Wednesday, 05 Feb 2003

Polling Your Chain

Every environmentalist worth her or his salt has heard of the USGS -- the Unbelievably Scintillating Grist Survey. We're not mapping natural gas deposits beneath the Rocky Mountains; we're mapping the future of the best and funniest environmental magazine around. To do so, we need your input, so please take this wicked-fun survey and tell us how we can make Grist even better. In exchange, you get good karma, boundless Grist gratitude, and a shot at winning one of 10 pairs of shoes made by Montrail, an innovative footwear company down the street from Grist HQ in Seattle.

A Connecticut Yank

Environmental-justice (EJ) activists in Connecticut are urging passage of a bill to protect the state's low-income and minority citizens from bearing the brunt of pollution problems. Yesterday, a coalition of activists unveiled a map showing that power plants, transfer stations, and other heavily polluting facilities are disproportionately likely to be located in the state's poor and minority neighborhoods. New Haven, home to many such neighborhoods, has three times the national rate of asthma, which can be caused or exacerbated by air pollution. If the bill backed by the coalition is signed into law, Connecticut would be required to develop an EJ action plan that would assess the human and environmental health impacts of state programs, policies, and activities on poor and minority communities.

A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Sustainability Go Down

The United Nations isn't generally thought of as a marketing entity -- but a little marketing savvy is just what's needed to encourage sustainable consumption habits worldwide, according to the U.N. Environment Programme. Right now, the organization says, only 5 percent of people in developed countries maintain sustainable lifestyles, defined as "enjoying a good quality of life" while consciously choosing to reduce pollution and consumption. By working with psychologists and behavioral scientists, UNEP is trying to figure out how best to up that number by encouraging people to "think green" when they reach for their wallets. The organization believes that while guilt doesn't work (tough luck, Arianna Huffington), financial incentives just might.

Not Keeping Their Powder Dry

The Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming is the center of coalbed methane mining (CBM) in the United States -- and now, for the first time, private citizens in the basin have sued a CBM company for damages to their land. Dan and Mary Brannaman, who own a ranch in the basin but not the mineral reserves underneath it, are suing Michigan-based Paxton Resources for more than $250,000 in property damage. The company signed an agreement assuring the Brannamans that CBM crews would not harm their property; nevertheless, the couple says, crew members tore out fencing, left trash and cigarettes littered about, relieved themselves on the land, spilled oil, and built roads in inappropriate locations. The Brannamans say Paxton's practices hurt their business, damaged rangeland, and devalued their property. The company denies any wrongdoing. The suit is one sign of increasing unhappiness among Westerners with the resource-extraction industry.

Test Ban Treat

Here's one unintended consequence of the impending U.S. war against Iraq: The Bush administration has delayed a formal challenge to the European Union's ban on genetically modified food. Recently, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick blamed the ban for widespread starvation in the developing world and said the administration was considering taking a case against Europe to the World Trade Organization. Now, though, the U.S. has backed off, apparently in an attempt not to alienate the E.U. at a moment of critical international importance. As a senior White House official who asked not to be identified put it, "There is no point in testing Europeans on food while they are being tested on Iraq." Both sides agree that the ban on GM food will be lifted, but disagree on how fast that should happen and what kinds of controls -- such as product-labeling -- should be in place before the prohibition ends.

Mongoose Step

Invasive species are a problem throughout the world -- but in Japan, with its fragile island ecosystems, the problem is particularly severe. The most prominent Japanese battle to protect native species is raging in Lake Biwa, the nation's largest freshwater lake and a cultural icon frequently referenced in literature, theater, and film. There, voracious American fish, initially introduced for sport fishing, are out-competing their Japanese counterparts. Goats, mongooses, dandelions, beetles, raccoons, and other nonnative species are also wreaking havoc on Japan's environment. Ironically, in Japan as elsewhere, some of the now-problematic invaders were brought in to solve environmental problems. The mongoose, for example, was introduced to kill rats and the venomous habu snake; instead, it's found easier prey among native Japanese species and thrives in the tens of thousands. Until last year, Japan had no policy in place to address environmental problems stemming from nonnative species; now, the country is working to exterminate species that threaten its original ecosystems.