Friday, 15 Nov 2002

Cites for Sore Eyes

The 12th Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species wraps up today in Santiago, Chile, where it has been taking place over the past two weeks. Outcomes include looser rules on trade in elephant ivory, increased protections for the whale shark and basking shark, and more stringent restrictions on trade in mahogany wood. Alas, the overfished Patagonian toothfish (aka Chilean sea bass) was not granted additional CITES protections. This week's Grist diarist, Andrew Katkin, a National Environmental Trust staffer, ventured down to Santiago to lobby for the toothfish (which, it must be conceded, is one ugly fish). Learn the ins and outs of the conference, only on the Grist Magazine website.

The Pardners' Tale

Cowboys and environmentalists unite! The unlikely amigos are banding together to try to keep natural gas drillers away from ranches on public land in the San Juan Basin in northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado. Yesterday morning, they blocked drilling crews from entering four ranches, arguing that drilling leads to erosion, water contamination, and livestock deaths, but the ranchers say they've been unsuccessful in their efforts to attract the attention of Congress and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. "This is a David-and-Goliath issue, and as long as Washington is not behind getting the problem fixed, it will not be fixed," said rancher Tweeti Blancett. Steve Henke, who heads a local BLM office, said the agency was not about to phase out drilling operations. The San Juan Basin produces 10 percent of the natural gas in the U.S., and the Bush administration has made clear that it wants only to increase the amount of drilling in the area.

Landscape Goat

There's no need to use big crews and machinery to control fires in the California hills -- just add goats. A park district in the Bay Area is using goats to munch away the brush and low-level vegetation that fuel fires in parklands. Not only are the goats sometimes cheaper, gentler, and more environmentally sensible than employing human crews for the job, but they're also more versatile in steep forests where heavy equipment and cattle can't be used. "It's what God created them to do," said Terri Holleman, owner of the Goats-R-Us ranch, which supplies goats for the hillside-cleanup jobs. Even goats have critics, however; they complain that the animal aren't picky enough, eating native vegetation as well as introduced species.

Hybrid Vigor

The Bush administration recently gave its stamp of approval to an auto industry lawsuit intended to slow the spread of fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles in California. Does this demonstrate the administration's fundamental opposition to hybrids? Au contraire -- the White House is chock-full of them. From the Vice President-Oil Biz-CEO Hybrid to the National Security Advisor-Chevron Hybrid, there are endless models from which to choose. To gain a full understanding of the future of hybrid technology, come on down and check out Mark Fiore's satirical animation, only on the Grist Magazine website.

The Roof Is on Fire

By passing regulations to encourage developers to install green roofs, Portland, Ore., has become a pioneer in the growing worldwide ecoroof movement (what, you aren't a part of it yet?). Rooftops planted with vegetation such as ferns and wildflowers can reduce runoff after rainstorms by up to 90 percent and diminish a building's energy costs by 10 percent. The runoff reduction helps prevent flooding and sewage problems that result from overflow into a city's stormwater system. Further, living roofs strip pollutants and heavy metals from rainwater before the water enters streams. "Once a person sees all the things that an ecoroof can do, it's almost dumb not to plant them," said Tom Liptan, an environmental specialist for Portland. Developers who build ecoroofs in the city receive permission to expand their overall building plans -- a necessary incentive because the roofs cost about twice as much as conventional ones.