists to come along and harsh the buzz. Three biologists have written a paper questioning whether the evidence gathered to support the alleged re-emergence of the woodpecker -- including the now-famous grainy four-second video -- is in fact conclusive. "In my opinion," said Jerome Jackson, one of the paper's authors, "the data presented thus far do no more than suggest the possibility" that the woodpecker is back. The paper is expected to be published in a peer-reviewed journal within weeks, along with a spirited rebuttal from the team that announced the discovery, along with a rebuttal of the rebuttal by the paper's authors, all of which will no doubt prompt months of anguished hand-wringing from everyone involved. At stake is not just the heart-warming story of a species returned like a phoenix from the ashes of extinction, but the $13 million in conservation money the Bush administration plans to distribute to landowners in the region.
straight to the source: The New York Times, Andrew C. Revkin, 21 Jul 2005
The Hills Are Alive ...
As Europeans flock to urban centers, wildlife reclaim the countryside
Wild boars on the outskirts of Berlin. Bears scaring schoolkids in Austria. New summer blockbuster about a wildlife invasion? Nope, it's Europe in the 21st century. Animals long considered scarce are reappearing in the countryside as folks across the continent abandon rural villages for cities, leaving behind "old mines and quarries" and "farmland that can no longer be profitably harvested," says one researcher. Wolves, which disappeared from Germany in the mid-1800s, now range over abandoned Soviet military reservations in the eastern Saxony region, perhaps having migrated from Poland's Carpathian Mountains. Wildcats and osprey are also being seen in the Teutonic east. And wild critters could reclaim even more territory, as, based on current birth rates, Europe's overall human population is expected to drop about 41 million by 2030. Who knows -- by then a good chunk of the continent could have become a de facto nature preserve.
straight to the source: The Times, Roger Boyes, 16 Jul 2005
Queer Eye for the Turbine
Hip, new wind-turbine designs shed those fusty rotating blades
As anti-wind-power crusaders make ever-louder indictments of unsightly turbines, wind advocates are fighting back with a new tool -- aesthetics. A handful of wind-power companies are teaming up with designers to develop new contraptions that can harness wind energy without the traditional spinning blades, as well as new plans for placing turbines away from scenic landscapes. Take the Aerogenerator, a new wind turbine intended to be situated far out at sea; the Guardian describes the vaguely V-shaped design as looking "like a cross between a glider and a giant harp, or perhaps a James Bond villain's mid-ocean hideout." A prototype will be tested soon, and if all goes well Aerogenerators could be in production within three to five years, boosters say. Meanwhile, innovative architects are working to incorporate spiral turbines and other new types directly into skyscrapers; the power they generate could then be used on site, and someday such buildings might generate all their own electricity.
straight to the source: The Guardian, Steve Rose, 18 Jul 2005
Easy, Breezy, Beautiful
Umbra on home wind power
Who among us hasn't licked a finger, held it up in a stiff breeze, and thought, "Man, I could run my TV on that!" OK, probably not so many of us. But a few enterprising folks out there do wonder how to power their homes with nature's blow. One writes from Canada to ask Umbra how he might go about it; once she stops burbling about that nation to the north, she offers a few tips on how to get the most zip from your zephyr.
new in Ask Umbra: Easy, Breezy, Beautiful
sign up: Receive word by email when new Ask Umbra columns hit the scene
Why Does He Hate Toads?
SCOTUS nominee John G. Roberts not a green's first pick
President Bush's new Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. has a distinguished conservative pedigree: He clerked for conservative Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist and was deputy White House counsel during the Reagan administration. With only two years under his belt as a federal judge, Roberts' attitudes toward environmental law are not well-documented, but as a deputy solicitor general in Bush Sr.'s administration he won a Supreme Court case blocking National Wildlife Federation members from filing claims against mining on 4,500 acres of public land. Roberts also wrote rather sarcastic comments about California's arroyo toad in his dissent from a 2003 court decision upholding protection of the amphibian under the Endangered Species Act. Roberts has served on the legal advisory council of the National Legal Center for the Public Interest, an anti-regulation conservative advocacy organization, and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, which worries that the legal profession is dominated by a liberal ideology.
