Tuesday, 03 Jun 2003

Ford Gored

The Sierra Club hopes to embarrass Ford Motor Co. with ads slated to run in the New York Times and BusinessWeek pointing out that the company's vehicles are less fuel-efficient now than when Ford got its start 100 years ago. The Model T got 25 miles to the gallon; Ford's fleet now averages 22.6 miles per gallon, and its popular Ford Explorer gets just 16 mpg. Global Exchange and the Rainforest Action Network are also aiming their firepower at Ford, organizing protests around the U.S. to criticize the company for reneging on a pledge to boost the fuel economy of its SUVs 25 percent by 2005. The first in a series of planned demonstrations took place in San Francisco over the weekend, and as many as 20 cities, including New York and Chicago, will see protests next weekend. All the action will culminate at Ford's headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., on June 14-16, when the company will be celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Don't Drink to This

Leaders of the Group of Eight nations -- meeting for their annual summit in Evian, France, home of the original chichi bottled water -- agreed yesterday to throw their weight behind a plan intended to bring clean drinking water to at least half of the 1.2 billion people who lack it by 2015. Aid groups and activists scoffed at the plan, noting that it lacks specifics and that the G8 nations' commitments are poorly defined. Activists are particularly unhappy about the plan's support for the privatization of water supplies. Friends of the Earth derided the plan as "undrinkable," arguing that clean water and proper sanitation are basic rights "that should not be regulated by the invisible hands of the free market and the interests of multinationals, but decided democratically by the people of each country." The G8 summit attracted thousands of anti-globalization protesters to nearby Swiss towns, a number of whom voiced their opposition to privatization and corporatization of water systems. Police beat protesters back with -- what else? -- a water cannon.

Air Care

With the feds having fallen down on the job, the California state Senate stepped in yesterday to keep up the fight against air pollution. The state Senate voted to add New Source Review rules to the state's clean-air regulations -- the same type of rules that the Bush administration did away with on a national level in December 2002. The federal rules had required older power plants and factories to install state-of-the-art pollution controls if they made upgrades that would boost production. The decision by the Bush team to loosen the rules set off a firestorm of protest in the environmental community and spurred lawsuits from nine northeastern states concerned that the changes would harm public health. The California bill will now go to the state Assembly.

Cruising for Trouble

Environmental protesters came out to say good riddance when the Crystal Harmony cruise ship pulled out of port in San Francisco yesterday. The Crystal Cruises company was banned from docking its ships in Monterey, Calif., in March because one of its ships had discharged tens of thousands of gallons of wastewater into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Enviros in San Francisco are frustrated that their city has taken no similar steps to crack down on the big ships, which pollute the air as well as the water. The Crystal Harmony burns so much dirty diesel fuel that it causes as much air pollution as 12,000 cars, says Teri Shore of Bluewater Network, an environmental group. A few hundred miles north, the Washington state Department of Ecology last week proposed that cruise ships be required to report to state authorities about where they are dumping waste in Washington waters. Seattle-area enviros were outraged last month when the Norwegian Sun cruise ship dumped 40 tons of raw sewage off the Washington coast.

Crime-iny!

Environmental advocates in Oregon are worried that a bill intended to crack down on so-called ecoterrorism could punish activists who take part in peaceful protests and acts of civil disobedience. The Oregon Senate yesterday overwhelmingly passed legislation that would let "eco-sabotage" crimes be prosecuted under the state's racketeering laws and would allow prosecutors to seek triple damages against those convicted of such crimes. The bill's chief sponsor, Sen. Ted Ferrioli (R), said that environmental vandalism had resulted in $50 million worth of damage in the state over the past 10 years, citing arson at a timber company office, a bombing at a car dealership, and the destruction of genetically engineered trees. But Sen. Charlie Ringo (D), who voted against the bill, argued that laws are already on the books to deal with these sorts of crimes and that the new legislation could be used against mainstream environmental activists. The bill, which is now headed for the Oregon House, defines eco-sabotage as a crime committed "to further environmental objectives."