Monday, 06 Aug 2001

At Whit's End

U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman now thinks her decision to revoke a Clinton administration rule to reduce arsenic in drinking water was a bone-headed move. She told USA Today that her decision wasn't bad policy, but bad politics: "Politically, if I'd been smart, I would've never changed it. ... I would've let the courts decide. We were going to be sued anyway by the Western states and a bunch of water companies, and I should've just left it there."

Coughing Up the Dough

In the latest victory for residents suffering from pollution-related health problems in a Japanese city, 10 companies agreed today to pay $12.2 million to 260 locals who went to court to protest emissions from the companies' factories. The out-of-court settlement ends a 12-year dispute in which the Nagoya residents contended that the factory emissions and pollution from cars on a nearby government-built road were giving them respiratory ailments. The residents struck a separate deal with the government, which will now consider imposing stricter emissions limits on diesel trucks, promoting greener cars, and paying for frequent medical checkups for residents. Last fall, a court resolved another air-pollution suit by ordering the same 10 companies to pay $2.33 million to 110 residents.

Sum Dum Gai ** Satire **

After reading more than a dozen articles about the United States' failure to participate in the recent climate change negotiations in Bonn, President Jiang Zemin of China angrily called U.S. President Bush yesterday. "Isolationism has always been our thing," Jiang reportedly said during the phone call. "This would be like your Seinfeld saying, 'Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?'" Bush responded with a trademark grin, at which point aides reminded him that Jiang couldn't see him through the small holes in the receiver. Read more on the Grist Magazine website.

Better Off Red Than Dead?

The water level of the Dead Sea is dropping by about three feet a year and may go dry by 2050, says Friends of the Earth in the Middle East. The group is sponsoring a photo competition to raise awareness of the plight of the popular tourist attraction, using the catchy tag line, "Let the Dead Sea Live." Its campaign calls for the U.N. to take an interest in protecting the sea and for neighboring countries to set up a regional plan to manage the sea. The sea's water sources are being diverted by industry, agriculture, and towns. But Jordan's water minister, Hazim el-Naser, said he didn't think a solution (such as pumping water into the Dead Sea from the Red Sea) was likely in the near future.

Say It Is So, Joe

The powerful duo of Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) called for a plan on Friday to require power plants in the U.S. to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. They said the U.S.'s absence from the Kyoto treaty on climate change could hurt American industry, as well as the environment. Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said yesterday that the Bush administration probably would come to the next international climate change conference with actual proposals for fighting global warming. Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the same. But U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman and U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice later contradicted him, telling reporters that a climate change plan wasn't in the cards for the conference this fall in Morocco.

Driving the Numbers Up

The percentage of households in the U.S. with three or more cars (18.3 percent) is nearly double the percentage of households with no cars (9.3 percent), and more than 76 percent of Americans say they drive to work alone, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Only 11 percent of people carpool, and merely 5 percent use public transportation to get to work. Telecommuting as a high-tech solution to the problems of pollution-spewing traffic seems to be a bust: Only 3 percent of Americans work at home, roughly the same percentage as in 1990. Carpooling dropped 16 percent since 1990. To put these numbers in perspective: In 1960, one in eight workers in Massachusetts walked to work; now, only one in 25 hoof it.

I've Got a Secret and I'm Not Telling

Vice President Dick Cheney has formally refused to turn over documents relating to the development of the Bush administration's energy plan to the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress. The GAO may now take the White House to court over the issue. Democrats and enviros believe the energy plan was tailor-made for energy executives who held closed-door meetings with Cheney's Energy Task Force. Cheney aide Mary Matalin pooh-poohed any such criticism, saying the task force "produced a balanced, comprehensive, environmentally friendly energy policy in remarkably short time."