Friday, 16 Apr 2004

The Young and the Restless

Groups See Environment as Key to Getting Youth Vote

With the coming presidential election expected to be squeaky tight, a host of groups are looking for an advantage in the youth vote, and many think the environment is just the issue to stir up excitement. "[T]he amount of interest we're seeing [on college campuses] is comparable to the best we've ever seen," says Joshua Feldmark of the Center for Environmental Citizenship. The environment consistently ranks higher on the list of concerns for youth than for any other demographic, and they respond particularly well to positive messages like the shift to renewable energy. Still, efforts to tap the youth vote rarely pan out. In 2000, only 37 percent of citizens 18 to 25 years old voted, compared to 64 percent of those over 25. Some researchers pooh-pooh the idea that young potential voters care deeply about the environment: "For many of them, this just means they personally don't leave garbage on the ground," says Peter Levine, a demographic researcher at the University of Maryland. Still, in an almost evenly divided electorate, young folks in swing states can expect to receive a great deal of attention this year from enviro groups.

Don't Cry for Weeds, Argentina

Genetically Modified Soy Stirs Up Trouble in Argentina

Argentina's adoption of genetically modified soy was touted as a big GM success story, propping up struggling farmers and the country's sinking economy, but seven years later it is causing an environmental disaster, say researchers. The crop, sold by GM giant Monsanto, raised yields so quickly that it spread like a virus and now covers half the arable land in Argentina. Big farmers, eager to plant more, have driven some 150,000 small farmers off their land. The soy was bred to be resistant to Roundup, Monsanto's patented herbicide. Problem is, the soy is so tenacious that it pops up where it doesn't belong, prompting farmers to dump other, more powerful herbicides on it. This heavy herbicide use can screw up soil and devastate neighboring farms. Also worrying is the development of herbicide-resistant weeds. Monsanto denies that this cocktail of vicious cycles is the fault of the crop itself, instead placing the blame on monoculture -- the planting of one crop to the exclusion of all others -- something they were shocked, shocked to find Argentinean farmers engaging in.

Order in the Courtney!

Readers Write in About Green Computing, Ranching, and More

Thanks to a link on uber-nerd website Slashdot, we had lots of friendly tech geeks drop by and comment on our story about computer recycling, offering further resources for fans of green computing. Thanks, guys! Bill McKibben's stories on the decline of American environmental leadership and the Sierra Club immigration fracas also brought a few volleys. But nothing seemed to irritate some readers quite as much as InterActivist Courtney White's ruminations on ranching. Check out the sound and the fury in Letters to the Editor -- today on the Grist Magazine website.

From Worse to Bad

OMB Revises Science Peer-Review Proposal

In response to a chorus of criticism, the White House Office of Management and Budget yesterday released a revised version of its proposed guidelines on the use and release of scientific information by federal agencies. The original proposal found support from such stalwart believers in pure science as the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, and opposition from such politicized know-nothings as, uh, the scientific community. The new proposal tones down much of the language in the original, allowing for faster release of health-related science without OMB review, and eliminating one of the most controversial portions, which would have favored non-government-funded (i.e., industry-funded) scientists over government-funded scientists on peer-review panels. Many of the original proposal's critics praised the changes, though some scientific and consumer groups continued to object to certain provisions, including language they said was overtly biased toward industry on such matters as international trade and pharmaceutical development. The Bush administration has faced a series of accusations that it twists and suppresses science for political reasons, and some critics viewed OMB's proposals as attempts to legitimize the practice.

Burned Biscuit

Siskiyou Forest Salvage-Logging Proposal Is Sign of Conflicts to Come

With another oppressive drought settled over the Western U.S. and a rough wildfire season on the horizon, conflicts like the one over salvage logging in the Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon could be a sign of things to come. The Forest Service has proposed a massive operation at the site of the Biscuit fire, a conflagration that raged for 120 days in 2002. The logging would cover some 29,000 acres and produce almost half a billion board feet of lumber, making it one of the largest public timber sales in U.S. history. Environmentalists protest that the logging would impinge on roadless areas, destroy habitats, muddy waters, and interfere with the natural cycles they say wildfires represent. Enviro group Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics has filed a petition claiming that the Forest Service -- which stands to make millions of dollars on the operation -- should not be in a position to decide appeals on the subject, but rather an administrative law judge should.