Friday, 22 Jul 2005

The nomination of John G. Roberts to the Supreme Court has prompted an outbreak, an explosion, a conflagration of ... well, among environmental activists, not much, really. Greens have been sifting through his record, attempting to divine what sort of justice he would be. There are some troubling signs -- rulings on Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task-force records and the alleged haplessness of California's endangered arroyo toad, for example -- but nothing that's prompted spirited street protests. Emily Gertz sifts through the record and the reaction.

Body Count

Americans' bodies harbor numerous toxins, big study finds

The largest-ever study of human chemical exposure shows that Americans are carrying dozens of potentially harmful toxic compounds in their bodies. Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control tested some 2,400 people in 2000 and 2001 and found more than 100 worrying compounds, many with known links to health threats, many present in larger doses in children than in adults. Some news is good: Dramatically reduced child lead levels are an "astonishing public health achievement," according to CDC Director Julie Gerberding. Some results are mixed: Lower overall amounts of cotinine, a chemical found in second-hand smoke, are credited to antismoking laws; however, levels in African-Americans are roughly twice those in whites and Hispanics. Some findings are just grim: The study found that 5 percent of those tested have doses of three kinds of phthalates exceeding those associated with genital abnormalities in boys, and 76 percent of the population tested carried potentially neurotoxic pyrethroid pesticides. Says a specialist in children's environmental health, "We have fouled our own nest."


Our mailbag this week is awash in letters about laundry and lawn care, with readers offering their own tips to advice-giver Umbra Fisk. Other missives criticize our use of the word "eco-terrorism" and point out that the French weren't the first to green up their constitution (vraiment?). But some readers were quite pleased with us; one even asked for our hand in marriage. (We do! We do!)

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.


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.

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."