straight to the source: The Christian Science Monitor, Warren Richey, 21 Jul 2005
straight to the source: Salon.com, Katharine Mieszkowski, 20 Jul 2005
straight to the source: The New York Times, Linda Greenhouse, 20 Jul 2005
Brussels Pouts
European Union commissioners duke it out over green legislation
Today's meeting of the E.U.'s European Commission is a make-or-break moment for the union's sustainable-development policies, according to eco-advocates. Since taking office last November, commission president José Manuel Barroso has delayed initiatives on pesticides, the marine environment, air quality, and more, saying they might prevent the sluggish E.U. economy from picking up speed. E.U. Enterprise Commissioner Günter Verheugen argues that the anticipated expense of the union's enviro policies has yet to be justified. But greens and many others disagree, arguing that while implementation costs could be high, the policies are likely to provide significant -- though difficult-to-measure -- economic and social benefits. For example, the E.U.'s tough clean-air plan is likely to prevent hundreds of thousands of premature deaths a year, reduce future health-care expenses, and forestall costly damages to agriculture. Says Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, "[I]n all of these scenarios the benefits are four times more than the costs."
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Jeff Mason, 20 Jul 2005
straight to the source: BBC News, Chris Morris, 20 Jul 2005
straight to the source: EurActive.com, 20 Jul 2005
straight to the source: Financial Times, George Parker, 19 Jul 2005
Urbana Renewal
Illinois commission votes to expand state's clean energy sources
The Illinois Commerce Commission has approved a sustainable-energy initiative designed to increase the state's reliance on renewables, especially wind power. The plan is voluntary, but if it is fully embraced by all of the state's utilities Illinois could see 8 percent of its electricity produced via clean energy sources by 2013, up from the current one-half of 1 percent. More than a dozen wind-energy projects are planned for the state, including the world's largest wind farm; they're expected to generate jobs and boost incomes in rural areas and cut air pollution. Utilities are also being asked to help customers invest in energy-efficient technology and devices, in a bid to reduce demand 10 percent by 2007 and 25 percent by 2015. While he would have liked the plan's goals to be mandatory rather than optional, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn (D) is optimistic that it's a "good step forward" for "all-American energy."
straight to the source: The Chicago Sun-Times, Mary Wisniewski, 20 Jul 2005
The Offal Truth
Promising clean-energy company may have to leave U.S. to succeed
Certain folks take it as quasi-religious doctrine that strong green regulation is bad for economic growth. Tell it to Philadelphia's Changing World Technologies, a burgeoning clean-energy company that may have to leave the U.S. precisely because of lax environmental laws. Every day, CWT turns 270 tons of turkey offal -- the bones, meaty bits, and feathers that don't get to the supermarket with your Butterball roaster -- into 300 barrels of fuel oil. Using "thermal depolymerization," CWT claims it can transform nearly any carbon-containing waste into a biodiesel-esque fuel, at a net energy gain, with minimal byproducts and no net addition to the atmospheric carbon cycle. But CWT may move to Europe to perfect its methods. In a country that's signed the Kyoto Protocol, CWT could sell greenhouse-gas emissions credits for many times more than they're worth in the U.S. Plus, while using animal residues in animal chow is still legal in the U.S., it's been banned in many other countries, cutting costs for CWT's chief raw material to nearly zero.
straight to the source: Dragonfire, Trey Popp, Jul 2005
We Don't Need No Stinkin' Garbage
Seattle to reduce landfilling by producing less trash in the first place
Seattle is pioneering programs to cut landfill costs by stopping trash before it starts, pursuing an ambitious long-term goal of becoming a "zero-waste" city. Seattle Public Utilities is using more electronic documents, radically reducing its use of paper, and instituting a green buying program for non-toxic cleaners, greener electronics, and other eco-friendly products. Manufacturers are being encouraged to institute take-back programs for their products, intercepting them for reuse or proper disposal before they are sent to the dump. Last year, 11 city-sponsored green-building projects salvaged or reused 57,000 tons of materials, and the "Use-It-Again-Seattle" give-and-take-free-stuff program kept 221 tons of materials out of landfills. While recycling means making something new from something used, "waste prevention means not making the waste in the first place," said Chris Luboff of Seattle Public Utilities. "We're trying to broaden that concept."
straight to the source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Debera Carlton Harrell, 18 Jul 2005
So Three Judges Walk Into a Car ...
