Friday, 05 Sep 2003

Muddy Water

EPA Analysis Finds Clean Water Act Changes Would Cause Major Setback

An internal analysis conducted by the U.S. EPA has found that a Bush administration plan to alter clean water rules could result in more than half of the mid-Atlantic's streams and one-third of its wetlands losing protection under the federal Clean Water Act. That, in turn, would leave more than 3 million people reliant on drinking water supplies that were not protected by pollution regulations, according to the EPA analysis. At issue is a proposal, unveiled in January, that would make Clean Water Act protections inapplicable to most intrastate, nonnavigable wetlands and headwater streams. The EPA's analysis of the likely impacts of that proposal found that it would "have serious effects on the progress made during the last 30 years to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation's water." That information, however, was not included in the public record the EPA is compiling on the proposed policy change; instead, it was released to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation under the Freedom of Information Act.

Worm and Fuzzy

Grist Diarist Studies Impact of Nonnative Earthworms on Northern Forests

Conservation biologists work in mysterious ways. Take Andy Holdsworth, a PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota. His main research project involves inserting arrays of metal electrodes into forested areas and shocking up to 60,000 earthworms out of the ground. Don't worry: The worms get a happy new home, and Holdsworth gets worm-free plots where he can study the ecology of Minnesota forests that are free of the invasive little crawlers. Earthworms are so omnipresent that most people don't realize that they didn't exist in the northern U.S. until European settlers inadvertently brought them along with fruit trees from the old country. Now, in some areas, there are more than 1.5 million per acre. Learn more fun worm facts from a week's worth of Holdsworth's diary entries -- only on the Grist Magazine website.

Proto-cool

Russian Industries Back Kyoto Protocol

Here's an unlikely ally in the battle to combat global climate change: industrial polluters. A number of Russia's largest gas and electric companies, steel mills, and metal smelters have begun lobbying their government to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty on climate change. The companies are so interested in getting their hands on what could amount to billions of dollars in foreign investment and emissions credits that they are even offering to help pay to administer Kyoto-related programs if the government ratifies the treaty. One expert estimates that Russian businesses could attract $1.2 billion per year in joint investment and sell up to $800 million in credits within the first three or four months of implementing the protocol. Russia has spent more than a year deliberating over whether to ratify the protocol, which cannot go into effect without its participation.

To Summit All Up

South Africa Assesses World Summit Outcomes, One Year Later

The first World Summit on Sustainable Development was held one year ago this week in Johannesburg, South Africa. Now, on the anniversary of that event, the South African government is assessing how much progress has been made in the interim. With respect to one of the conference's goals -- halving the number of people without potable water by 2015 -- South Africa is well on its way, with 100 percent of people expected to have clean water by 2008. Unfortunately, other goals articulated at the conference are not being met, in South Africa or elsewhere. Plans to launch a world poverty fund, for example, have faltered from lack of funding and support from wealthy nations, and seem likely to remain a pipedream. South African environmental leaders said the best way to turn the WSSD goals into reality would be to make their importance and impact known to the people and create popular support for achieving them.

Turf Wars

Missouri, California Clash Over Air-Quality Plan

A proposal to reduce air pollution from lawn mowers and other gas-powered outdoor equipment has set the stage for a battle between the staid Midwestern state of Missouri and the kooky Californians. To help deal with the Golden State's chronic air-quality problem, the California Air Resources Board plans to require manufacturers to equip all small gasoline engines sold in the state with catalytic converters beginning in 2008. That plan isn't sitting well with Missouri Sen. Christopher Bond (R), whose state is home to two factories owned by Briggs and Stratton, the world's largest manufacturer of air-cooled gasoline engines for outdoor equipment. Bond fears that the California standards would be so costly that the company would move its factories out of the country, costing his state much-needed jobs. To prevent that, he added a provision to block the California plan to a 2004 spending bill that will be debated on the Senate floor later this month; Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, both California Democrats, have vowed to fight it.