Monday, 03 Oct 2005

America's Coast Wanted

House bill would open coasts, other areas to drilling

Recent hurricane-related disruptions to Gulf Coast oil infrastructure may get the oil industry something it's been after for years: a chance to drill off the U.S. coasts. Legislation sponsored by Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) and approved last week by the House Resources Committee he chairs would permit individual states to opt out of the current moratorium on offshore drilling in exchange for financial incentives. Coast conservation advocates fear Pombo has hit on an effective strategy to divide the states and dissolve the national moratorium on offshore drilling -- which could put states that uphold it at risk from spills off the coasts of their neighbors that don't. Pombo's bill would also enact measures designed to open up more of the nation's lands to drilling, like new restrictions on public-comment periods and exemptions from rules protecting the environment and important historic areas. Clearly the hurricanes have taught those in Washington all the right lessons.


As head of the Mangrove Action Project, which fights to preserve the wetlands that protect coastlines from the brunt of hurricane winds and tsunami waters, Alfredo Quarto has struggled to find relevance in his work. Ha ha -- we kid. Of course, recent events have cast a spotlight on the vulnerability of denuded coastlines and the people who live along them. As this week's InterActivist, Quarto discusses how salt-water trees can act as a shield from the weather's wrath. Send him a question by noon PDT on Wednesday; we'll publish his answers to selected questions on Friday.

Win, Lose, or Crawfish

New Orleans-area fish, shrimp, crab are OK to eat; oysters, not so much

Though few folks are there to eat it, much of the seafood from Lake Pontchartrain next to New Orleans seems safe for consumption, say state environmental officials. About 80 percent of the city's sewage-tainted floodwaters have been pumped into the lake, but so far no significant chemical contamination has turned up: "There is no toxic soup," says state Department of Environmental Quality's Chris Piehler. The agency says properly prepared crabs, shrimp, and fish are safe to nosh. But avoid Pontchartrain oysters -- according to Louisiana wildlife officials, these could take up to two years to recover. In further guarded good news, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is reporting that although oil sheens were seen in the Gulf of Mexico after Katrina hit, fish sampled two weeks later have tested negative for oil contamination. NOAA scientist Steve Murawski is encouraged, but cautious: There are still many "very small spills originating from the many, many [storm-damaged] vessels on the Mississippi coast," he notes.


Sure, she's had plenty to say on biodiesel and hybrids and SUVs -- even retrofitting muscle cars. But what does advice maven Umbra Fisk think about good, old-fashioned gas-powered cars? What's the best make and model out there for an eco-conscious used-car shopper? Her unequivocal answer might just throw a wrench into your plans.

We Like Bike

Gas prices push U.S. bike sales to near-historic peak

Glory be: More bicycles than cars have been sold in the U.S. in the past 12 months. That's about 19 million bicycles -- nearing the 20 million sales peak during the early 1970s oil embargo -- and roughly $5 billion to $6 billion in business, according to the trade organization Bikes Belong. Though concern for the environment may factor into the two-wheeler surge, one bike-shop owner pins the new jones for cycling primarily on spiking gas prices. Sales of some auto brands, however, are holding high despite rising fuel costs: Hummers are on track for a year of record sales, thanks in part to the introduction of the H3, barely more mileage-conscious than the H2. The military-inspired vehicles project power, freedom, "and being able to go where I damn please," says auto industry researcher Wes Brown. "It's not just 'Let me by.' It's 'Get out of my way!'" If you're on one of those new bikes, watch out for Hummer-driving halfwits with a baseless sense of entitlement.