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Two eco-events upcoming in NYC

Hey, New York -- what are you doing on Tuesday night? February 28 is Fat Tuesday, and Grist is throwing a phat party in NYC. All Grist readers -- and people who wanna have a good time, but really those are one and the same -- are invited to Mardi Grist to rub elbows with a pack of Grist representatives and eat yummy food. A quarter of the proceeds will go to NOLA-area green groups. What's not to love? RSVP today!

Priorities

The Bush administration spent more than $1.6 billion over a 30-month period on public relations and advertising contracts to promote its policies and programs, according to a report released yesterday by the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

By way of comparison, Bush's much-heralded Advanced Energy Initiative pledges a total of $996 million to alternative energy research.

Auto news from Ithe land o’ luck

A spiffy old car takeback program is being launched in Ireland.

The proverbial land o' luck plans to institute the End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) directive in 2007. Hee hee, elves. Hee hee, leprechauns. Um, anyway ... the first draft of regulations were revealed today. Hot off the presses! Lucky you! Hee hee, lucky ...

Under the regulations -- "a kind of car equivalent to the WEEE directive" -- each automobile importer or manufacturer would have to establish an authorised treatment facility (ATF) in every Irish county that consumers could bring their cars to for scrapping. These sites would be required to meet high environmental standards, remove pollutants in the dismantling process, and recover at least 85 percent of car material. If they don't, they could face big fines and prison time.

"The main effect of these draft regulations will be that when a person has a car or small van that has reached the end of it's useful life, there will be at least one facility available in their county or city where they can bring the vehicle in the knowledge that it will be depolluted and dismantled to a high standard," said Environment Minister Dick Roche.

Sweet.

Old Dog Poop, New Tricks

San Francisco looks to harness the power of pet poop Renewable energy is the sh*t. No, really. San Francisco Bay Area cities are aiming to generate no trash by 2020, and nearly 4 percent of San Francisco’s residential waste is animal excrement. What to do with the doo? Turn it into methane and heat your […]

Guess That Makes Us Punstitutes

BLM focuses on drilling at expense of wildlife, critics charge Wildlife biologists at the Bureau of Land Management office in Pinedale, Wyo., are finding their talents put to unusual use: reviewing drilling-permit requests. Western Wyoming has been a natural-gas drilling mecca for the last five years, during which its populations of mule deer and breeding […]

Sludge Dread

Post-Katrina sludge puts kids at risk, says NRDC Government officials have been downplaying the public-health risks posed by the post-Katrina sludge coating greater New Orleans, which is spiked with potentially dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, and petrochemicals. So says a new report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, based on U.S. EPA data. NRDC is […]

But Who’s Responsible for Seafoam Green?

R.I. jury finds paint companies liable for billions in lead cleanup A six-person jury in Rhode Island made history yesterday when it found Sherwin Williams Co., Millennium Holdings, and NL Industries liable for lead paint contamination in hundreds of thousands of homes — and on the hook for potentially billions of dollars to clean it […]

Bleg

Does anyone know, off the top of their head, of a company that's making money by working with poor people to improve their environmental and economic conditions?

(Random question, I know.)

(Definition of "bleg" here.)

Umbra on vacations

Dear Umbra, My wife and I want to celebrate our 25th anniversary by taking a significant trip. We are thinking of a 10-day European vacation, possibly the Greek islands. I am conflicted by my dedication to celebrating this milestone and my dedication to living eco-friendly. What advice would you have for those wanting to travel […]

One fish, two fish, red fish, ew fish

As part of their Last Days of the Ocean special package this month, Mother Jones magazine has a feature entitled "Toxic Fish and Poor Communities." An interview with eco-justice fighter Sharon Fuller of the Ma'at Youth Academy, the story begins like this:

In San Francisco's tony restaurants, one can feast on perfectly seared ahi tuna or sample butter drizzled mahi mahi accompanied by a $50 bottle of wine. Just across the Bay, however, is a whole different world -- fishermen in Richmond live on toxic fish caught from a place that is recognized as an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site.

Continue reading.