Wednesday, 03 Dec 2003

The Grapefruits of Wrath

Grist Launches Grapefruit Challenge to Fund New Editor

With the temperature dipping below freezing in many parts of the world, most people are nursing nice, hot mugs of cocoa, putting some bread in the oven, or leaving a big pot of soup to simmer on the stove. But here at Grist, we're eating nothing but organic grapefruit. Why? Because we're hungry for some editorial assistance, so we decided to eat nothing else until we raise $35,000 to help us hire a new editor. Take it from us, it's tough to keep churning out the best, funniest environmental news every darn day of the year (well, almost) with a staff of just five. (It's particularly tough on 18 calories a day.) So please, help us hire another savvy, smart, funny editor to bring you the news you love: Take part in the 2003 Grist Grapefruit Challenge by donating to the magazine. We'll get to eat a real meal, and you'll keep getting the, uh, skinny on the environment.

The Reports of Kyoto's Death are Greatly Exaggerated

The Inside Scoop on Milan, Mercury, and More

The Italian city of Milan is famous for opera and fashion, so perhaps it's appropriate that the United Nations' Kyoto Protocol conference, being held there this week and next, has so far been characterized by high drama and public spectacle. In just the first two days of the conference, attendees were met with insulting statements from U.S. officials, tales of deliberate sabotage, and premature news reports that Russia had dealt a fatal blow to the beleaguered treaty (one of which was summarized in yesterday's Daily Grist before the error was exposed; our apologies for that). Amanda Griscom looks at the imbroglio in Italia in this week's Muckraker, along with military exemptions to environmental laws and the U.S. EPA's efforts to roll back mercury cleanup efforts -- only on the Grist Magazine website.

The Icky 500

New EPA Chief Calls for Cleaner Air in 500 Days

Newly minted U.S. EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt gave his first major speech yesterday, promising to embark on the "most productive period of air-quality improvement in American history." The former Utah governor spoke of a 500-day plan for cleaner air but offered no details on it. (Instead, a leaked document detailed plans to relax regulation of mercury pollution from power plants; for more on that, see today's Muckraker, above.) Leavitt said the plan would be built around President Bush's controversial Clear Skies initiative and would include strict controls on diesel engines and ground-level smog. Environmentalists call Clear Skies a greenwashed gift to industry, and they expressed skepticism about whether Leavitt will be able to make any progress as part of an administration that has consistently undercut environmental protection.

Markey-Mark and the Nukey Bunch

GAO Finds Shortage of Money for Closing Atomic Reactors

Nearly half of the nuclear-reactor owners in the U.S. are not setting aside sufficient money to decommission the plants when they are shuttered, according to a report by the General Accounting Office. As a result, 42 plants might not have enough money to be safely shut down. "While happily pocketing their profits today, many plant owners are shirking their duty to save for tomorrow," leaving taxpayers potentially holding the bag for billions of dollars, said Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass), who requested the report. The GAO also found that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was failing to carefully track the money set aside for decommissioning and cleanup, but the NRC denied the accusations against both itself and the industry at large.

What, Exxon Unethical? You're Kidding Me!

Academics Up in Arms Over Exxon-Funded Research

When Exxon went to court in 1997 to appeal a $5.3 billion punitive damage verdict over the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, it cited articles from respected journals and law reviews that found that high punitive damages were bad for society or based on the unjust whims of quixotic juries. What the company didn't say was that it had bankrolled the articles. In the years after the oil spill, Exxon hired at least nine academics at a price well beyond what the average university could pay; the new hires published 13 papers, which have since been used not only in the Exxon appeal but in other punitive damage cases as well. That's not sitting well with other professors, who worry about industry setting research agendas. In at least one case, Exxon cut off funding for research that didn't serve its purposes.

Skiing Downhill

Global Climate Change Could Spell End of Winter Sports Industry

Bad news for ski bums: As global climate change heats up the planet and pushes snow lines ever higher, many winter resorts in Europe might have to shut down. Less expensive, low-altitude destinations will be particularly hard hit, with some slopes in Italy, Austria, and Germany already suffering from lack of snow. But higher-altitude resorts won't be able to stave off trouble indefinitely either: According to a United Nations study released yesterday, 50* of Switzerland's 230 resorts will not have enough regular snow to sustain skiing within 30 years. That's an economic disaster for resort owners, an environmental disaster as lack of winter snow changes water and weather patterns -- and, of course, a recreational disaster for winter-sports lovers everywhere.


*[Correction, 04 Dec 2003: This summary originally stated that none of Switzerland's 230 resorts would have enough snow to sustain skiing in 30 to 50 years. In fact, only 50 resorts are expected to be so affected within 30 years.]