Friday, 07 Nov 2003

Drop and Give Me 50

States Fight Back Against EPA Decision to Drop Power Plant Cases

It didn't take long for the backlash to set in against the U.S. EPA's decision, announced Wednesday, to abandon its investigations into 50 polluting power plants in the face of the Bush administration's rollback of the Clean Air Act's New Source Review rules. One day later, Democratic senators and attorneys general from Northeastern states decried that decision and called for an inquiry into the policy change. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) demanded hearings to determine the reason for the change, and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) questioned whether the agency had exceeded its authority in choosing to drop the investigations. At the same time, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who has frequently led the charge against federal environmental ne'er-do-welling, demanded that the EPA turn over all its files on the pollution cases so state officials can continue the investigations.

Green Is the New Black

Eco-Style: It's Not Just Hemp Tunics Anymore

Look fabulous, live well, do good -- that's the motto of the Sustainable Style Foundation, cofounded by Sean Schmidt, who is chronicling five days of fashion and lifestyle antics as this week's Grist diarist. Follow Schmidt to L.A., where he shops for vintage goodies, turns heads in a hybrid, plans a classy eco-party for Business for Social Responsibility, and hobnobs with celebs and green style gurus at the Environmental Media Association Awards. Along the way, he discovers some hip, new eco-friendly endeavors, such as a project launched by actor Edward Norton whereby BP Solar pays to install a solar system in a low-income family's home each time a celebrity buys such a system for their own pad. Find out how fun and fashion can help the planet -- only on the Grist Magazine website.

Leavitt to Busy Beaver

Leavitt Sworn in as New EPA Chief

Former Republican Gov. Mike Leavitt zipped from his home state of Utah to the nation's capital this week, but he didn't get to go for a leisurely stroll along the Mall or take advantage of the free museum access. Instead, after a hasty swearing-in as the 10th administrator of the U.S. EPA yesterday morning, he turned his attention to business: dashing off a memo to all agency employees asking for their input on how best to do his job, and fielding demands from Democratic senators that he make good on the promises he made during his confirmation hearing. Leavitt takes the helm at a challenging moment: Senate Democrats are up in arms over the EPA's decision to abandon investigations into polluting power plants, and an agency biologist resigned this week to protest a study, accepted by the EPA, that concludes that wetlands discharge more pollution than they absorb.

We've Got Mail

Grist Readers Stump for Their Candidates of Choice, and More

The 2004 presidential election is still a year away, but Grist readers are already hurling themselves onto the bandwagons of their favorite candidates -- Kucinich, Dean, Kerry, Gephardt. (When it comes to Bush boosterism, there's a deafening silence from the Grist readership. Odd, that.) Also in our latest batch of letters to the editor, readers opine on birth control, green weddings, Gregg Easterbrook, deer hunting, and more -- only on the Grist Magazine website.

Big Mess on Campus

Widespread Environmental Violations Found at Colleges

Colleges and universities are normally thought of as hotbeds of environmental activism -- but now, it turns out that some of them are hot with hazardous waste. Twelve colleges in New York and New Jersey have been hit with a total of $2 million in fines for violating environmental regulations; an earlier sweep of New England colleges, in 1999, resulted in almost as many enforcement actions and caused 175 schools to enroll in self-audits in acknowledgment of widespread noncompliance with hazardous-waste procedures. The culprits tend to be science labs, art studios, printing areas, and maintenance facilities, said EPA Region 2 spokesperson Terry Ippolito, who likened college campuses to small cities. Betsy Eismeier, vice president for finance and administration at Vassar, which was hit with $97,581 in penalties, said, "Painful as it is to lose [money] in fines, in a way the process has re-energized the community. This is a college where environmental-protection measures matter."