Tuesday, 17 Sep 2002

The Fresh Prince of Bad Air

Just two weeks after their births, infants in the Los Angeles area have been exposed to more pollution than the U.S. government considers acceptable over a lifetime, according to a report released this week by the Washington, D.C.-based National Environmental Trust. The report, which looked at pollution levels in the L.A. region, the San Francisco Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley, the Sacramento Valley, and San Diego, found that children in California are at a greater risk than adults of getting cancer from airborne contaminants. Each year, 102,000 tons of toxic emissions are released in the Golden State; in the L.A. area, according to the report, the emissions cause an estimated 720 cancer cases per million people annually -- a risk almost 1,000 times greater than the federal government's acceptable limit of one case per million people.

Borderline Insane

Two new power plants being built just south of the U.S. border will generate billions of watts of electricity for Californians, a handful of jobs for Mexicans, and plenty of pollution for everyone. The plants, which are the first to be built in Mexico specifically to provide power to the U.S., mark a new era in the relationship between the two nations. Some hail the development as a perfect example of the merits of free trade, while others excoriate it as a prime case of neo-colonialism, calling the plants "energy maquiladoras," in a reference to the assembly-line factories where Mexicans labor at low wages for multinational corporations. The plants capitalize on Mexico's weaker environmental law enforcement, its less-than-transparent government, and its desire for foreign capital. President Bush and the U.S. Energy Department issued special permits for the plants, one of which does not meet California pollution standards and would not be licensed in the U.S.

Natural Born Weed Killers

The cocktail of chemicals found in the most common herbicides used in home lawn care in the U.S. could reduce fertility and cause miscarriages, according to a study published today in Environmental Health Perspectives. The study does not name the brand of weed-killer tested, but the active ingredient -- a mix of three phenoxy herbicides (2,4-D, dicamba, and mecoprop) -- is used by 29 million Americans to kill dandelions and other undesired plants. Safety trials have been conducted on the herbicides singly, but never in combination. However, independent studies of crop workers in Europe and Kansas have found a possible correlation between one of the herbicides, 2,4-D, and elevated rates of non-Hodgkins lymphoma and birth defects. The current study found that laboratory mice given drinking water containing extremely low doses of the chemical cocktail -- seven times lower than the maximum allowable concentrations in the U.S. -- experienced a 20 percent increase in failed pregnancies.

Jersey, Sure!

In a slap in the face to former New Jersey governor and current U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman, New Jersey plans to scrap an air-pollution-control program her administration had touted as a model for the nation. The Open Market Emissions Trading Program allows companies to pollute above permitted levels if they buy credits from other companies that have successfully reduced their emissions; some 39 companies have made use of it to meet emissions standards. Now, state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley Campbell is pulling the plug, saying the program has hurt state efforts to reduce air pollution. "The program has failed," Campbell wrote in a letter to the U.S. EPA. That blunt assessment didn't deter Whitman from singing its praises as late as yesterday, nor from continuing to push a national emissions trading plan.

Stuffed Sacs

Unhappy with some of the findings of the scientific advisory committees that guide federal policy, the Bush administration has begun to stack the deck in its favor, eliminating some committees entirely and reshuffling membership in others. Fifteen of the 18 members of a committee assessing the effects of environmental chemicals on human health have been told they will be replaced, in several instances by people tied to the industries that manufacture the chemicals. (One new member, a California scientist, helped defend Pacific Gas and Electric Company against Erin Brockovich.) Two other committees -- one recommending increased oversight of the lucrative genetic testing industry and the other rethinking federal protections for human research subjects -- have been eliminated. The changes mark the beginning of the restructuring of a system of more than 250 committees that funnel advice to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.