Thursday, 27 Jan 2000

Deride 'Em, Cowboys

Ranchers and enviros in nine Western states are teaming up to file suit today against the Defense Department to halt low-level military training flights that they say harm livestock, fish, and wildlife. The Air Force flies planes over more than 1 million square miles, most of it public land in the West, and some of the aircraft fly as low as 100 feet off the ground at speeds of up to 645 miles per hour, the lawsuit says. The flights are "sometimes deafening and startling to human beings and animals, causing wildlife and livestock to panic and stampede and impairing their ability to reproduce and raise their young," said Peter Galvin, a biologist for the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, Ariz. The suit accuses the Air Force of intentionally underestimating the impacts of the overflights by assessing the flight routes individually rather than as a whole across the country, and it asks for a ban on the flights until the government conducts a broad assessment of their environmental impact.

She Sells Carbon Credits By the Seashore

British oil giant Royal Dutch Shell today is launching an internal market to reduce the company's carbon emissions, an effort to combat climate change and promote energy efficiency. Under its new tradable emissions permit system, businesses within the Shell group must achieve an annual 2 percent carbon reduction, either by reducing their actual emissions or buying permits from other Shell businesses that are making greater than required reductions. The scheme is intended to help Shell meet its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 10 percent from 1990 levels by 2002. BP Amoco had previously introduced a similar system.

We're Chary of This Chair-y

Sen. Bob Smith (R), the new chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said yesterday that he plans to introduce a bill this year that would "clear the regulatory air" and give utilities new incentives to significantly reduce their emissions. Smith -- who ascended to the committee's top spot after the death of Sen. John Chafee (R) last year and is viewed by enviros as a friend of business -- said a new approach is needed because the Clean Air Act imposes complex regulations on utilities and has failed to achieve adequate emissions reductions. Smith is still fleshing out the details of the bill, and he plans to meet with other senators, state officials, utility representatives, and enviros in the process.

Waste Hot, Want Not

The German government angered enviros yesterday by announcing that in August it will resume the shipment of highly radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, after a two-year ban established because of safety violations. Four of Germany's 19 nuclear power plants are near their capacity to store spent fuel rods, and the plant owners say that unless they can transport the waste to a temporary storage site near the Dutch border, the plants will have to be shut down. That would be just dandy with enviros and politicians from the Green Party, who are fighting for a fast phaseout of nuclear power in the nation. The government is working to develop a 30-year timetable for shutting down nuclear plants, but that pace is too slow for enviros.

Ranchers Try to Buffalo Bill

Several Arizona lawmakers and Utah ranchers sued the feds yesterday over the creation of the new Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument in northern Arizona. The plaintiffs are asking the court to find unconstitutional the 1906 Antiquities Act, which Pres. Clinton used to create the new monument earlier this month. Since 1906, all but three presidents have used their authority granted under the act to protect federally owned scenic and historic lands without having to obtain approval from Congress. The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction prohibiting the creation of the new monument, which encompasses more than 1 million acres, roughly the same amount of land as Grand Canyon National Park.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Ream the Competition

Businesses that seek out ways to reuse and recycle products and cut their emissions save money, in addition to helping save the environment, according to a new economic study conducted in the Pacific Northwest. Over the last seven years, 137 Northwest businesses polled saved a total of $42 million by reusing and recycling items. The study authors contend that environmental regulations -- such as those prompted by recent endangered species listings for Northwest salmon -- push businesses to use resources more efficiently, in ways that are both environmentally and economically sound. The study found that small businesses like auto shops can save money by reusing materials, and large companies like Boeing can save hundreds of thousands of dollars by cutting their energy use. The study was conducted by the nonprofit Center for Watershed and Community Health and economists at Puget Sound University and Lewis and Clark College.