Monday, 04 Aug 2003

The Smoking Gun?

Use of Depleted Uranium Weapons Raises Health Concerns in Iraq

High levels of radiation are showing up at a number of sites throughout Iraq, thanks to the use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons by U.S.-led forces during the war in March and April. DU is considered a potential cause of cancers and birth defects. Some Iraqi doctors and others say that use of DU ammunition during the 1991 Gulf War led to a significant surge in cancers and birth defects in Iraq a few years later. DU is also suspected of contributing to the Gulf War Syndrome that has afflicted thousands of U.S. veterans. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) has introduced a bill that would require the U.S. government to study the health and environmental effects of DU, but the legislation is going nowhere fast. The military says there's no evidence that DU causes health problems, and it insists DU ammunition is needed because it's dense enough to penetrate heavy tank armor.

Tundra-struck

Warming Climate in Alaska Causes Headaches for Oil Companies

In an ironic twist, oil companies operating on Alaska's North Slope are finding their work impeded by a warming climate. The companies depend on long stretches of hard freeze during which they can haul heavy drilling equipment over tundra, but those cold periods are shrinking. In 1970, there were more than 200 days with adequate snow and ice cover to meet state standards for safe tundra travel; in recent years, there have been only about half that many days. The window for oil exploration on the North Slope "seems to get shorter every year," said Jack Bergeron of oil company Total E&P USA. Meanwhile, a serious heat wave that has beset much of Europe this summer has convinced many that global warming is a reality. Though scientists remind people that a single natural event cannot be attributed to climate change, Europeans can't help but think something serious is awry when they observe the droughts, unusually high temperatures, and forest fires that have spread across the continent.

Cow-a-bunga

Enviro Coalition Buys Out Large Grazing Permit in Wyoming

A coalition of conservation groups has agreed to pay $250,000 to a Wyoming rancher to buy out her federal grazing permit, a deal that will keep cattle out of a 137-square-mile area that abuts Grand Teton National Park. The land is home to grizzly bears, wolves, lynx, bald eagles, and numerous other species. This is just the latest incidence in a spreading trend that has environmentalists negotiating directly with ranchers to remove cattle from public lands in the West, where the livestock are accused of causing erosion, damaging riparian areas, and threatening endangered species. The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lease about 250 million acres for grazing at below-market rates that don't cover the cost of the government program.

Seeds of Destruction

GM Crops Harm Neighboring Flora and Fauna, British Test Results Indicate

Genetically modified crops can cause more damage to nearby plants and animals than conventional strains of the same crops, according to preliminary results from British government farm trials. The three crops studied -- GM sugar beet, maize, and oilseed rape -- destroyed more insects and weeds than their non-GM counterparts. This would seem to disprove the theory advanced by biotechnology advocates that GM plants would interact with other species in the same way as conventional plants and would have no effect on the countryside. The British government will use the final trial results in determining whether or not to allow GM crops to be grown commercially in the country. Meanwhile, in the U.S., scientists are planting dozens of research plots with GM trees, causing enviros to worry that the trees could crossbreed with natural varieties and undermine ecosystem health and biodiversity. "It won't be as widespread as agricultural biotechnology, but it could be much more destructive," said Jim Diamond of the Sierra Club.

Flexible Fools

Automakers Can Dodge Fuel-Economy Rules with Flex-Fuel Vehicles

U.S. automakers are dramatically boosting production of "flexible-fuel" cars and trucks that can run on either gasoline or E85, a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gas that results in lower greenhouse gas emissions -- but this trend is more likely to harm the environment than help it. Owners of flex-fuel vehicles almost always fill them up with gasoline because E85 is so hard to find -- it's sold at fewer than 150 of the estimated 176,000 gas stations in the U.S. Still, car manufacturers get credits toward meeting federal fuel-efficiency standards for every flexible-fuel vehicle they sell. Enviros say this policy lets automakers dodge fuel-efficiency requirements. Even the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found in 2001 that extending the policy without making ethanol-based fuels more widely available "will increase petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions." The current policy expires next year, but an energy bill now working its way through Congress includes a provision to extend the policy for four years.