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In the News

It's Us Against Chem

Feds rush to weaken workplace safety rules on toxics before term ends

Posted at 9:10 AM on 23 Jul 2008

Read more about: business | news | politics | toxics | United States
The Bush administration is trying to push through a new workplace safety rule to weaken workers' protections against toxic chemicals before it leaves office, according to The Washington Post. The rule, which has not been made public, would mandate a reevaluation of the methods used to measure risks to workers from toxic exposure in the workplace. The rule would also require the U.S. Department of Labor to entertain additional challenges to its risk assessments before establishing new limits on exposure to chemicals. So far, work on the proposal has reportedly been fast-tracked and has been conducted largely in secret, drawing sharp criticism from worker advocates. "This is a guarantee to keep any more worker safety regulation from ever coming out of [the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration]," said workplace safety professor David Michaels. "This is being done in secrecy, to be sprung before President Bush leaves office, to cripple the next administration," he said. Once it's published, the rule will be open to public comment for 30 days.

source: The Washington Post

Shale We Dance?

Bush admin proposes low royalty rates in push for U.S. oil-shale development

Posted at 7:43 AM on 23 Jul 2008

Read more about: business | energy | news | oil | public lands | United States
The Bush administration proposed rules [PDF] for U.S. oil shale development Tuesday that include charging lower royalty rates for oil-shale production on public lands than it does for other oil and gas drilling. The lower royalties are meant to encourage oil-shale production since, as it turns out, the energy- and pollution-intensive process of cooking rocks before pumping out the resulting oil is still up to three times more expensive than extracting already-liquid oil. "It is basically recognition that in the beginning there has to be a lower royalty to recognize the pioneering nature of this business," said the executive director of the National Oil Shale Association. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne had a different take on the economics of oil-shale development, saying the high costs of production are finally beginning to make sense. "For years, the cost of extracting oil from shale exceeded the benefit, but today that calculus is changing." (Thanks, high oil prices!)

source: Associated Press
new in Muckraker: Bush admin's effort to spur oil shale production won't do much for consumers in short run
see also, in Gristmill: It's a 1980 flashback, as energy price spikes make oil shale economical once again
Link and Discuss (1 Comment)

In Brief

Snippets from the news

Posted at 5:25 PM on 22 Jul 2008

• British eco-town plan could be illegal.

• Climate change could mean more kittens!

• Women exposed to high levels of PCBs are less likely to birth boys.

Ford shifting to smaller cars.

Wildfire smoke could ease warming in Arctic.

• General Motors and utility group will collaborate for electric-car infrastructure.

• California adopts solar loan law.

I Wonder How to Wander

Google Maps adds walking directions

Posted at 4:40 PM on 22 Jul 2008

Read more about: green living | news | placemaking | tech | travel | websites
Photo: ny.gov
Taking another step toward complete indispensability, Google Maps on Tuesday became the first service of its kind to add walking directions. In addition to searches for car and transit travel, pedestrians -- and, hell, Segway-ers too -- can now find the most direct and flat route from Point A to Point B. The function works for trips up to 6.2 miles long, and recognizes that one-way streets only apply to the car-encased (suckas!). Searchers are advised to "use caution when walking in unfamiliar areas" as the directions, still in beta form, potentially lack information about pedestrian bridges, roads without sidewalks, or impassable intersections -- but they'll only improve from here. Now if Google would just add biking directions, we'd be set.

source: Google Lat Long Blog
straight to the walkin': Google Maps
see also, in Grist: An interview with Google's green energy czar
Link and Discuss (3 Comments)

But What's $41 Billion?

World Bank overstates commitment to environment, says internal watchdog

Posted at 2:26 PM on 22 Jul 2008

Read more about: business | news | World Bank
World Bank.
The World Bank overstates its commitment to financing sustainability-minded projects in developing countries and should greatly improve its efforts, according to an internal review. Official estimates hold that the bank put $59 billion into environment-focused projects between 1990 and 2007; while the bank's coding system makes it difficult to figure out specifics, the Independent Evaluation Group review estimates that perhaps only $18.2 billion was allocated to projects at least 80 percent environmentally focused. In addition, the review says, long-run sustainability concerns are often given short shrift; good green intentions may not carried out on the ground; and administrative priorities and coordination ain't what they could be. Bank managers acknowledge flaws, but say official statistics don't tell the whole story. Regardless, the bank needs to step it up, says the evaluation group's Vinod Thomas: "It is clear now from the Amazon to India that if environmental sustainability is not raised as a priority then all bets are off."

