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Toxic (press) releases

Good news about pollution? The U.S. EPA says so. This Washington Post story makes it seem like the U.S. made great strides in reducing toxic emissions in 2004.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that chemical pollution released into the environment fell more than 4 percent from 2003 to 2004...The agency said releases of dioxin and dioxin compounds fell 58 percent; mercury and mercury compounds were cut 16 percent; and PCBs went down 92 percent. [Emphasis added.]

Now, the fall in dioxins in particular seemed like pretty big news. But it also struck me as a bit suspicious. So I looked into the numbers a bit.

The Mass Is Always Greener on the Other Side

A green agenda on immigration should emphasize local production Regardless of their disagreements on other subjects, political elites in both major U.S. political parties believe above all in globalization — the notion that goods and capital should move freely over borders. But they believe that labor policy — i.e., the movements of people — should […]

One Flu Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Wetland restoration could help contain bird flu A recent report commissioned by the U.N. gives a unique reason to restore tens of thousands of lost or degraded wetlands: It could help keep bird flu at bay. Upon finding their regular flocking grounds drained for agriculture or hydroelectricity, some wild birds alight on still-wet rice paddies […]

Ready, Aim, Hire

Green career expert Kevin Doyle gives advice to green job-seekers Our eco-jobs columnist, Kevin Doyle of the Environmental Careers Organization, is back again with wise counsel to help you get that green gig you’ve always wanted. This week he dips into his virtual mailbag and answers letters from an undergrad curious about environmental science and […]

Lung Out to Dry

Thousands of Manhattanites suffer post-9/11 respiratory problems With all due respect to the Free-Floating Anxiety and War Fever afflicting many in the post-9/11 world (prescription: less talk radio), at least 15,000 people have actual medical complaints related to the attack. Many victims afflicted with “World Trade Center cough” assumed it would pass once the dust […]

Greenzones.org

Good lord, it looks like a whooole lotta money went into this. The "about" page goes to an error, as does the "investors" page and the "press" page. Anybody know anything about it?

(There's probably a press release about it somewhere in my inbox, but I get about 50 a day and can't really keep up with all of them.)

A new breeding program aims to revive the gray nurse shark

Ahoy once again, me faithful readers! 'Tis been too long since our last voyage, and some interesting goings-on have passed me harbor in the meantime. First, I share some grave news for me fellow pirates -- that happens to be good news for me fellow greens: Greenpeace has been a'pirate huntin' off West Africa! I'd suggest they walk the plank for that, had I not seen this bit here: "Pirate fishing is a global threat to the oceans and those who depend on them." Well, I do reckon I'm in that second camp, and thus I raise my rum noggin to their efforts. And while I've got that rum noggin raised, let me also make mention of these poor buckos, who are trying to count every last fish in the sea for the sake of science. Godspeed with that project, I say. Godspeed.

And speaking of counting fish, I share with ye this story about dwindling gray nurse shark (pictured above, copyright Richard Ling) numbers in Australia and what scientists are doing about it: They're using artificial wombs.

Katrina aftermath watch, wrist-slash edition

Hey, remember Hurricane Katrina? Big storm? Wiped out a major American city and several small towns? Exposed the utter incompetence and venality of the current administration? Small taste of things to come as global warming accelerates?

Yeah, it's kind of slipped off the radar. But if you imagine the worst combination of big-money pandering, racial politics, and corruption of which politicians are capable ... that's pretty much what's going on down on the Gulf Coast at the moment. I challenge you to read this piece from Matt Taibbi and not get righteously pissed off.

This is the kind of thing that inclines me toward pessimism about the coming shocks and dislocations brought about by energy shortages and global warming. America has rallied and overcome challenges before. And it's possible we will this time too. But it seems to me that the spirit of public service and public welfare has become so denuded that there's virtually nothing left to rally. A country that could let this happen, a country so comfortable with depredations visited on the poor and weak by the wealthy and powerful ...

It does not inspire confidence.

PSA on Mongabay

The Mongabay rainforest site, an excellent educational resource for science and info on the state of the world's rainforests, has been updated and revised.

You think?

Condoleezza Rice:

We do have to do something about the energy problem. I can tell you that nothing has really taken me aback more as secretary of State than the way that the politics of energy is -- I will use the word warping -- diplomacy around the world. It has given extraordinary power to some states that are using that power in not very good ways for the international system, states that would otherwise have very little power. It is sending some states that are growing very rapidly in an all-out search for energy -- states like China, states like India -- that is really sending them into parts of the world where they've not been seen before, and challenging, I think, for our diplomacy. It is, of course, an energy supply that is still heavily dependent on hydrocarbons, which makes more difficult our desire to have growth, environmental protection and reliable energy supply all in a package.