Tuesday, 31 Oct 2000

Going Soft on Pollution

About 20 to 30 percent of adult men in China are suffering from impotence or other sexual problems, an escalating trend that may be attributable in large part to serious pollution, experts say. In an unrelated development, the Chinese government has unveiled an environmental plan with the aim of reducing pollution levels in the country by 10 percent by 2005. The government plans to gradually phase out industries that are inefficient and highly polluting and encourage cleaner high-tech and service industries. Also, businesses that fail to adopt pollution-prevention technologies and techniques will be fined heavily to give advantage to companies that do adopt more eco-friendly ways.

Die Like an Eagle

In keeping with an ancient tradition, Hopi Indians would be allowed to gather and smother golden eagles from the Wupatki National Monument in Arizona, under a proposed Interior Department rule expected to be announced next month. Environmentalists fear that the proposal would set a broad precedent, allowing Native Americans to hunt and trap animals in national parks throughout the U.S. A recent survey of 40 large parks by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility found that half of them had received hunting requests from tribes. The taking of wildlife in national parks and monuments is usually limited to congressionally approved conservation research. This issue is causing strife within the conservation community, which is frequently allied with Native Americans.

Party Favors

Germany's Green Party, which has been sharing government power with the Social Democrats since 1998, is trying to advance environmental goals, but has also become more business-friendly of late. Party leaders still call for a nuclear phase-out, higher energy taxes to help combat global warming, and more eco-friendly transportation and technologies. And the Greens are angering some retailers with a proposal to require a deposit on beverage cans, intended to boost recycling and reduce litter. But the party has also allied itself with business interests in pushing for debt reduction, fiscal restraint, and major reform of the country's pension system, saying the moves are in line with "sustainable development." As some Green leaders move into the mainstream, the party is confronting more internal tension and losing some of its core support.

Cabinet Fever

Speculation is running rampant about whom George W. Bush or Al Gore might choose to fill Cabinet-level positions, and what the environmental ramifications would be. For the Interior secretary spot, it's thought that Bush might go for Montana Gov. Marc Racicot (R) or Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), if Gorton loses his bid for reelection; Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) has also said he'd like the position if Democrats win the majority in the House. Gore could choose an Interior head from Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D), Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer (D), former Colorado Sen. Tim Wirth (D), or George Frampton, former head of the Wilderness Society and acting head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). For Energy secretary, Bush might pick Tom Kuhn, head of the Edison Electric Institute, a lobbying arm of the utility industry, or Kenneth Lay, chair of Enron, a major oil and energy company, while Gore could go for Sen. Richard Bryan (D-Nev.). To lead the EPA, Bush might pick David Struhs, head of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Chris DeMuth of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, or Russell Harding, head of Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality. The front-runner for EPA administrator under a Gore administration is Katie McGinty, former head of the CEQ.

I'm Cuckoo for Cocoa

With help from the enviro group Rainforest Alliance, some farmers in Ecuador have pledged to grow cocoa without cutting down forestlands and earn the right to be labeled rainforest-friendly. Within a few weeks, the cocoa -- the first to be so certified -- will become available to U.S. manufacturers. Enviros say cocoa, like coffee, can be grown alongside or in the shade of rainforest trees, making it a much better product for biodiversity than other tropical crops like bananas or cattle, which require that land be deforested. However, even though there has been a surge of interest in organic and other forms of eco-friendly chocolate in recent years, most operations around the world don't grow cocoa trees in environmentally conscious ways. One researcher estimates that two-thirds of the cocoa grown in the Ivory Coast, which produces about 40 percent of the world's supply, is grown without shade.