Tuesday, 16 Sep 2003

Block Party

Edwards Will Block Bush's Choice to Head EPA

North Carolina Sen. John Edwards (D), a presidential contender, is now the third senator threatening to hold up the nomination of President Bush's choice to head the U.S. EPA, Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt (R). "The nomination will not go forward until this administration commits to giving us the truth about how Clean Air Act rollbacks are going to affect our kids with asthma and seniors with health problems," Edwards said yesterday. A similar parliamentary block was announced last week by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and supported by Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), himself a presidential hopeful. Leavitt's confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment Committee is scheduled for this Thursday.

A Nice Piece of Tailpipe

New Low-Polluting Cars to Hit U.S. Showrooms Next Month

There are low-emission vehicles (LEVs), ultra-low-emission vehicles (ULEVs), super-ultra-low-emission vehicles (SULEVs), and the holy grail of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). As if the clean-car world weren't baffling enough, now there's a new acronym to add to this alphabet soup -- partial zero-emission vehicles (PZEVs), which Ford and Toyota will begin selling across the U.S. next month. They're not quite non-polluting, but they're getting closer. PZEVs look and perform like standard cars -- they've just got a couple hundred dollars worth of equipment that makes them markedly cleaner. Ford's first PZEV model will be a Focus, starting at $14,915. Five other automakers are also producing PZEVs, but only for California, which has stricter air-pollution rules than the rest of the country. Still, analysts believe the trend will go national. "It's only a matter of time before essentially all gasoline-fueled passenger cars and light trucks are PZEVs," says Tom Austin of Sierra Research in Sacramento.

Put It in Park

Megapark Will Protect Vast Stretch of Pristine Amazon Rainforest

Brazil has announced the creation of a new "conservation corridor" that will link 12 separate protected areas in the Amazon rainforest to create a 25 million-acre megapark. It will be the world's largest protected stretch of tropical rainforest, encompassing about 70 percent of Brazil's northern state of Amapa, which scientists say is far more pristine than other parts of the Amazon basin. "Amapa has raised the bar in terms of its conservation commitment and has set a new standard for the Amazonia and the world," said Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservation International. The corridor is home to jaguars and other predators, nine primates, more than 500 varieties of birds, and countless other species, all of them more likely to thrive now that habitat areas will be connected instead of fragmented.

Do Good

Public Comments Needed to Keep Snowmobiles Out of Yellowstone

More than two and a half years after a phaseout was supposed to have begun, snowmobiles continue to run rampant in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, disturbing wildlife, making park workers sick from fumes, and polluting the nation's precious natural treasures. A proposed rule from the Bush administration would let the noisy, dirty vehicles stick around, despite the fact that 80 percent of more than 360,000 public comments submitted on the matter supported a snowmobile ban in the parks. Now there's another chance to submit public comments to the National Park Service before the rule becomes final. The green-group coalition Save Our Environment has made it easy for you to have your say, so if you like your parks clean, your wildlife healthy, and your nature time peaceful, then hop to it.

Twisting Their Farms

California Bills Would Crack Down on Air Pollution from Farms

For the first time, California farmers would have to do their part to curb air pollution, under a series of controversial bills approved last week by the state legislature. The state's agriculture industry has long enjoyed an exemption from the federal Clean Air Act, even though many of its activities generate substantial amounts of pollution; in fact, California's Central Valley, the heart of the state's farm country, has some of the nation's dirtiest air. The package of bills would eliminate that exemption, phase out the burning of agricultural waste, require reductions in manure emissions, and impose other controls. The bills now go to the desk of California Gov. Gray Davis (D), who has not yet indicated whether he plans to sign them into law.

A Boy Named "Sue"

Four States Sue EPA for Failing to Protect Kids from Pesticides

Four state attorneys general filed suit against the U.S. EPA yesterday, charging that the agency is endangering kids by failing to carry out a 1996 law intended to protect children from the risks of eating pesticide-laden food. "Parents reasonably expect that every effort has been made by the federal government to ensure that pesticide residues in the food they give their children are safe," said New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who filed the suit along with his counterparts in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. "This is not always the case." Children are considered to be at greater risk from pesticides because their bodies are still developing and they consume more food for their size than do adults. The 1996 Food Quality Protection Act requires the government to set pesticide-residue levels that are safe for children; the lawsuit claims the EPA has failed to do so.