Appeals court rules EPA doesn't have to regulate CO2 emissions from cars
The U.S. EPA's refusal to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions from automobiles is legit, a federal appeals court panel ruled on Friday. The coalition of 12 states and more than a dozen green groups that filed suit against EPA over the issue begs to differ -- they say that since CO2 from cars is heating up the atmosphere and threatening public health and safety, the Clean Air Act compels the EPA to act -- and they are itching to file an appeal. Muckraker gets the inside scoop.
new in Muckraker: So Three Judges Walk Into a Car ...
sign up: Receive word by email each time a new Muckraker column hits the scene
Spies Like Us
FBI terrorism unit investigating doings of peaceful green groups
FBI agents working on behalf of the bureau's counterterrorism unit have been gathering information on nonviolent environmental, civil-rights, and peace organizations for the past several years, according to Justice Department documents revealed in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The documents reveal that the FBI has amassed thousands of pages of records on the activities of groups like Greenpeace and the American Civil Liberties Union. The feds claim they're just trying to prevent violence at political demonstrations, not, you know, stifle free speech or free assembly or anything like that (heaven forfend!). But "if the FBI has taken the time to gather 2,400 pages of information on an organization that has a perfect record of peaceful activity for 34 years," said Greenpeace USA's John Passacantando, "it suggests they're just attempting to stifle the voices of their critics."
straight to the source: The Washington Post, Michael Dobbs, 18 Jul 2005
straight to the source: The New York Times, Eric Lichtblau, 18 Jul 2005
We Must Increase Our Gust
Umbra defends the power of the wind
Back in January, advice maven Umbra Fisk aired her feelings about wind farms. In short: yeehaw! But a reader from Vermont called her to task for not substantiating her exuberant yodeling with numbers. (Some people are so picky!) So she's back on it, with a whirl of figures and factoids and metaphors -- all delivered with her usual gusto.
new in Ask Umbra: We Must Increase Our Gust
sign up: Receive word by email when new Ask Umbra columns hit the scene
These Aren't the Hybrids You're Looking for
Newer hybrids emphasize engine muscle instead of fuel efficiency
Some of the newest hybrid car models are not notably more fuel-efficient than their conventional brethren, but still qualify buyers for a "clean fuels" tax credit, causing greens no end of mixed feelings. In the case of the Honda Accord, the 2005 hybrid model uses electric-motor technology to boost the car's power rather than significantly reduce fuel consumption and save gasoline -- testing by Consumer Reports indicates that it gets about the same miles per gallon as the conventional Accord. Oil-phobic activists are guarded in dissing the power-happy hybrids, since their growing popularity motivates automakers to improve hybrid technology. But they'd like to see the government get a little more selective about which hybrids qualify for tax benefits. Honda, meanwhile, points out that it does offer hybrid cars that emphasize gas savings over power -- for those who want them.
straight to the source: The New York Times, Matthew L. Wald, 17 Jul 2005
Californians believe global warming is real and want state to act
Most Californians believe their state should take action now to regulate human activities that are heating up the planet. According to a survey conducted by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, 86 percent think global warming will affect them or their descendants, and more than half of those think changes are already under way. Even among Golden State Republicans, only 20 percent say global warming will never happen, and only 9 percent of Californians overall are greenhouse deniers. The survey revealed that Californians don't trust the federal government on eco-issues, and they're not impressed with the local talent either: both President Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) got only 32 percent approval ratings for their environmental policies. Most Californians would like the state to mandate caps on greenhouse-gas emissions for new cars, create a statewide hydrogen-fueling network, and offer incentives for installing solar systems on buildings.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Maria Alicia Gaura, 21 Jul 2005
That's a Rappaport
Defenders of Wildlife VP Jamie Rappaport Clark answers readers' questions
As former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jamie Rappaport Clark has great respect for FWS biologists who are frustrated with their constant battles against the pro-industry policies favored by the current administration. In answering reader questions, Clark offers advice to conservation-minded government employees (keep on truckin'!), discusses her guarded skepticism toward Bush's nominee for FWS director, and explains why the scariest part about rewritten environmental policies is who is doing the rewriting.
new in InterActivist: That's a Rappaport
Weeding, Writing, 'Rithmetic
Locally grown foods catching on at college dining halls
The local-and-seasonal food movement is going to college. About 200 schools around the country have joined programs that supply them with locally grown foods, like Brown University in Providence, R.I., where locally farmed Pippin and Macoun apples proved so much more popular than Granny Smiths and Red Delicious that food-service buyers soon branched out to local tomatoes, peaches, and milk. And at the University of Montana in Missoula, nearly 20 percent of the dining-hall food budget goes to locally produced meat, wheat, and dairy products. Student-run farms have sprung up at about 60 schools in 27 states in the past 10 years or so, sometimes selling produce to dining halls or nearby restaurants, or donating it to food pantries. Some students find that earning healthier, tastier edibles with sweat equity lets them chill out from the demands of higher ed. "It's nice during school to be able to go out and get my hands dirty," said Kevin McAlpin, while tilling the soil at Oregon State University's student-run organic farm. "It's stress relief."
