Friday, 25 Jul 2003

Moment in the Sun

Okay, so it didn't get quite as much press as Ben Curtis's surprise victory in the British Open or the Funny Cide-Empire Maker standoff in the Belmont Stakes, but for the 20 cars that took off from Chicago on July 13, the race was every bit as exciting. The event in question was the American Solar Challenge, the world's longest solar car race, which ended Wednesday in Claremont, Calif., when the University of Missouri-Rolla team crossed the finish line five hours ahead of the pack. The $100,000 winning car was built by a team of students and, like all the participating vehicles, was powered strictly by solar energy. (The single-passenger cars were driven only from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the 2,300-mile race.) The Solar Challenge, now in its second year, is sponsored in part by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Logbook Rolling

Prior to commercial whaling, far more whales thrived in the North Atlantic than previously thought, according to a study published in today's issue of Science. Earlier studies estimated historical whale populations by combing through logbooks from old whaling ships; the current study was the first to look instead at telltale genetic variations that increase as the population of a species grows. Based on that tool, the scientists calculated that 240,000 humpback, 360,000 fin, and 265,000 minke whales lived in the North Atlantic prior to commercial whaling. Those numbers are making waves among advocates of the logbook-based research and those who look forward to resuming commercial whaling. The ban on such whaling, in place since 1986, is supposed to remain in effect until whale species have recovered to 54 percent of their pre-whaling numbers. Using the logbook calculations, whaling could restart within the next several years; using the new figures, the prohibition would likely remain in place for another 50 to 100 years.

So Much for "Go West, Young Man"

The U.S. has long imported French cuisine, Italian fashion, and German cars; now, California wants to import Old World environmental regulations. The Golden State has historically been on the cutting edge of environmental politics here in the U.S., but the European Union, with its strict controls on food, water, and chemicals, boasts even more eco-friendly policies. California environmentalists hope to introduce stringent, E.U.-like regulations on the state level, then use the state's considerable clout to get them onto the national stage. So far, they're having some luck with the first part of the equation: San Francisco recently became the first U.S. city to adopt Europe's "precautionary principle," which calls for regulatory bodies to err on the side of caution when approving new technologies; and the state senate just passed a ban on two chemical flame retardants that was modeled after an E.U. prohibition set to take effect next summer.

The Maine Dish

After years of legal wrangling, Maine is finally ending its opposition to the federal government's decision to list the wild Atlantic salmon as endangered in several of the state's rivers. Gov. John Baldacci (D) announced yesterday that the state had come to an agreement with the feds and would not appeal a recent court decision in which a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the state and Maine business groups to block the listing. The salmon has been listed as endangered in eight Maine rivers since November 2000, but the listing has been dogged by legal challenges. Opponents said the fish were not sufficiently genetically distinct from other salmon to merit listing and claimed that protecting the fish would harm the state's economy.

States of Grace

With federal action against climate change stagnating, some state leaders are taking matters into their own hands. Ten Northeastern states agreed yesterday to begin discussing the creation of the nation's first market-based plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Under the plan, plants would be able to buy or sell CO2 credits in order to reach emissions targets set by the participating states, which tentatively include Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Environmentalists said the plan showed great promise but lacked details; some expressed disappointment in the slow timeline, which does not call for a final agreement until 2005.