Friday, 14 Nov 2003

Mikey of One Sky on Diamonds

Big Struggles and Small Successes in Sierra Leone

What do diamonds and child soldiers have to do with solar panels and the quest for global sustainability? Plenty, says Mike Simpson, executive director of One Sky -- The Canadian Institute of Sustainable Living and this week's Grist diarist. Simpson writes from impoverished and war-ravaged Sierra Leone, where his group has a small office that tries, among other things, to raise awareness about the ways that conflicts over natural resources such as diamonds lead to the destruction of human lives and the environment. Sometimes Simpson is disheartened by the many daunting challenges confronting environmental and social-justice campaigners; other times he's buoyed by the spirit and dedication of those he works and interacts with. Always, he writes honestly about the hardships of working on environmental issues in the developing world -- only on the Grist Magazine website.

I Wear My Sunglasses to Fight

Anonymous National Park Service Employees Speak of Broad Discontent

They showed up for a news conference at the National Press Building cloaked in dark glasses, hats, and scarves, used a voice disguiser, and hid behind a thick curtain. But they weren't mafia informants or witnesses in a spy case; they were longtime employees of the National Park Service speaking out against the Bush administration for "enacting policies and laws that will destroy the grand legacy of our national parks," as one put it. Although the anonymous critics were just two of the NPS's 17,000 employees, a recent survey by the Campaign to Protect America's Lands suggests widespread unhappiness within the agency. Of 1,361 respondents, 84 percent expressed a "great deal of concern" about the effect of current policies on national parks, 59 percent said the situation had worsened over the last few years, and 79 percent said morale had declined over the same period. CPAL recruited the two anonymous Park Service employees to present the results of the survey at the conference after trying unsuccessfully to convince employees to speak openly.

Ding Dong, the Plant Is Dead

Germany Shutters First N-Plant in Beginning of End of Atomic Industry

Germany began its historic phaseout of all atomic energy by shutting down the first of 19 nuclear power plants today. The Stade plant, in a city of the same name, had been open since 1972, making it the nation's second-oldest atomic energy facility. Anti-nuclear activists celebrated its closure, but, as Suzanne Ochse of Greenpeace noted, "the real party will start when all the plants are closed." Shipments of nuclear waste into Germany from La Hague in northwest France and Sellafield in Britain will continue through 2010, and Germany's nuclear industry as a whole could continue operating as late as 2020. "By then, we will have twice as much nuclear waste as today and no one will know what to do with it," Ochse said.

Air Raid

Alaska Gives Nod to Aerial Pesticide Spraying

In a blow to environmentalists, Alaska has approved controversial regulations governing aerial pesticide spraying, set to go into effect at the end of the month. The new regulations establish a 35-foot "pesticide-free zone" around water bodies, as well as a secondary buffer zone designed to prevent chemicals from drifting or leaching into the land inside that 35-foot boundary. Environmentalists have severely criticized the regulations, noting that pesticides can drift for miles, not just feet; proponents counter that spraying is a necessary tool to combat disease and blight in Alaska's forests. The regulations caused an outcry earlier this year when the state Department of Environmental Conservation refused to hold public hearings about them. In a bit of consolatory news for the masses, the final regulations do require that the public be notified before every spraying.

Jock Itch

Environmental Problems Alarm Athletes

Here's a new green group you may want to join: Jocks for the Environment. Actually, that group doesn't exist, but people who might identify with the description are gathering today in Tokyo for the Global Forum for Sport and the Environment. Participants (including Greg LeMond, three-time Tour de France winner) will discuss, among other things, the results of a recent survey about how environmental problems affect athletes. The survey found that sports-minded folk are leaving cities or joining gyms to skirt smog, wearing ever-stronger sunblock and more clothing to protect against increased ultraviolet radiation, and changing their diets to avoid chemicals in food that could negatively affect their performance. One-quarter of the respondents reported that the environments in which they worked out were "unacceptable."