straight to the source: Star-Telegram, Associated Press, Julia Silverman, 22 Jul 2005
Between the Devil and the Deep Green Supercenter
Wal-Mart building two experimental green stores
Mega-giganto retailer Wal-Mart is conducting an experiment. No, not the world-domination experiment, a different one: It's constructing two "Supercenters" with green-building features designed to reduce energy and water use. The first, in Texas, will have solar cells embedded in skylights; runoff waste water will be captured and reused; heat from refrigeration units will warm water for the bathroom sinks; waste oil from the garage and food-service areas will be burned in a radiant floor-heating system; energy-efficient LED lights will illuminate the low-paid, uninsured, non-unionized Wal-Mart "associates" on the floor below. After three years, the results of the experiment will be assessed by independent agencies and shared publicly, and the most successful elements will be used in other Supercenters and likely in other big-box retail stores. "The No. 1 rule in retail is to get people in and have them hang around for a while," said Rick Fedrizzi of the U.S. Green Building Council. "In green spaces you have a sense of well-being." The move is, suffice to say, unlikely to mollify Wal-Mart's critics in the environmental and labor movements.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Roger Vincent, 20 Jul 2005
straight to the source: Denver Post, Bloomberg News, Lauren Coleman-Lochner, 20 Jul 2005
see also, in Grist: Another Brick in the Wal-Mart, by Umbra Fisk
Beak Truth to Power
Scientists question ivory-billed woodpecker evidence
Conservationists and bird lovers have been enjoying their euphoric high from the rediscovery of the legendary, turns-out-not-extinct-after-all ivory-billed woodpecker. So leave it to a trio of meddling scientists to come along and harsh the buzz. Three biologists have written a paper questioning whether the evidence gathered to support the alleged re-emergence of the woodpecker -- including the now-famous grainy four-second video -- is in fact conclusive. "In my opinion," said Jerome Jackson, one of the paper's authors, "the data presented thus far do no more than suggest the possibility" that the woodpecker is back. The paper is expected to be published in a peer-reviewed journal within weeks, along with a spirited rebuttal from the team that announced the discovery, along with a rebuttal of the rebuttal by the paper's authors, all of which will no doubt prompt months of anguished hand-wringing from everyone involved. At stake is not just the heart-warming story of a species returned like a phoenix from the ashes of extinction, but the $13 million in conservation money the Bush administration plans to distribute to landowners in the region.
straight to the source: The New York Times, Andrew C. Revkin, 21 Jul 2005
The Hills Are Alive ...
As Europeans flock to urban centers, wildlife reclaim the countryside
Wild boars on the outskirts of Berlin. Bears scaring schoolkids in Austria. New summer blockbuster about a wildlife invasion? Nope, it's Europe in the 21st century. Animals long considered scarce are reappearing in the countryside as folks across the continent abandon rural villages for cities, leaving behind "old mines and quarries" and "farmland that can no longer be profitably harvested," says one researcher. Wolves, which disappeared from Germany in the mid-1800s, now range over abandoned Soviet military reservations in the eastern Saxony region, perhaps having migrated from Poland's Carpathian Mountains. Wildcats and osprey are also being seen in the Teutonic east. And wild critters could reclaim even more territory, as, based on current birth rates, Europe's overall human population is expected to drop about 41 million by 2030. Who knows -- by then a good chunk of the continent could have become a de facto nature preserve.
straight to the source: The Times, Roger Boyes, 16 Jul 2005
Queer Eye for the Turbine
Hip, new wind-turbine designs shed those fusty rotating blades
As anti-wind-power crusaders make ever-louder indictments of unsightly turbines, wind advocates are fighting back with a new tool -- aesthetics. A handful of wind-power companies are teaming up with designers to develop new contraptions that can harness wind energy without the traditional spinning blades, as well as new plans for placing turbines away from scenic landscapes. Take the Aerogenerator, a new wind turbine intended to be situated far out at sea; the Guardian describes the vaguely V-shaped design as looking "like a cross between a glider and a giant harp, or perhaps a James Bond villain's mid-ocean hideout." A prototype will be tested soon, and if all goes well Aerogenerators could be in production within three to five years, boosters say. Meanwhile, innovative architects are working to incorporate spiral turbines and other new types directly into skyscrapers; the power they generate could then be used on site, and someday such buildings might generate all their own electricity.
