Tuesday, 06 Nov 2001

Erin Brockovich Gets Slick

When the Exxon Valdez ran areef in 1989 and spilled 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound, 15,000 workers from around the world rallied to help with the cleanup. Now it's the workers themselves who need help: More than a decade after the spill, hundreds of them say they are suffering from problems ranging from nausea and nosebleeds to kidney problems and cancer. Three legal investigators, including Erin Brockovich, have taken up the cause of the cleanup workers. They say Exxon, now ExxonMobil, failed to protect the workers from exposure to both the spilled crude oil and the chemicals used in the cleanup, and are weighing whether to take the case to court.

A Sucker Evolves Every Minute

For the first time, scientists have identified an animal -- the pitcher-plant mosquito -- that is evolving in response to global warming. Two University of Oregon scientists found that some of the mosquitoes are taking advantage of the longer summers brought about by global warming by delaying their hibernation -- a process that is controlled genetically. The mosquitoes then have a longer reproductive season, giving them an evolutionary advantage. Meanwhile, if you're wondering how human beings are planning to adapt to global warming, venture to the Grist Magazine website to get the inside scoop on the climate change negotiations in Morocco from our correspondent on the scene.

Earning Some Green

Business for Social Responsibility, the brainchild of such lefty companies as Patagonia and Ben & Jerry's, is holding a conference in Seattle this week that is attracting companies not exactly known for their progressive politics: Chevron, Weyerhaeuser, Ford, The Gap, Nike, and the like. Homegrown giants Starbucks and Microsoft will also attend the conference, where delegates will discuss how to be responsible corporate citizens and still look good on Wall Street. Alan Durning, executive director of Northwest Environment Watch and a conference panelist, says he's pleased that the big companies are at least talking about the issues, though many have yet to walk the talk. Others say the conference is just high-profile greenwashing.

Spending Some Green

Fifty percent of Americans consider themselves environmentalists, according to a recent Gallup poll, but how many put their money where their mouths are? In a survey by Roper, only 29 percent of respondents reported recently purchasing a product because it was advertised as environmentally friendly. Despite efforts to standardize labeling practices, market analysts say consumers are wary of greenwashing. Perhaps more important, they are keeping on an eye on their pocketbooks. With green products like compact fluorescent light bulbs sometimes more expensive at the time of purchase but a better buy in the long run, advocates of responsible consumption say the trick is to reorient consumers so that they begin to think about the lifecycle costs of their every purchase.

Take a Spill Pill

Four environmental and angler groups sued the Bonneville Power Administration yesterday for unlawfully harming migrating salmon by increasing power production and reducing water flow at Columbia River dams this spring and summer. The BPA, the largest energy provider in the Northwest, is required by a federal salmon recovery plan to spill billions of gallons of water over dams (instead of feeding the water through its electricity-generating turbines) to enable fish to make it to the ocean. But this year, faced with a near-record drought, the BPA dramatically reduced the amount of water it spilled, increasing the death rate for salmon and steelhead.

Dragon Slayers

Decades of rapid economic growth have brought China increased wealth, longer lives, and lower infant mortality rates -- and spectacular environmental problems. The tiny village of Dragon Range tells the story writ small. In the 1960s, the rural town welcomed nearby factories because the workers there purchased their crops; four decades later, Dragon Range is known throughout China as "Cancer Village." The environmental problems -- the town's soil and crops contain levels of arsenic and lead that far exceed safety standards -- are complicated by regulatory foot-dragging, media censorship, withholding of information, and, some fear, diversion of monies intended to help residents relocate. Fifty-nine of 154 people who lived in the town in 1974 have died; 36 of those deaths were caused by cancer.