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
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
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
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
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
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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.
• 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
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
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
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
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
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.
• 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
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]
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
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
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
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
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.
• 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
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?
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
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
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
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
sources: Reuters, The New York Times
Link and Discuss (5 Comments)
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