WWF gives Turin Olympics mixed grade for eco-impacts
For the next few weeks the world will be glued to its TVs for a spectacle of heartbreak and triumph called ... American Idol. But some folks might also watch the Olympic Winter Games. Are they green? WWF has given the Turin Games a mixed score, noting seven eco-positive outcomes including cleanly fueled public transport and recycling in the Olympic villages. But it slammed two ski jumps that cut into sensitive alpine slopes and dinged heavy artificial snow-making for damaging the ground and wasting water. WWF also blasted the 16-foot high Olympic flame as a "monument to waste," saying it would burn roughly 105 million cubic feet of gas during the 17 days of the Games -- enough to supply a town of 3,500 for an entire year. Olympic organizers counter that they are offsetting all carbon emissions produced, and also that Paris Bennett is totally winning Idol this year.
straight to the source: CNN.com, Reuters, 09 Feb 2006
see also, in Grist: How the Olympics are becoming a sustainable business
EU pushes China further after pledge to slow carbon intensity
Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success
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