straight to the source: The Guardian, Steve Rose, 18 Jul 2005
Easy, Breezy, Beautiful
Umbra on home wind power
Who among us hasn't licked a finger, held it up in a stiff breeze, and thought, "Man, I could run my TV on that!" OK, probably not so many of us. But a few enterprising folks out there do wonder how to power their homes with nature's blow. One writes from Canada to ask Umbra how he might go about it; once she stops burbling about that nation to the north, she offers a few tips on how to get the most zip from your zephyr.
new in Ask Umbra: Easy, Breezy, Beautiful
sign up: Receive word by email when new Ask Umbra columns hit the scene
Why Does He Hate Toads?
SCOTUS nominee John G. Roberts not a green's first pick
President Bush's new Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. has a distinguished conservative pedigree: He clerked for conservative Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist and was deputy White House counsel during the Reagan administration. With only two years under his belt as a federal judge, Roberts' attitudes toward environmental law are not well-documented, but as a deputy solicitor general in Bush Sr.'s administration he won a Supreme Court case blocking National Wildlife Federation members from filing claims against mining on 4,500 acres of public land. Roberts also wrote rather sarcastic comments about California's arroyo toad in his dissent from a 2003 court decision upholding protection of the amphibian under the Endangered Species Act. Roberts has served on the legal advisory council of the National Legal Center for the Public Interest, an anti-regulation conservative advocacy organization, and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, which worries that the legal profession is dominated by a liberal ideology.
straight to the source: The Christian Science Monitor, Warren Richey, 21 Jul 2005
straight to the source: Salon.com, Katharine Mieszkowski, 20 Jul 2005
straight to the source: The New York Times, Linda Greenhouse, 20 Jul 2005
Brussels Pouts
European Union commissioners duke it out over green legislation
Today's meeting of the E.U.'s European Commission is a make-or-break moment for the union's sustainable-development policies, according to eco-advocates. Since taking office last November, commission president José Manuel Barroso has delayed initiatives on pesticides, the marine environment, air quality, and more, saying they might prevent the sluggish E.U. economy from picking up speed. E.U. Enterprise Commissioner Günter Verheugen argues that the anticipated expense of the union's enviro policies has yet to be justified. But greens and many others disagree, arguing that while implementation costs could be high, the policies are likely to provide significant -- though difficult-to-measure -- economic and social benefits. For example, the E.U.'s tough clean-air plan is likely to prevent hundreds of thousands of premature deaths a year, reduce future health-care expenses, and forestall costly damages to agriculture. Says Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, "[I]n all of these scenarios the benefits are four times more than the costs."
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Jeff Mason, 20 Jul 2005
straight to the source: BBC News, Chris Morris, 20 Jul 2005
straight to the source: EurActive.com, 20 Jul 2005
straight to the source: Financial Times, George Parker, 19 Jul 2005
Urbana Renewal
Illinois commission votes to expand state's clean energy sources
The Illinois Commerce Commission has approved a sustainable-energy initiative designed to increase the state's reliance on renewables, especially wind power. The plan is voluntary, but if it is fully embraced by all of the state's utilities Illinois could see 8 percent of its electricity produced via clean energy sources by 2013, up from the current one-half of 1 percent. More than a dozen wind-energy projects are planned for the state, including the world's largest wind farm; they're expected to generate jobs and boost incomes in rural areas and cut air pollution. Utilities are also being asked to help customers invest in energy-efficient technology and devices, in a bid to reduce demand 10 percent by 2007 and 25 percent by 2015. While he would have liked the plan's goals to be mandatory rather than optional, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn (D) is optimistic that it's a "good step forward" for "all-American energy."
straight to the source: The Chicago Sun-Times, Mary Wisniewski, 20 Jul 2005
The Offal Truth
Promising clean-energy company may have to leave U.S. to succeed
Certain folks take it as quasi-religious doctrine that strong green regulation is bad for economic growth. Tell it to Philadelphia's Changing World Technologies, a burgeoning clean-energy company that may have to leave the U.S. precisely because of lax environmental laws. Every day, CWT turns 270 tons of turkey offal -- the bones, meaty bits, and feathers that don't get to the supermarket with your Butterball roaster -- into 300 barrels of fuel oil. Using "thermal depolymerization," CWT claims it can transform nearly any carbon-containing waste into a biodiesel-esque fuel, at a net energy gain, with minimal byproducts and no net addition to the atmospheric carbon cycle. But CWT may move to Europe to perfect its methods. In a country that's signed the Kyoto Protocol, CWT could sell greenhouse-gas emissions credits for many times more than they're worth in the U.S. Plus, while using animal residues in animal chow is still legal in the U.S., it's been banned in many other countries, cutting costs for CWT's chief raw material to nearly zero.
