Tuesday, 27 Apr 1999

Ford's New Business Plan Is Junk

Ford is motoring into the junk business with a plan to acquire auto dumps across North America and build a massive international car parts recycling company that sells its wares over the Internet. The move is intended to generate $1 billion a year in revenue while following Ford Chair William Ford Jr.'s pledge of environmental responsibility. William Li, chief operating officer of the new enterprise, says Ford wants to increase the amount of a junked car that is recycled to 95 percent, up from the current average of 80 percent.

Chinese Have Dim Summary of Environment

Environmental protection now tops the list of public worries among China's city-dwellers, according to a survey by China Social Survey Centre. About 66 percent of 785 urban residents questioned expressed concern about air and water pollution and soil erosion.

Crossing Swords Over Fish

The feds clamped down on overfishing in Atlantic and Gulf waters yesterday, announcing tough new restrictions on fishing for sharks, tuna, marlin, sailfish, spearfish, and other species. The plan, drawn up over the course of two years by the National Marine Fisheries Service, also makes an unprecedented month-long closure of some bluefin tuna fisheries off New Jersey and may close areas off Florida to protect swordfish. Predictably, commercial fishers complained that the new plan would put more people out of business and raise seafood prices, while environmentalists argued that more drastic action was needed to protect the Atlantic swordfish.

Giving New Meaning to National "Park"

Grand Canyon National Park is planning the dramatic step of banning most of the 1.5 million cars and buses that make their way through the park each year. As of 2002, visitors will be asked to leave their vehicles outside the park entrance and ride a light rail public transit system into the park.

Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz -- What a Weird Idea This Is

Researchers are planning an experiment this year to pipe liquid carbon dioxide into the Pacific Ocean at a depth of at least 1,000 feet to find out whether the ocean could serve as a massive storage bin for CO2, a greenhouse gas. Scientists say that putting the CO2 under high pressure as a liquid could keep it below the surface for several centuries, giving humans leeway to continue using fossil fuels until cleaner, more efficient technologies are developed. So far, environmentalists oppose the CO2 storage plan, which they have labeled "carbon dumping," saying it could harm marine life and encourage even greater greenhouse gas emissions.

It's Not Curiosity That's Killing These Cats

A plan to reintroduce the lynx to southwestern Colorado's San Juan Mountains is running into some grave problems -- four of the 13 cats released in February and March have died of starvation and a fifth was recaptured in an emaciated state. The project of the Colorado Division of Wildlife had initially intended to move 100 lynxes from Canada and Alaska to Colorado over the next two years. The Canada lynx feeds primarily on snowshoe hares and the reintroduced animals apparently haven't found enough hares in the area and don't adapt easily to hunting other prey.