Wednesday, 06 Aug 2003

Field of Greens

The Green Party Plans to Field a Presidential Candidate in 2004

National Green Party leaders came away from a late July meeting with plans to run presidential and vice presidential candidates in next year's elections -- consequences be damned. Though some Greens are ambivalent about the prospect, the majority of the leadership seems to believe that the party needs a presidential nominee in order to command a national stage from which to address important issues related to the environment, social justice, corporate power, and more. (No word yet on whether Ralph Nader might again be the bearer of the Green mantle.) But by failing to make strategic decisions about which electoral battles to fight -- and which not to -- the Greens are set to damage the party's long-term prospects, argues Norman Solomon in Grist's Soapbox.

Mass Destruction of Weapons

Chemical Weapons Incineration in Anniston, Ala., Delayed

Just as local residents were scrambling for gas masks, the U.S. Army announced yesterday that it would delay startup of a controversial chemical-weapons incinerator in Anniston, Ala., until Friday, when a federal judge can consider an environmental group's request for a temporary restraining order against the facility. The Chemical Weapons Working Group argues that the Army violated federal law by neglecting to consider alternative disposal methods, including neutralizing the weapons with warm water or other nontoxic liquids. The Army's Anniston incinerator is situated near residential areas, schools, and businesses with a high percentage of poor and minority citizens, many of whom are very worried about the possible health effects from incineration or an accident at the facility. The Army insists that incineration is safe and that leaving the Cold War-era weapons intact would pose an even greater danger because they could leak or be a target for terrorists.

Let the Games Be Green

Enviros Accuse 2004 Athens Olympic Organizers of Green Failings

Organizers of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens are already getting poor scores from environmentalists, who say the Greeks have missed numerous opportunities to make the games more eco-friendly. Greece won its bid to host the games in part by pledging to protect vulnerable natural and cultural areas and deal with problems related to air pollution, water quality, traffic, and waste management, but WWF Greece and Greenpeace say little progress has been made in these areas. The enviros also point out that solar power, non-toxic building materials, and recycling systems have not been integrated into construction of the Olympic Village and other large complexes. While environmental groups worked closely with organizers of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia -- dubbed the "Green Games" -- groups say the Athens organizers have ignored their input. "What Athens has to offer is a lesson in how things shouldn't be done," said Nikos Haralambidis of Greenpeace.

Oh, Fudge

EPA May Have Exaggerated Numbers on Safe Drinking Water

The U.S. EPA may have fudged the numbers when it announced in a June report that "94 percent of the population served by community water systems were served by systems that met all health-based standards." Internal EPA documents suggest that the true number may be markedly lower -- 79 to 84 percent in 2002. The EPA's inspector general is investigating whether the agency purposefully mislead the public about the percentage of the population with safe drinking water. The EPA has long had difficulty collecting accurate water-quality data from states; an agency review found "major underreporting" of water violations by states, sometimes by as much as 50 percent.

Impaired Judgement

Judge Who Struck Down Roadless Rule May Have Ethics Conflict

The federal judge who struck down the Clinton-era roadless rule last month may have violated ethics laws, according to two legal watchdog groups that filed a formal ethics complaint yesterday. The groups say the judge should have recused himself from hearing the case because he potentially stood to profit from its outcome. The roadless rule had blocked oil and gas development as well as logging and road-building on 58 million acres of national forest land. Judge Clarence Brimmer, according to his federal disclosure forms for 2000 and 2001, held stock or royalty interests in 15 oil and gas companies, worth an estimated $400,000 to $1.1 million. "I don't think a judge who has half of his wealth tied up in oil and gas exploration should be sitting in cases that could substantially affect the value of the exploration that his companies want to undertake," said Stephen Gillers, a professor of legal ethics at New York University. Brimmer denied any conflict of interest.