Monday, 12 Jan 2004

Interior Design

Interior's Lynn Scarlett Defends Bush's "New Environmentalism"

When it comes to the environment, Lynn Scarlett may be the most influential Bush administration member you've never heard of. As an assistant secretary in the Interior Department, charged with analyzing rules and determining budgets throughout the agency, she has significant say over everything from mining to wildlife refuges. And as former head of the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank, she is one of the architects of the "new environmentalism" that the Bush team enthusiastically espouses. In an interview, Scarlett discusses the invisible hand's "green thumb," the role of public comments in the rule-making process, and her thoughts (or lack thereof) on Leonardo DiCaprio -- only on the Grist Magazine website.

Death Be Not Toxic

Green Burials Catch on Amongst the Eco-Friendly Set

It's no longer enough to live an eco-friendly life; now, the greenest of the green are planning for their own eco-friendly deaths. A small but growing number of people are seeking out burial in green cemeteries. Ramsey Creek Preserve in Westminster, S.C., is one such spot, a 35-acre expanse of woodlands where coffins must be biodegradable, embalming fluids are a no-no, plants and flat stones are used as grave markers, and families are encouraged to go hiking and bird-watching. The aim is to keep land in a more natural state and cut down on the use of embalming fluid (hundreds of thousands of gallons of the toxic stuff are used in the U.S. each year). The green-burial trend is particularly hot in Britain, where 180 eco-cemeteries have opened in the past decade. Many environmentally sensitive future corpses also choose cremation, and the more adventurous can have their cremated remains added to an artificial reef.

Oh, Yes! It's Mr. Bill!

Mr. Bill to Serve as Spokesperson for Louisiana Coastal Campaign

With a $14 billion, 30-year restoration plan -- potentially the largest public works project in American history -- at stake, an educational campaign meant to raise awareness about Louisiana's eroding coastal marshes has turned to the one voice capable of spanning generations, articulating the scope of the crisis, and generating international attention: Mr. Bill. Yes, the "Saturday Night Live" Play-doh character who routinely gets squashed and says, "Oh, nooooo!" That one. Louisiana has lost more than 1,900 square miles of marsh since 1930, and a restoration plan backed by a coalition that includes everyone from environmentalists to oil executives is currently under review by the White House and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Bill will do his part to boost restoration efforts by appearing in TV commercials with other "Estuarians," including Salty the Shrimp and Eddy the Eagle. We aren't making this up.

Endless Summer

Climate Scientists Predict More Hot Summers for Europe

Thanks to global warming, summer heat waves like the one that killed close to 20,000 people in Europe in 2003 could recur up to once every two years by the end of the century. So claims a study conducted by a group of scientists from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and published in the latest online issue of Nature. Based on computer models of climatological change, the study predicts not a steady rise but rather increased variability and unpredictability in temperatures (which will make it difficult for farmers to compensate simply by switching to higher-temperature crops). "By the end of the century we will still see some normal summers, looking from today's perspective, but the mean would be more like 2003 and the maximum would be even warmer," said Cristoph Schar, one of the study authors. Hot summers like Europe's last one, which averaged 8 degrees Fahrenheit higher than normal for three full months, are particularly hard on the elderly and cause environmental calamities ranging from forest fires to water shortages.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Cow

Demand Rises for Organic and Natural Beef

What's bad news for most ranchers may be great news for growers and purveyors of organic and natural-fed beef. In the wake of the discovery of mad cow disease in the U.S., folks who still like to chomp on a nice, juicy steak are increasingly seeking out beef that's been raised the old-fashioned way. To earn the organic label, cattle must be fed a strict vegetarian diet of pesticide-free hay and grain, which means the animals have no opportunity to consume the tainted slaughterhouse leftovers that are believed to lead to bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Less than 1 percent of meat and poultry sold in the U.S. is now organic, but that could change as consumers become more aware and demanding about food safety. "Our beef business is growing," said Jasch Hamilton of Diamond Organics in Watsonville, Calif. "The real test, however, is how many people will begin eating organic beef and stick with it once the mad cow fears start to fade."