Thursday, 13 May 2004

Syzygy Whiz

A Look Behind Bush's New Diesel Regs

The Bush administration's new regulations governing emissions from non-road diesel equipment -- bulldozers, tractors, and such -- are a clear win for the environment and public health, likely to prevent thousands of deaths and heart attacks a year. They've received a chorus of praise from enviros and industry groups alike. So, what gives? Has the Grinch's heart grown by three sizes? Was Bush visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past? Turns out several economic and political factors fell into perfect alignment -- something unlikely to happen again in the future. Read about the unique convergence that produced this rare happy eco-news -- in Muckraker, today on the Grist Magazine website.

Dim and Dimmer

Earth Getting Dimmer; Air Pollution Is Prime Suspect

No, you're not just depressed: The earth actually is getting darker. The amount of sunlight reaching the planet's surface, researchers say, declined by as much as 10 percent between the late 1950s and early 1990s. In some regions the drop was steeper, including the U.S., Asia, and Europe. Hong Kong is 37 percent darker than it was mid-20th century. The phenomenon has been independently noted at several spots around the globe, but only now are scientists overcoming their initial skepticism and gathering to discuss the implications. U.S. and Canadian geologists will convene for a conference on "global dimming" next week. While most researchers blame the obvious culprit, air pollution -- sunlight bounces off smog particles, and those particles also cause thicker, more opaque clouds -- dimming has also been observed in places where the air is relatively clean, such as Antarctica. We shudder to think what a worldwide outbreak of Seasonal Affective Disorder might look like.

The Thing of Small Cods

Cod May Be Headed for Extinction, Says WWF

Worldwide cod stocks are declining rapidly and could be entirely wiped out by 2020, says enviro group World Wildlife Fund. The global cod catch has declined from 3.4 million tons in 1970 to 1 million tons in 2000, a trend WWF blames on overfishing, illegal catches, and oil exploration. Since the 1980s, cod stocks are down 90 percent in U.S. waters and 75 percent in European waters. The largest stocks left are in the Barents Sea, north of Norway and Russia, but they too are in danger if those countries do not decrease their fishing quotas and crack down on illegal fishing, says the group. Making matters worse, Norway recently announced that it will open the sea to oil exploration, and Russia said it will develop a new oil-shipping export route through the waters.

Fined and Dandy

Wal-Mart Fined $3.1 Million for Clean Water Act Violations

Wal-Mart has agreed to pay a $3.1 million fine for storm-water runoff violations of the Clean Water Act, in a settlement with the U.S. EPA and the Justice Department -- marking the second time it has paid such a fine, after a $1 million penalty in 2001. The company was charged with violations at 24 construction sites in nine states for allegedly failing to request the proper permits, institute runoff-control plans, or install controls to prevent discharge. Storm-water runoff can carry toxic chemicals and sediment that kill fish and destroy aquatic habitat. Wal-Mart pledged to institute training programs for its contractors and improve storm-water procedures at the 200 or so sites a year where it builds its gargantuan stores. The $3.1 million -- the largest fine ever levied against a company for such violations -- represents 0.001 percent of the $256 billion in sales Wal-Mart reported for the last fiscal year, and will no doubt teach the giant retailer a very important lesson.

Do Good

Take Action to Bring Down the Snake River Dams

Wild salmon are in serious decline in the Pacific Northwest. More than $3.5 billion has been spent on failed salmon-recovery measures, like trucking salmon around dams. Activists and many biologists say that what we really need to do is leave the salmon in the waterways and take the dams out -- specifically, four dams on the lower Snake River in southeastern Washington state. Call on President Bush to save this keystone species by knocking down salmon-damning dams.

Ay Charisma!

Conservation Efforts Need to Look Beyond Charismatic Species

A new article in the journal Nature seeks to change the way conservation efforts are conceived. Rather than focusing on single "charismatic" species like tigers or gorillas, say researchers Anthony Ives and Bradley Cardinale, conservation programs should focus on whole ecosystems. They support their contention with an analysis of the way biological communities respond to stress -- acid rain, say, or habitat destruction. Weaker or less adaptable species die out first, providing a short-term boost to their competitors ("compensation"). As the stress continues, however, compensation decreases and ecosystems collapse. The fate of individual species, and the point at which compensation ceases and collapse begins, are too complex to predict, say the authors, and for that reason preserving ecosystems must be the focus. We can no longer focus on individual species, says Cardinale, "because we have no idea what species may make the community resistant in the future; we would be prudent to conserve as many as we can."