Tuesday, 04 Mar 2003

New Formula for Infants

For the first time, the U.S. EPA's proposed guidelines for assessing the dangers of pesticides and other carcinogens presume that such chemicals pose a higher risk to infants and children. The guidelines call on environmental regulators to assume that children who are two or younger be considered 10 times more susceptible to hazardous chemicals than adults, while older children be considered three times as susceptible. The proposal is based on the greater developmental vulnerability of the very young, as well as the likelihood that children may be exposed to higher doses of toxic substance -- for example, kids are more likely than adults to put foreign objects in their mouths. Environmental groups praised the stricter standards for children but feared that overall, the guidelines would enable industry to easily gain exemptions to the regulations.

Kids 'n' Play

Generating power for developing nations could be child's play -- literally -- according to an engineering professor at the University of Michigan. Raj Pandian has proposed harnessing the energy from playground equipment (such as teeter-totters, merry-go-rounds, and swing sets) in Third World villages, then using it to power light bulbs, radios, sewing machines, telephones, and other useful electronics. The energy generated by the repetitive motion of the playground equipment would be stored in batteries, a technique that has proved successful in Pandian's laboratory models. The professor's idea is one of a series of projects seeking to tap into "people power" to provide electricity to the 40 percent of the global population that lacks reliable energy sources.

Bring Back My Bonnie to Me

The Bonneville Power Administration, the largest hydroelectric power producer in the Northwest, is abandoning some of its wildlife conservation plans due to financial woes. The quasi-governmental agency is required by law to compensate for any damage it causes to natural habitats; recently, however, the Northwest Power Planning Council criticized the BPA for failing to spend money on mitigation programs, even though customers are charged fish and wildlife mitigations fees. Now, the situation is worsening, with the BPA announcing that it will shelve eight conservation projects in four states for an estimated savings of $11 million -- not much, in the face of an expected $900 million budget shortfall over the next four years. The cuts will especially affect Montana, which provides about 20 percent of the water flowing through BPA dams, but will now get just 1.5 percent of fish and wildlife mitigation dollars.

Crisis of Confidence Game

California yesterday submitted new evidence to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of a widespread plan by electricity generators, traders, and even municipal power companies to produce the state's 2000-2001 energy crisis in order to turn a profit. State officials said the evidence, which was the result of a 103-day investigation, was just the "tip of the iceberg" in a web of abuse. The information -- the state's most comprehensive effort to date to account for how its energy market went so drastically awry -- was submitted to FERC as part of California's effort to win $9 billion in refunds for price gouging by the companies involved in the scandal. Gov. Gray Davis (D) said the evidence revealed an "epidemic" of industry cheating, including withheld power generation, illegally shared information among competitors, purposely high bidding during energy emergencies, manipulation of the emissions market, the sale of phantom services, and the creation of the appearance of congestion in the energy system.

Let's Not Be Frank

If Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski (R) gets his way, environmental organizations that sue state agencies and lose will have to pick up part of the state's legal bills. At Murkowski's request, bills were introduced yesterday into the Alaska House and Senate proposing changes to the state's public-interest litigant rules. Currently, the rules allow public-interest groups to recover legal fees when they win court cases against the state and protect them from liability for legal fees when they lose. Murkowski wants to change those rules in cases where groups challenge the state departments of Environmental Conservation, Natural Resources, and Fish and Game.