Thursday, 02 Aug 2001

A Rash Attack

A flight attendant for United Airlines has sued the airline for exposing flight crews to pesticides on planes serving Australia and New Zealand. The attendant, Susan Matthews, says she developed a full-body rash after contact with the pesticides. The spraying -- which has been banned in the U.S. -- occurs about once every eight weeks to keep nonnative insects from hitching rides and potentially wreaking havoc on agriculture abroad. A spokesperson for the Association of Flight Attendants said the spraying is normally done in vacant cabins, but United has been known to spray immediately before, and even during, flights. The suit seeks damages and a court order directing United to stop the spraying or find a safer way to do it.

Arctic Meltdown

In a big win for the White House and a loss for enviros, the U.S. House passed a broad energy bill last night after rejecting attempts earlier in the day to block drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and boost fuel efficiency significantly. The 223-206 vote in favor of drilling surprised even Republicans, who attributed the victory to labor unions that touted the promise of more than 700,000 drilling-related jobs to win the support of more than three dozen Democrats. The House voted 269-160 to reject an amendment calling for fuel-efficiency standards for SUVs and light trucks to be boosted from 20.7 miles per gallon to 27.5 mpg by 2007. The bill that passed would direct automakers to lower fuel use by 5 billion gallons over six years beginning in 2004 -- translating into a slight gain in efficiency. Among many nasty things, the bill would strip national forest supervisors of their authority to restrict oil and gas leasing.

Puerto Wreakin'

Environmental lawyer Robert Kennedy, Jr., was freed from prison yesterday and quickly returned to the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, where he ripped into the U.S. Navy for continuing its bombing exercises there. Kennedy says the bombing is harming islanders' health and damaging the environment. He served 30 days in prison for trespassing on Navy land. While he was in prison, Kennedy's wife gave birth to a son, who now has the middle name "Vieques." The Navy plans to resume the exercises today, ignoring last weekend's nonbinding referendum in which 68 percent of Vieques voters supported an immediate halt to the bombing. The U.S. House Armed Services Committee backed a measure yesterday that would prohibit the Navy from closing the bombing range until it found a replacement that was as good or better.

It's a Small World After All

The world's human population may stop growing sooner than expected, according to a study published yesterday in the journal Nature. Using a statistical computer model that takes into account uncertainties like birth rates, migration, and mortality, the study says there is an 85 percent chance that the world's population will dip to 8.4 billion in 2100, after peaking at 9 billion in 2070. The study says the populations of north and sub-Saharan Africa are likely to double, while populations in parts of the developed world will probably decline.

Ranch Dressing

Deep in cattle country, where enviros and ranchers often clash, the Sante-Fe-based Quivira Coalition says it is developing ways to ranch in an economically and environmentally sustainable way. Cofounder Jim Winder says some ranchers using the Quivira methods have doubled beef production without damaging the environment. Formed in 1997, the coalition has four "New Ranch" projects in New Mexico and plans several more in New Mexico and Arizona. Meanwhile, some ranchers in Nevada aren't thinking such happy thoughts. About 50 ranchers and states' rights advocates gathered yesterday in Fallon, Nev., to protest the federal government's seizure of cattle from two ranchers who refused to pay grazing fees for using public land.