Wednesday, 18 Sep 2002

Fee: "Fie," Foes Fume

Is it a tax or is it not a tax? That's the question in London, where diplomats are up in arms over a proposed daily fee on cars driving into the city center, in order to discourage congestion and clean up the city's air. They say the fee most certainly is a tax, and that therefore embassies should be exempt from it under the 1961 Vienna Convention, which bars governments from levying taxes against such institutions. But Ken Livingstone, the famously contentious mayor of London, says it's not a tax -- a claim the U.S. is threatening to respond to by levying its own "non-tax" against British diplomats. Meanwhile, though, the diplomats are trying to solve the problem in the way they know best -- diplomatically. George Kirya, the high commissioner of Uganda and the dean of the London diplomatic corps, is planning to approach the Livingstone government to plead the diplomats' case, especially for poor countries, for whom the nearly $8 tax could be a financial burden.

Jeremy Spoke in Class Again

In his new book The Hydrogen Economy, author Jeremy Rifkin argues that energy-use habits determine the rise and fall of civilizations. Contemporary civilization depends on the steady supply of relatively inexpensive energy, most of which comes from fossil fuels. And most of that comes from the Middle East, where societal and political differences from the U.S. make for a precarious and potentially unstable relationship. For the sake of civilization as we know it, Rifkin writes, we should make the transition to a hydrogen economy, where power will be generated by fuel cells and delivered by locally owned, decentralized providers -- a "democratized energy web." That vision could be great for civilization and the environment -- but can Rifkin get us there? Get reviewer Elizabeth Grossman's opinion, only on the Grist Magazine website.

Don't Send Us the Bill

The Canadian government prorogued its parliamentary session this week, effectively killing a proposed Species At Risk bill. The bill would have banned the harassment, harming, or killing of endangered species on federal land, as well as destruction of critical habitat. The move represented the third time the Parliament has tried and failed to pass legislation to protect endangered species. Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark accused the Liberal government of ending the parliamentary session to hide deep divisions in its own ranks, including over the species bill. Fellow Progressive Conservative Parliament Member John Herron said, "This government has not passed a single piece of environmental legislation of their own initiative in a decade."

Sigh. Gone.

Vietnam is home to one of the world's most biologically diverse ecosystems -- but the country's natural environment has deteriorated rapidly over the last decade, according to a report released today by the World Bank. The report, "Vietnam Environment Monitor 2002," found that of the nation's endemic species, 28 percent of mammals, 10 percent of birds, and 21 percent of reptiles and amphibians are currently endangered, mainly due to hunting and habitat loss. World Bank environmental specialist Patchamuthu Illangovan acknowledged that it would be "a huge challenge" to counter the "drastic decline in environmental quality" -- especially since only 0.85 percent of the national budget is earmarked for environmental protection.

My Even More Beautiful Laundrette

Last week, California Gov. Gray Davis (D) took on washing machines, signing legislation requiring them to be water-efficient by 2007; now the state's South Coast Air Quality Management District has taken aim at a related target -- dry cleaners. The district, which is responsible for cleaning up the air breathed by about half of all Californians, wants to phase out perchloroethylene, or perc, the most common solvent used by dry cleaners. It says perc, which is the number two cancer risk in the Los Angeles area after diesel exhaust, pollutes the air, water, and soil. The move to ban it is the nation's first, although some cities, such as New York and San Francisco, regulate the solvent heavily. The management district faces heavy opposition from the industry, which says perc substitutes are more expensive, more labor intensive, and not as effective.