Thursday, 22 Apr 1999

Oh Shenandoah, I Long to See Across You

Vice Pres. Al Gore is marking Earth Day today with a trip to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to announce a new plan that aims to clean up the air in national parks and wilderness areas to pre-industrial-era quality. New regulations will direct states to make notable air quality improvements every 10 years with a final deadline of 2064, which industry complains is far too soon. Old coal-fired power plants will bear much of the economic brunt, but new regulations are expected to ease the burden by enlarging an emissions permit trading system.

Thank You Soooo Much, Corporate America!

Corporate America is patting its own back today on Earth Day, touting the fact that businesses have spent $1 trillion over the past 30 years on environmental cleanups. "The theme is: 'Thank business for cleaning up the environment,'" said US Chamber of Commerce spokesperson Frank Coleman. Environmentalists are not buying the talk. "To the extent that the trade associations devote all of their resources to protecting the interests of the least environmentally responsible members and trying to gut environmental laws, it's just more than a little hypocritical," said Denis Hayes, coordinator of the first Earth Day in 1970 and leader of the Earth Day 2000 campaign.

Sting Like a Butterfly

Julia "Butterfly" Hill, who has spent more than 16 months living in the branches of an ancient redwood tree that has been slated for logging, will be the "in-tree correspondent" for an environmental cable show. The first episode of "The Thin Green Line" will air today with an interview of Hill by the show's host, former Sierra Club President Adam Werbach.

Great, Danes!

Denmark is giving coal-fired power plants the boot and launching more renewable energy production as it moves to slash greenhouse gas emissions. The nation's largest energy producer, the Elsam group, will officially close four of its old coal-fired units on July 1. In 1997, 64 percent of Denmark's total electricity production came from coal; in 1998, the country reduced its use of coal for electricity production by 9 percent. The country's "Energy 21" plan calls for virtually all coal-fired power plants to be replaced with natural gas or renewable energy sources over the next 25 to 30 years.

Clean, Clean, Clean Up the Mississippi Mud

A diverse coalition aiming to clean up the Mississippi River is asking the feds to put up $1.1 billion over the next ten years for the cause, a 40 percent jump over current spending. The investment could help reverse the buildup of sediment and reduce the flow of fertilizer and other pollutants into the river, the coalition of environmentalists, farmers, barge interests, and researchers said yesterday. The group will also seek funding from states in the river's watershed.

Holey Ozone!

The level of ozone-depleting chemicals in the atmosphere is dropping, primarily because of reductions of one solvent, methyl chloroform, which was phased out between 1996 and 1997, according to a report published in today's issue of the journal Nature. The study indicates that the Montreal Protocol, the 1994 treaty to protect the ozone layer, is working, says lead author Steven Montzka, a chemist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Further cuts in ozone-depleting substances will now need to come from other chemicals, particularly CFCs, which are permitted to be manufactured in developing countries until 2010.