Friday, 14 May 2004

Escape Notice

Demand for Hybrids Exceeds Expectations

Demand for gas-electric hybrid vehicles has automakers scrambling to keep up. Ford's new Escape hybrid SUV won't go on sale until August, but already 30,000 people have expressed the desire to buy one via Ford's website, whereas the company had planned to sell just 20,000 a year. Meanwhile, waiting lists for Toyota's Prius are growing, prompting the company's U.S. arm to request a substantial increase in manufacturing from the Japanese factory that produces the hybrids. Toyota's initial goal was to sell 34,000 this year; it now expects to sell 50,000. Sales of the Prius last month were up 150 percent from the same time last year. In other happy news, sales of large, gas-guzzling SUVs -- including the Hummer, the Cadillac Escalade, and the Ford Expedition -- are down anywhere from 17 to 33 percent from this time last year. While many attribute these trends to high gas prices, the eternal optimists here at Grist credit a blossoming eco-consciousness among Americans. Our glass is half-full!

The Capital Gang

Readers Wrangle Over Capitalism, Bottled Water, and More

Stan Cox's article on eco-socialism brought out some learned criticism from readers, including noted author Paul Hawken, whose work Cox cites. Cox weighs in with a response and further argument that capitalism is unsustainable. Tune in also for another take on the bottled-water issue, yet another take on the Sierra Club board election, and more, in Letters to the Editor -- today on the Grist Magazine website.

What Can Brown Do for You?

Cow Poop Powers California Dairy

A well-fed dairy cow produces 120 pounds of poop a day -- some 43,000 pounds a year. What to do with all that doo? Dairy farmer Albert Straus of Marin County, Calif., puts it in a big covered lagoon, where it decomposes and generates tons of methane gas, which he captures and uses to power his farm, his creamery, and his electric car. In California, where 1,950 commercial dairies house some 2 million excreting bovines, the state energy commission recently allocated $10 million in matching funds to encourage farmers to build methane digesters, and a 2003 state law paved the way for utilities to set up "net metering" for the farmers, which makes it possible for them to reduce or erase their electric bills. Not only will Straus save some $5,000 to $6,000 a month in energy costs, he is preventing tons of methane (a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide) from drifting into the atmosphere and organic pollutants from contaminating water sources. Plus, he now has a built-in, renewable source of jokes.

Jane's Addiction

An Activist on Population and Women's Issues Gets Down to Brass Tacks

Jane Roberts -- a self-described "totally dedicated grassroot" -- started a nonprofit that has raised $2 million for the U.N. Population Fund, in response to President Bush's refusal to release money Congress had authorized for the organization. Readers were intrigued by her success and wrote in to ask her about how she got started, what she finds so troubling about Bush's policies on women's issues, and why Ralph Nader is her environmental nightmare. Read her answers in InterActivist -- today on the Grist Magazine website.

X-mice

Genetic Damage from Air Pollution May Be Heritable

Air pollution can cause genetic mutations, and those mutations can be passed along to offspring, according to a new report in the journal Science. A pair of Canadian researchers ran a study on two groups of mice, both located downwind from two steel mills in air containing a high concentration of airborne particulates, but one of the groups had its air pass through high-efficiency air filters. Baby mice born into the unprotected group inherited about twice as many mutations as babies in the protected group. For now, the researchers do not know if the particular mutations are related to any health problems, or whether the findings extend to human beings, but the study certainly raises further concern about soot, which has been related to a variety of maladies. For his part, study author James Quinn says that if he lived in an area with sooty air, "I would install a filtration unit in my home or wear a mask when I went out."