Thursday, 17 Oct 2002

Sandy Ego

Southern California has finally come up with a plan to reduce its reliance on the Colorado River and keep water flowing to fast-growing San Diego. Since the 1930s, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and California have had an agreement to divvy up water supplies from the Colorado River, but California has guzzled more than its fair share for years. The Bush administration has threatened to cut the state's take if it does not agree on a plan to reduce it on its own by the year's end. The plan would shunt water from Imperial Valley, California's agricultural hotbed, to San Diego, thereby decreasing California's dependence on the Colorado. Imperial Valley would receive between $258 and $400 per acre-foot of water transferred to San Diego; farmers in the valley would also need to adopt more efficient irrigation techniques and let some of their land lie fallow. The plan, which still must be ratified by four separate agencies, exemplifies a shift in water-use priorities from farmland to cities.

Drain Canada

In response to the escalating energy demands of the United States, Canada has increased its oil production by nearly 50 percent in the past decade and its natural gas production by more than two-thirds. According to a report by the Sierra Club of Canada and the Natural Resources Defense Council, more than half of Canada's oil production is exported to the U.S., making it one of America's biggest foreign oil suppliers, on par with Saudi Arabia. "The United States is the world's biggest fossil-fuel junkie, and Canada provides the largest foreign fix," says NRDC researcher Matt Price. That's bad news for Canada's environment, where energy extraction is leading to higher pollution levels and dwindling wilderness as roads and pipelines are built to support the industry. The report says there are no signs of a slowdown: Another 200,000 wells could be drilled over the next decade.

Boston Z-E-V Party

Massachusetts is preparing to adopt California's ambitious zero-emission vehicle legislation, which would require 10 percent of cars and trucks sold within the state to produce no pollution. For the moment, though, the U.S. government is still bickering internally over whether California's legislation is legal. Earlier this month, the Bush administration said California had overstepped its authority by trying to regulate not only emissions but also fuel efficiency, and as a result the Justice Department put the new standards on hold until 2005. The U.S. EPA, however, has proposed supporting a similar program in Massachusetts that calls for low (rather than zero) emissions. The agency is accepting public comment on the plan through the middle of November.

Empire State Green Building

A landmark sustainable building project in lower Manhattan is back on track after being delayed due to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Construction resumed recently on 20 River Terrace, one of the world's first green residential skyscrapers, which will be located in Battery Park City a stone's throw from Ground Zero. The 27-story tower, which will include solar panels, purified air, super-insulated walls and windows, and a rainwater collection system, was planned long before Sept. 11, but is setting an example for a sustainable future in Lower Manhattan. The building is designed to use 35 percent less energy than a conventional structure and is being made from recycled materials in order to qualify for a New York State green-building tax credit. To reduce pollution from truck transportation, at least 40 percent of the components will be manufactured no farther than 500 miles from the job site.

The Sub-zero Continent

Sun-scorched India is fast becoming one of the world's hottest markets for air conditioners, as manufacturers rush to capitalize on an unsaturated market and a consumer base with rising disposable incomes. The average price for air conditioners in India has dropped by about 20 percent over the past two years, and sales have been booming; LG Electronics, the world's largest AC manufacturer, expects air-conditioner sales in India to increase by 20 percent per year for the next three years. "All these years we've thought of an AC as an expensive luxury product but that's no longer true," said Ravinder Zutshi, vice-president of sales at Samsung India. "[The AC] has moved from its luxury status to a necessity item just like any washing machine or refrigerator." Other energy-guzzling appliances are also becoming commonplace in India: Sales of color TVs, for example, are expected to surge 30 to 35 percent this year.