Wednesday, 22 Feb 2006

Americans, particularly those on the lower end of the income scale, are gaining weight and getting sick because unhealthy food is cheap and fresh fruits and veggies aren't. That's not the free market at work -- it's the distorting federal policies that prop up the market for corn. As part of our ongoing exploration of the connections between poverty and the environment, Tom Philpott explores how subsidies and shortsightedness are making poor people sick.

No More Bull in the China Shop

China orders corrupt environmental protection officials to go straight

In the wake of several destructive and internationally embarrassing pollution disasters, China is ordering local environmental protection officials to start, um, protecting the environment. A government announcement on Tuesday warned officials to stop covering up accidents, turning a blind eye to polluting projects, and canceling penalties for illegal industrial-waste discharges -- or face disciplinary actions that may range from warnings to losing their jobs. Eco-activists are guardedly optimistic. "There have always been laws, but very little enforcement," said Kevin May of Greenpeace China. "Now we have new laws. How will they be different? That remains to be seen." Last week, Beijing announced cabinet-level directives to clean up China's thoroughly abused environment in the next 15 years -- with improving air, water, and soil quality at the top of the list.


Ah, winter, when a man's fancy turns to ... vacation. Is it possible for an eco-friendly soul to take a guilt-free trip, especially when his wife has her heart set on a European excursion? Advice maven Umbra Fisk puts on her travel-agent cap today, banishing all thoughts of hermit-hood.

Going, Going, Oregon

Oregon's sweeping property-rights law upheld by state Supreme Court

Will Oregon's famously tough urban-growth boundaries be breached in favor of McMansions and office parks? Seems so. After an expedited review, the state's Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Tuesday that a controversial 2004 property-rights ballot measure is legal. Measure 37 allows landowners seeking to develop their property to apply for waivers from tough state rules protecting open space if the state can't compensate them for lost land value -- and the state has no funds for such compensation. A lower trial court judge had ruled that Measure 37 violated both the state and federal constitutions, but the Supremes disagreed. The court's ruling allows more than 2,500 applications covering 66,000 acres of land in the state to move forward. Open-space advocates may try to put anti-37 initiatives on the ballot, but also hope a new state task force, nicknamed "The Big Look," will find other ways to bolster land protections.

The Midas Crutch

EPA may replace ozone-depleting chemical with cancer-causing chemical

Here's a hypothetical: Say you were a nation that signed a pact to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals. Say you therefore needed an alternative to methyl bromide, an ozone-attacking pesticide used on strawberries and other crops. Would you phase in a highly toxic fumigant that probably causes cancer? Sigh. Of course you would. The U.S. EPA is set to approve methyl iodide, under the commercial name Midas, as its soil sterilizer of choice. The chemical, which can be dangerous if inhaled, easily evaporates and drifts into the lungs of those nearby, but never fear -- workers would be safe if they wore respirators! California, the nation's leading strawberry producer, could end up using 3 million pounds of methyl iodide a year on its strawberries alone. However, even if the EPA gives methyl iodide the OK, the chemical would still have to pass muster with the typically more stringent California Department of Pesticide Regulation in order to be used in the state.