straight to the source: Dragonfire, Trey Popp, Jul 2005
We Don't Need No Stinkin' Garbage
Seattle to reduce landfilling by producing less trash in the first place
Seattle is pioneering programs to cut landfill costs by stopping trash before it starts, pursuing an ambitious long-term goal of becoming a "zero-waste" city. Seattle Public Utilities is using more electronic documents, radically reducing its use of paper, and instituting a green buying program for non-toxic cleaners, greener electronics, and other eco-friendly products. Manufacturers are being encouraged to institute take-back programs for their products, intercepting them for reuse or proper disposal before they are sent to the dump. Last year, 11 city-sponsored green-building projects salvaged or reused 57,000 tons of materials, and the "Use-It-Again-Seattle" give-and-take-free-stuff program kept 221 tons of materials out of landfills. While recycling means making something new from something used, "waste prevention means not making the waste in the first place," said Chris Luboff of Seattle Public Utilities. "We're trying to broaden that concept."
straight to the source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Debera Carlton Harrell, 18 Jul 2005
So Three Judges Walk Into a Car ...
Appeals court rules EPA doesn't have to regulate CO2 emissions from cars
The U.S. EPA's refusal to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions from automobiles is legit, a federal appeals court panel ruled on Friday. The coalition of 12 states and more than a dozen green groups that filed suit against EPA over the issue begs to differ -- they say that since CO2 from cars is heating up the atmosphere and threatening public health and safety, the Clean Air Act compels the EPA to act -- and they are itching to file an appeal. Muckraker gets the inside scoop.
new in Muckraker: So Three Judges Walk Into a Car ...
sign up: Receive word by email each time a new Muckraker column hits the scene
Spies Like Us
FBI terrorism unit investigating doings of peaceful green groups
FBI agents working on behalf of the bureau's counterterrorism unit have been gathering information on nonviolent environmental, civil-rights, and peace organizations for the past several years, according to Justice Department documents revealed in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The documents reveal that the FBI has amassed thousands of pages of records on the activities of groups like Greenpeace and the American Civil Liberties Union. The feds claim they're just trying to prevent violence at political demonstrations, not, you know, stifle free speech or free assembly or anything like that (heaven forfend!). But "if the FBI has taken the time to gather 2,400 pages of information on an organization that has a perfect record of peaceful activity for 34 years," said Greenpeace USA's John Passacantando, "it suggests they're just attempting to stifle the voices of their critics."
straight to the source: The Washington Post, Michael Dobbs, 18 Jul 2005
straight to the source: The New York Times, Eric Lichtblau, 18 Jul 2005
We Must Increase Our Gust
Umbra defends the power of the wind
Back in January, advice maven Umbra Fisk aired her feelings about wind farms. In short: yeehaw! But a reader from Vermont called her to task for not substantiating her exuberant yodeling with numbers. (Some people are so picky!) So she's back on it, with a whirl of figures and factoids and metaphors -- all delivered with her usual gusto.
new in Ask Umbra: We Must Increase Our Gust
sign up: Receive word by email when new Ask Umbra columns hit the scene
These Aren't the Hybrids You're Looking for
Newer hybrids emphasize engine muscle instead of fuel efficiency
Some of the newest hybrid car models are not notably more fuel-efficient than their conventional brethren, but still qualify buyers for a "clean fuels" tax credit, causing greens no end of mixed feelings. In the case of the Honda Accord, the 2005 hybrid model uses electric-motor technology to boost the car's power rather than significantly reduce fuel consumption and save gasoline -- testing by Consumer Reports indicates that it gets about the same miles per gallon as the conventional Accord. Oil-phobic activists are guarded in dissing the power-happy hybrids, since their growing popularity motivates automakers to improve hybrid technology. But they'd like to see the government get a little more selective about which hybrids qualify for tax benefits. Honda, meanwhile, points out that it does offer hybrid cars that emphasize gas savings over power -- for those who want them.
straight to the source: The New York Times, Matthew L. Wald, 17 Jul 2005
posted by T. Scott Brineman at 8:37 PM
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