sources: Reuters, The New York Times
straight to the report: Environmental Sustainability: An Evaluation of World Bank Group Support
see also, in Grist: Does the World Bank have a legitimate role in solving the climate crisis?, Report says World Bank should get out of carbon-offset market
Link and Discuss (1 Comment)

Flak and Tan

Most sunscreens ineffective or pose a health risk, says group

Posted at 1:12 PM on 22 Jul 2008

Read more about: green living | green products | health | news | toxics
Sunscreen.
Some 85 percent of 952 sunscreens tested are ineffective or contain potentially harmful chemicals, says this year's annual sunscreen review by the Environmental Working Group. Of 144 sunscreen products distributed by the top three leading brands -- Coppertone, Banana Boat, and Neutrogena -- only one meets EWG's criteria for safety and efficacy. The group raises especial alarm about common ingredient oxybenzone, which a handful of animal studies have linked to endocrine disruption. Some dermatologists accuse EWG's sun-protection rating system of lacking scientific rigor, but the group says it extensively reviewed medical literature on sunscreens and stands behind its data. If you're rushing out to buy one of the 28 sunscreens that fall under both the Effective and Low Hazard rubric, buy a hat too -- dermatologists stress that sunscreen without other sun-avoidance precautions may not have much of an effect on skin cancer.

sources: Abilene Reporter News, The New York Times
straight to the database: Sunscreen Summary
see also, in Grist: Sunscreen-slathered swimmers contributing to coral bleaching, says study
Link and Discuss (5 Comments)

The English Channel

Skeptical climate-change documentary found unfair, but not misleading

Posted at 10:38 AM on 22 Jul 2008

A British documentary that declared climate change to be a willful and conspiratorial hoax broke impartiality rules and misrepresented the views of some participants, British broadcasting regulator Ofcom said Monday. The not-so-subtly named The Great Global Warming Swindle, which aired on Britain's Channel 4 in March 2007, said at one point in its narration, "Everywhere, you are being told that man-made climate change is proved beyond doubt. But you are being told lies." However, while Ofcom highlighted "aspects of the presentation (and omission) of facts which caused some concern," the regulator declined to hold the channel accountable for "materially misleading the audience so as to cause harm or offense."

sources: The Independent, The Telegraph, Reuters
see also, in Grist: How to talk to a climate skeptic
Link and Discuss (2 Comments)

This Too Shale Pass

Bush admin proposes rules for domestic oil-shale development

Posted at 7:35 AM on 22 Jul 2008

The Bush administration today will propose rules for tapping the U.S.'s vast oil-shale deposits, estimated to hold up to 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil. Oil shale development is enormously expensive and spectacularly polluting, but the U.S. Department of the Interior is expected to frame the debate in terms of high fuel prices and domestic "energy security." President Bush previewed the move in his let's-go-drill-offshore speech last week, saying, "We should expand oil production by tapping into the extraordinary potential of oil shale." Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne's announcement Tuesday is likely to echo Bush's speech by calling on Congress to lift the ban on developing oil shale in the U.S. West. Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar (D) last year inserted a provision into a spending bill that prohibits the feds from issuing final rules for commercial oil-shale development and thus also prohibits companies from tapping the vast deposits. But it won't keep anyone from pandering.

sources: Associated Press, Reuters

In Brief

Snippets from the news

Posted at 5:11 PM on 21 Jul 2008

• Destroyed wetlands could unleash "carbon bomb."

• Appeals court rules in favor of whales.

• Plans for Europe's largest wind farm approved.

• People irked about leaf-blower bans.

• Mideast faces choice between crops and water.

All Your Base Are Belong to Us

Major League Baseball going, going, green!

Posted at 4:20 PM on 21 Jul 2008

Read more about: green living | news | NRDC | sports
Baseball.
Eco-friendliness has been seeping into pro baseball for a while, and now it's pretty much official: America's pastime has gone green. Major League Baseball partnered with NRDC at the start of the season to encourage teams to, um, win at sustainability. Head to a ball game near you, and chances are you'll toss your plastic beer cup into a recycling bin, gaze upon a solar-powered scoreboard, and pee in a no-flush urinal (sorry, men only). Scouts are traveling in fuel-efficient vehicles; stadiums are converting used cooking oil to biofuel; and teams are offsetting their carbon footprint. With 80 million spectators attending MLB games each year, the trend toward greenness is welcomed. "[T]his is signaling a cultural shift that I think is unprecedented, to have Major League Baseball embracing environmentalism," says NRDC's Allen Hershkowitz. "It's apple pie, it's motherhood, it's baseball, it's environmentalism."

source: The Washington Post
Link and Discuss (5 Comments)

