Thursday, 13 Nov 2003

Still the Sundance Kid

Star of Silver Screen Doubles as Environmental Golden Boy

More than three decades after the release of the blockbusting 1969 western about Butch Cassidy and his best buddy, Robert Redford is still the Sundance Kid. Not only did he establish the Sundance Film Festival, he has also dedicated himself to a different kind of sun dance: advocating for solar power and other renewable energy forms. Redford has been active on environmental issues ranging from wilderness to clean air, but solar energy touches "a personal nerve that goes way, way back," the actor/director told Grist in an interview. Also touching a nerve are the environmental policies of the Bush administration, the need to take action -- "I just fly off on this stuff," Redford says -- and the problem of public apathy. Read about Redford's adventures with Soviet scientists, solar cinema, and Interior Secretary Gale Norton -- only on the Grist Magazine website.

Lawn Order

Senate Says No to California Plan to Cut Small-Engine Pollution

California's cutting-edge environmental policies were dealt a blow yesterday when the U.S. Senate voted to prevent the state from regulating air pollution from small engines such as those found in gas-powered lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and weed whackers. Although lawn equipment is small, its environmental impact is huge -- accounting for 10 percent of pollution from mobile sources -- and almost wholly unregulated. California sought to change that by requiring that new small engines come equipped with catalytic converters, a move that would have eliminated as much air pollution as taking 1.8 million cars off the roads. But Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) took issue with the plan, because his state is home to the nation's largest maker of small engines. Bond proposed an amendment to a spending bill banning the California plan; it was approved by a voice vote over objections from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

Drug Busting

Enviros Sue USDA Over Biopharmaceuticals

A coalition of green groups and consumer advocates took the U.S. Department of Agriculture to court yesterday in an effort to halt experimental planting of "biopharmaceutical crops," plants genetically engineered to produce medicine. The coalition, which includes Friends of the Earth and the Center for Food Safety, wants the USDA to adopt stricter controls on such crops to ensure that they do not accidentally contaminate the food supply. Currently, the coalition says, Dow Chemical, Monsanto, and other biotech companies plant experimental crops in open fields without adequate assessment of the potential risk to humans, wildlife, and other crops. The biotechnology industry claims the system is already safe and says the suit "can only serve to impede the potential medical benefits of the technology."

Chromium and Punishment

New Jersey Wins $17 Million Settlement in Chromium Case

A 20-year battle over chromium pollution in northern New Jersey came to an end yesterday when three companies agreed to pony up $17 million to clean hundreds of sites contaminated by the deadly chemical. From the 1890s to the 1950s, Honeywell International, Tierra Solutions, and PPG Industries made coatings for machine parts, a process that yielded chromium as a byproduct, some of which was dumped directly into the Hackensack River. Chromium-contaminated earth was then sold as landfill, resulting in homes and businesses being built on some of the most polluted soil in the country. The $17 million settlement comes in addition to other court-ordered cleanups (such as $400 million Honeywell will pay to clean a 34-acre site) and is earmarked for pollution cleanup, creation of parks and wetlands, and purchase of open space. Environmentalists welcomed the settlement as an end to costly litigation and a chance to begin cleaning things up, but some criticized the sum as "nickels and dimes."

Commission: Possible?

Kerry Proposes Commission to Protect Integrity of Environmental Regulation

John Kerry, the Massachusetts senator who has slipped substantially in the ranks of Democratic presidential contenders, sought to reinvigorate his campaign yesterday by returning to one of his keystone issues: environmental protection. Speaking in New Hampshire, Kerry proposed creating a new federal commission to prevent political and corporate interests from influencing environmental regulation. Kerry's speech came shortly after the U.S. EPA dropped investigations into polluting power plants around the nation, a move that was widely seen as yet another giveaway to industry. It also came just after a major turning point in Kerry's bid for the Democratic nomination: On Sunday, he fired his campaign manager, causing two other senior advisors to quit in protest.