Tuesday, 14 Jan 2003

Oil and Water Don't Mix

Late last year, the oil tanker "Prestige" split open and sank off the coast of Spain, spilling millions of gallons of oil -- and harming marine life, despoiling hundreds of miles of shoreline, disrupting fisheries, and jeopardizing the livelihoods of the people who depend on them. In response, the European Union has begun to crack down on old, poorly maintained, single-hulled tankers like the Prestige. But what about here in the United States? Writer David Helvarg opines about the many threats posed by the oil industry to U.S. waterways, only on the Grist Magazine website.

Weed Wackos

The widespread use of Roundup, a common herbicide developed by Monsanto, has caused weeds that are resistant to the chemical to spring up on a half-million acres of agricultural land across the U.S. At fault, scientists say, is the popularity of bioengineered crops that are "Roundup Ready" -- that is, created by Monsanto to be genetically impervious to the herbicide. Together, Roundup and Roundup Ready crops make life simpler for conventional farmers, who can use just one herbicide and spray it directly on their crops. The ease of the practice has led to widespread use of Roundup, and that has led to evolution taking its inevitable course: Those weeds that can survive exposure to Roundup are flourishing. Further spread of resistant weeds could wreak havoc around the globe, because glyphosate -- the generic name for Roundup -- is the most popular weed-killer on the planet. So far, the U.S. government has not imposed any limitations on the use of Roundup or Roundup Ready crops.

Texas, With Mess

The Texas legislature is under pressure to find a way to fund a plan to cut smog in the state's major urban areas. If the lawmakers can't come up with the money soon, the U.S. EPA has threatened to reject the plan and take over the state's pollution-control efforts. That would jeopardize federal highway money, which is contingent on meeting clean air standards. Under the Texas Emissions Reductions Plan, passed by the legislature in 2001, the state is supposed to collect taxes and fees to help offset the cost to businesses of voluntarily replacing old, smog-producing diesel equipment, as well as to provide rebates to private citizens for purchasing clean-running cars. But so far, all the legislature's attempts to design a system of new taxes and fees have met with failure. To afford the plan, the state needs to provide $188 million over each of the next four years.

Put It on Credit

Industrial polluters will be allowed to buy credits from cleaner competitors to help comply with the Clean Water Act, under a plan released yesterday by the Bush administration. The National Water Quality Trading Policy would allow industrial, agricultural, and wastewater-treatment operations that cannot meet clean water regulations to purchase credits from cleaner facilities in the same watershed. In keeping with the administration's fondness for incentives-based environmental protection over government regulation, the policy would rely on financial incentives to boost water quality. Some environmentalists welcomed the plan, but others worried that it would contribute to a significant decline in the nation's water quality, especially because it is just one in a series of steps the administration has taken to weaken water protections.

On the Rocks, With Salt

California received a blow to its water supplies earlier this month when the feds reduced the amount of Colorado River water diverted to the state. Now, the ever-thirsty Golden State is turning to a different potential source to solve its water woes: the Pacific Ocean. Seawater can be converted to freshwater through desalination, a process that was once viewed as prohibitively expensive but could become more affordable as new technologies emerge and shrinking water supplies boost demand. Environmentalists, however, worry that more affordable desalination could spell trouble for marine ecosystems. For every two gallons of water filtered by the process, one is pumped back into the sea; that one contains highly elevated salt concentrations, which can kill or harm small marine creatures. Scientists are still studying the impact of the process on dolphins and other marine mammals, and California's plans to develop five desalination plants will be subject to environmental review.