[North-NV-Greens] Fwd: DAILY GRIST, 30 Mar 2005

Fri Apr 1 00:40:42 PST 2005

>
>DAILY GRIST
>30 Mar 2005
>Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE
><http://grist.org>
>
>
>1.
>DOOM AND GLOOM WITH A SENSE OF, UH ... DOOM
>Comprehensive assessment of world's ecosystems released; be very afraid
>
>The largest and most comprehensive assessment of the world's 
>ecosystems ever undertaken was released today, and the results 
>constitute a "stark warning" that "the ability of the planet's 
>ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for 
>granted," according to the 45-member board of the Millennium 
>Ecosystem Assessment. The study was written by 1,360 experts from 95 
>countries, including government officials, scientists, members of 
>civil-society groups and indigenous tribes, and industry 
>representatives, under the rubric of the U.N. Environment Program, 
>using widely agreed-upon scientific evidence. It warns of rapid 
>decline in biodiversity and freshwater availability, and says the 
>likelihood of disease outbreaks (a la SARS), "dead zones" in coastal 
>waters, and destructive climate shifts will rise sharply in the 
>coming 50 years. It recommends means of slowing some of the damage 
>-- developing markets for freshwater, improving forestry practices, 
>removing some agricultural subsidies -- but stresses that none of 
>those means are yet being applied.
>
>straight to the source: The Philadelphia Inquirer, Seth Borenstein, 
>30 Mar 2005
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4676>
>
>straight to the source: Scripps Howard News Service, Joan Lowy, 29 Mar 2005
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4678>
>
>straight to the source: The Washington Post, Shankar Vedantam, 30 Mar 2005
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4679>
>
>straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Alister Doyle, 30 Mar 2005
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4680>
>
>
>
>2.
>CAP AND TIRADE
>States file suit against EPA over mercury rule
>
>A coalition of nine states has sued the U.S. EPA, claiming the 
>mercury emissions rule it issued earlier this month will do less to 
>protect public health than the Clean Air Act requires. The suit 
>charges the EPA with breaking the law by exempting power-plant 
>mercury emissions from the Clean Air Act's requirement that "maximum 
>available control technology" be used to remove pollutants. The 
>agency claims the exemption was necessary to implement the rule's 
>cap-and-trade program, which allows cleaner plants to sell credits 
>(read: the "right" to pollute) to dirtier plants. Attorneys general 
>representing the nine states -- California, Connecticut, Maine, 
>Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and 
>Vermont -- say cap and trade will produce toxic "hotspots" around 
>polluting plants, often in low-income and minority communities.
>
>straight to the source: The New York Times, Anthony DePalma, 30 Mar 2005
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4669>
>
>straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Miguel Bustillo, 30 Mar 2005
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4670>
>
>
>
>3.
>LICE AGE
>Farmed salmon infect wild stocks with sea lice, study finds
>
>A new study of wild and farmed salmon in the Pacific Northwest 
>reveals that farmed salmon breed parasitic sea lice that infect 
>juvenile wild salmon swimming nearby and could affect stocks of 
>other important commercial species. A Canadian research trio looked 
>at some 5,500 young salmon as they swam through a narrow channel 
>past a salmon farm, and they recorded unnaturally high rates of lice 
>infestation as the small fish migrated through a cloud of lice 
>stretching nearly 19 miles around the farm, which itself is only 
>about one-eighth of a mile. "Conservatively, this means that the 
>parasite footprint of the farm is 150 times larger than the farm 
>itself," said study coauthor John Volpe. But the troublesome 
>parasites aren't the only nasties to come out of fish farms; a study 
>in the journal Science last year found more cancer-causing PCBs in 
>farmed fish than in their wild-caught counterparts, and in Europe, 
>chemicals used to control the parasites and dye the salmon pink have 
>led enviros to encourage boycotts of farm-raised salmon.
>
>straight to the source: The New York Times, Cornelia Dean, 30 Mar 2005
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4674>
>
>straight to the source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, John Heilprin, 30 Mar 2005
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4675>
>
>
>
>4.
>ALL YOUR BASE ARE BEFOULED BY US
>Military base closures leave behind toxic, uninhabitable land
>
>Military bases frequently serve as economic engines for the 
>communities they inhabit, and with what could be the biggest round 
>of base closures ever on its way from the Department of Defense, 
>those communities hope that developing the land freed up by the 
>closed bases will replace some of the lost revenue. But they may be 
>out of luck: The bases frequently leave behind contaminated water, 
>asbestos-ridden soil, unexploded munitions, the presence of 
>endangered species, and a variety of other environmental concerns 
>that can make development more expensive than it's worth. Since the 
>late '80s, the DoD has spent some $12 billion on environmental 
>cleanup at closed bases, but one-third of that land remains 
>uninhabitable thanks primarily to toxic contamination. Developers 
>have sued the military over contamination on some bases, but even 
>for residents on adjoining land -- suffering from cancer, 
>miscarriages, and other ailments -- "every bit of cleanup they get 
>is a struggle," said Tara Thornton of the Military Toxics Project.
>
>straight to the source: Scripps Howard News Service, Joan Lowy, 29 Mar 2005
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4677>
>
>see also, in Grist: There's No Base Like Home -- Is contaminated 
>housing poisoning military families? -- By Justin Scheck
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4681>
>
>
>
>5.
>ROUTE SCOOTIN' BOOGIE
>Shell alters pipeline route to spare whale feeding grounds
>
>It's one small step for environmentalists, one giant leap for 
>endangered gray whales: Energy giant Royal Dutch/Shell has agreed to 
>alter the planned route of a massive oil and gas pipeline off of 
>Russia's Sakhalin island by 12 miles to preserve the charismatic 
>mammal's feeding grounds. Shell and its partners bowed to pressure 
>from enviros concerned that the project could harm the roughly 100 
>gray whales remaining off the island with noise, ship traffic, and 
>possible oil spillage. The project has been delayed since last April 
>after Shell's own research revealed that work in the area could harm 
>the whales. Though the new route "does avoid the whale feeding areas 
>quite significantly," said John Kidd of the World Conservation 
>Union, "there are still concerns" because a longer pipeline 
>"obviously increases the risk of spillage once the pipeline is in 
>operation."
>
>straight to the source: Bloomberg.com, 30 Mar 2005
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4672>
>
>straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, 
>Alex Nicholson, 30 Mar 2005
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4673>
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Also in GRIST MAGAZINE:
>
>Feebates, Not Fuel Taxes, Are Key -- A review of Thomas Friedman's 
>commentary on energy and security -- in Gristmill
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4671>
>
>
>Don't Think of the Environment -- Enviros recruit Lakoff for 
>reframing project, but concerns mount that he might leave them in 
>the lurch -- in Muckraker
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4667>
>
>
>And Now, a Word From Our Sponsors -- Four environmental funders join 
>the debate over the movement's future -- in Dispatches
><http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4663>
>
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-- 
Paul Etxeberri

"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow"   ---Chateaubriand