Friday, 22 Nov 2002

Rome If You Want to

One-third of Italy's most important cultural sites are in a state of emergency, according to the Italian environmental group Legambiente, which studied 36 areas in the country that have been designated World Heritage sites by the United Nations. The group said water pollution was threatening Venice, while smog and sprawl were damaging Naples, Florence, and Rome. It also said unregulated hotel development was scarring the Amalfi coast. The U.N. took issue with some of Legambiente's claims, but acknowledged that Cinque Terre, a series of farming and fishing villages on cliffs above the Mediterranean, was at risk because of rampant development.

Like Padre, Like Son

With no public announcement, the Bush administration has given the go-ahead to two new natural gas wells in the Padre Island National Seashore, which boasts the nation's longest stretch of undeveloped beach and 11 endangered species. Oil and gas drilling have occurred in the Texas park before, but the rate of drilling dropped sharply in the last 20 years. Environmentalists say the new wells will further threaten the world's smallest and most endangered sea turtle, the Kemp's ridley, which uses Padre Island as its principal nesting ground in the U.S. To build the new well, heavy trucks will now drive about 20 times a day over nesting grounds. The Sierra Club said it would sue to stop the drilling.

We've Got Mail

Have something you need to get off your chest? You're not alone: This month, our mailbox runneth over with letters on everything from solar power to invasive species, from high-tech waste to the pleasures of cushion gardening. Check out what your fellow readers have to say in our Letters to the Editor section, only on the Grist Magazine website.

If You Drive Alone, You Drive With Saddam

For some U.S. citizens, solar panels, wind turbines, and fuel-efficient cars have become the ultimate patriotic statement. With a war looming in the Middle East, green groups are framing the cause of energy conservation in terms of national security. They are issuing reports, creating websites, and hitting the airwaves with the message that true security will only come when the U.S. reduces its dependency on foreign oil. The nation has heard such calls before -- during World War II and the Arab oil embargo, for example -- but this time, the feds certainly aren't leading the charge. Instead, many plain-Jane citizens, as well as environmental groups, are speaking up. Their voices seem to be tapping into a need for Americans to be asked to do their part for the war on terrorism.