East Infection

Airborne pollutants all up in Eastern ecosystems, says report

Posted at 1:49 PM on 21 Jul 2008

Every ecosystem in the eastern United States is tainted by air pollution, says a new report from The Nature Conservancy and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. The report looks at the impacts of sulfur, nitrogen, mercury, and ground-level ozone in six different habitats, and concludes that those damn pollutants are pretty much everywhere. Coauthor Dr. Tim Tear breaks it down: "Mercury contamination results in fish that are unsafe to eat. Acidification kills fish and strips nutrients from soils. Excess nitrogen pollutes estuaries, to the detriment of coastal fisheries. And ground-level ozone reduces plant growth, a threat to forestry and agriculture." Eastern ecosystems, downwind from many large urban and industrial areas, have the highest levels of deposited air pollution -- that is, pollutants whisked on the wind that eventually settle to the land -- in North America. The report calls, of course, for better federal monitoring and regulation of said pollutants.

sources: The Nature Conservancy, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
see also, in Grist: An interview with The Nature Conservancy's new prez
straight to the report: Threats From Above: Air Pollution Impacts on Ecosystems and Biological Diversity in the Eastern United States [PDF]

Rough to the Gills

Judge says Calif. salmon in trouble but offers no short-term solution

Posted at 11:04 AM on 21 Jul 2008

Photo: ny.gov
The dams and aqueducts that shuttle water from California's Sacramento River Delta to the rest of the state will "appreciably increase jeopardy" to salmon and steelhead in the coming months, U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger said Friday. But while Wanger agreed with environmentalists that "the three salmonid species are not viable and are all in jeopardy of extinction," he declined to order a short-term remedy. The National Marine Fisheries Service, in response to a successful lawsuit from the green groups, will by March come up with operational changes to California's water-export system that will hopefully be less harmful to fish. In the meantime, greens had asked that Wanger order an immediate cutback in agricultural water diversion, but he demurred. While waiting for March to roll around, green groups and water agencies will continue discussions on how to balance fish livelihood and irrigation needs.

sources: Los Angeles Times, Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, McClatchy Newspapers
see also, in Grist: This year's salmon fishing season canceled in California
Link and Discuss (1 Comment)

A League of His Own

League of Conservation Voters endorses Obama for president

Posted at 7:28 AM on 21 Jul 2008

The League of Conservation Voters announced today that they're endorsing Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, citing the freshman senator's policies on climate change and clean energy. "When you look specifically at the twin challenges of cutting global warming pollution and moving toward a clean energy future, on those issues Barack Obama has the most comprehensive plan we have ever seen for a presidential nominee," LCV president Gene Karpinsky said. LCV gave Obama a rating of 67 in their annual scorecard this year, lower than his previous average due to missed votes while on the campaign trail. He maintains an 86 percent rating overall for his first three years representing Illinois in the Senate. His main opponent, John McCain, has a lifetime LCV score of 24 percent, and earned a zero for 2007 after missing every vote LCV included in this year's tally. LCV joins Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth, who have also endorsed Obama.

sources: Associated Press, League of Conservation Voters

It's Elementary, My Dear ... Watts On!

French downplay years-old uranium leak at nuclear plant

Posted at 6:50 AM on 21 Jul 2008

Read more about: France | news | nuclear power | toxics
A uranium leak was discovered on Friday in an underground pipe at a nuclear fuel plant in France. Authorities said the leak was probably a few years old, but insisted it really isn't all that bad since groundwater apparently wasn't contaminated and the uranium leak was relatively small. However, the reassurances were not quite as comforting to the public as they might have been even just a few weeks ago; another leak was discovered at a different nuke facility earlier this month. On July 7, residents of southern France's Vaucluse region were told not to drink water from, swim in, eat fish from, irrigate with, or otherwise touch water in nearby rivers or other waterways following a liquid uranium spill at the Tricastin nuclear power plant. The state-controlled nuke-power giant Areva, which owns both facilities, has been heavily criticized for its delay in notifying the authorities of the Tricastin leak and has since fired its plant manager. The French government said it would test the water around all the country's 59 nuclear plants to ease public fears.

sources: The Guardian, Agence France-Presse
see also, in Gristmill: Champagne vineyards threatened by radioactive contamination
Link and Discuss (3 Comments)

In Brief

Snippets from the news

Posted at 6:14 PM on 18 Jul 2008

• Hundreds of dead baby penguins wash ashore in Brazil.

• Should we move species to save them?

Catfish farms dry up.

• California Supreme Court gives new protection to endangered species.

Desmond Tutu rails against flying.

The Judge Who Cried Wolf

Endangered-species protections reinstated for gray wolves

Posted at 6:01 PM on 18 Jul 2008

Wolf.
A federal judge has ruled that wolves should be returned to the endangered-species list for now, derailing plans for wolf hunts in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The 2,000 or so gray wolves that inhabit the three states were removed from the endangered list in March; environmentalists sued to get them back on, saying populations were not yet stable. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, over 100 gray wolves have been killed by hunters in the days since they were delisted, a rate of almost a wolf a day. The federal judge will eventually decide if the relisting should be permanent. Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may appeal.

sources: Associated Press, Los Angeles Times
Link and Discuss (17 Comments)

Right Ontario

Ontario joins up with Western carbon cutters

Posted at 5:28 PM on 18 Jul 2008

Ontario has joined the Western Climate Initiative, a regional carbon-trading agreement with a goal of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. The province joins seven U.S. states (Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington) and three Canadian counterparts (British Columbia, Manitoba, and Quebec). For those folks not up on their Canadian know-how (so, all Americans): Ontario is Canada's most populous province; with its participation, the WCI represents two-thirds of Canada's population and an impressive 73 percent of its GDP. The WCI and other regional agreements in the Midwest and Northeast were spurred by frustration with a lack of federal action on climate change; similarly, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty explained that Canada's global-warming policy "doesn't satisfy all Canadians, so we see provinces making their own efforts to assume their responsibilities as global citizens."

sources: Reuters, Associated Press, Canadian Press, Sightline Daily
see also, in Grist: Ontario protects boreal forest and bans pesticides
see also, in Gristmill: What's wrong with the WCI?, What's right with the WCI?
Link and Discuss (2 Comments)

Phosphorus For Us

Sick of algae-polluted water, Florida groups sue EPA

Posted at 1:55 PM on 18 Jul 2008

A flock of Florida green groups has sued the U.S. EPA, seeking state and national water-pollution standards for fertilizer runoff from factory farms. Nitrogen and phosphorus flow from agricultural operations into many Florida waterways (among other places), triggering algae blooms which suck oxygen from the water and kill off marine life. Exposure to the algae, which contaminates many drinking-water sources and popular swimming holes, can lead to a wide range of health ailments in humans. Both Florida and the EPA have let deadlines pass for setting specific limits for fertilizer runoff; the EPA recently said it would propose numerical standards by 2011, but litigants say that's not good enough. "Each time an extension is granted," says Manley Fuller of the Florida Wildlife Federation, "it essentially guarantees these contaminants will continue to flow into our rivers, lakes, and oceans -- endangering our wildlife and threatening our economy."

sources: Environment News Service, Associated Press, The News-Press
Link and Discuss (3 Comments)

Greenwashing Goes Green!

Consumers tiring of ads with sketchy eco-claims

Posted at 12:26 PM on 18 Jul 2008

Read more about: advertising | business | greenwashing | news
As every business and its mom tries to get in on the eco-friendly craze -- actual recent press release to hit our inbox: "Portable hot tubs go green!" -- consumers seem to be tiring of omnipresent greenwashing, say analysts. "After 18 months, levels of concern on any issue tend to drop off," says Jonathan Banks of market research company Nielsen. "I fear that something similar may happen with this." Britain's Advertising Standards Authority says that in 2007, it received 561 complaints from consumers about greenwashing in 410 ads; in 2006, it received a mere 117 complaints about 86 ads. The European Advertising Standards Alliance reports similar increases in complaints across the E.U., particularly in regards to automobile advertising. For their part, businesses may be realizing that claims of greenness don't have the oomph they once did. Says Arlene Fairfield of DDB Brand Integrity Group," We're going to get to a point where green is ubiquitous, and you have to do something pretty different to distinguish yourself."

source: The New York Times
see also, in Grist: Green products largely guilty of greenwashing, says study
Link and Discuss (1 Comment)

Seeking New Shores

House Dems fail attempt to make Big Oil drill on the land it's got

Posted at 10:15 AM on 18 Jul 2008

Drilling.
A bill that would have required oil companies to drill on leased land they already hold before seeking new conquests failed in the House of Representatives Thursday. The legislation's "use it or lose it" provision would have required that oil companies exhaust oil exploration on already-leased land before acquiring new acreage. The legislation also would have required a yearly auction of leases in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve. Democrats introduced the bill under rules that disallowed any additional amendments but required a two-thirds majority in the chamber. The vote was 244 to 173, split largely along party lines; many Republicans said they would have given the thumbs-up if the bill had included a provision to open coastal areas to offshore drilling.

sources: Reuters, The New York Times
Link and Discuss (5 Comments)

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