Monday, 09 Aug 2004

Paul in a Day's Work

Famed Ecologist Paul Ehrlich InterActivates

You wouldn't know it from his humble answers to our questions, but Paul Ehrlich is one of the few bona fide "household names" in the world of environmentalism. Since publication of his seminal book The Population Bomb in 1968, Ehrlich has been hailed as a prophet, criticized as a Chicken Little, and invited onto the Johnny Carson show some 20 times. Oh, and all the while he's forged ahead with his world-renowned work as a conservation biologist. Read his answers to our questions in InterActivist -- only on the Grist Magazine website. And ask him a question of your own by noon PDT on Wednesday.

One-Track Mine

Bush Administration Packed with Coal-Friendly Bureaucrats

In his 2000 campaign, George W. Bush promised to make coal central to his energy plan, and he was rewarded with millions of dollars in donations from the coal industry and the votes of coal miners in crucial swing states. Upon taking office, Bush appointed several coal executives and lobbyists to positions overseeing the industry; one, coal executive David Lauriski, was installed as head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Under Lauriski, that agency has rescinded more than a half dozen mining safety regulations, and his latest proposal would allow the amount of coal dust in mines to rise substantially and would allow mining companies to equip miners with respirator helmets as a substitute for dust-lowering measures. Breathing coal dust causes "black lung" disease, and the measure is opposed by mine-worker unions, members of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a federal panel that studied the issue in 1996, senators from both parties, and, no kidding, the company that makes the helmets.

Food-Altering Substance

Umbra Dishes the Dope on Genetically Modified Foods

The subject of genetically modified foods is deeply contentious, and public debate on the matter suffers from a woefully low signal-to-noise ratio. Sounds like an area in need of illumination from none other than Grist advice guru Umbra Fisk. A reader asks point-blank: Are GM foods safe or not? Umbra answers point-blank: I don't know. But there's more to it than that -- in Ask Umbra, today on the Grist Magazine website.

Flagging Energy

Kerry Talks Energy on the Stump; Bush Bashes His Plan

Kerry talked up his plan for energy independence over the weekend while campaigning in swing states (does he go anywhere else?), saying such swing-state-friendly things as, "You want to drive a great, big SUV? Terrific. Terrific. That's America." That's America indeed. Kerry's $30 billion energy plan includes, among other things, the twin goals of deriving 20 percent of motor fuel and 20 percent of electricity in the U.S. from renewable resources by 2020. Of course, swing states being where they are, agriculture-based renewables received the most doting attention. Bush -- whose energy plan is based largely on increasing supply by drilling and building nuke plants -- dispatched his people with dire warnings that Kerry's plan could threaten jobs and hurt the economy, charges that Kerry's campaign dismissed as hogwash.

Blind Spotted

Judge Rules in Favor of Owls; Forest Service Not so Owl-Friendly

Two recent developments on the spotted-owl front: On Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delayed and possibly killed several planned timber sales in the Pacific Northwest by ruling that current regulations meant to protect the northern spotted owl "blatantly" contradict the Endangered Species Act by assessing possible threats to critical habitat only in terms of their impact on the survival of threatened species. Judge Ronald M. Gould reminded the feds that the ESA was intended "not merely to forestall the extinction of species ... but to allow a species to recover to the point where it may be delisted." This higher standard may prompt the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider several of its "biological opinions," or assessments of the possible impact of timber sales. Meanwhile, a longtime U.S. Forest Service employee said that the agency has exaggerated the impact of wildfire on the spotted owl in order to justify logging large trees in Sierra Nevada forests.

Finally, Pollution We Can Be Happy About

Prozac Found in U.K. Drinking Water

Denizens of the British Isles have a reputation for being somewhat glum, but that may change soon: According to the U.K. Environment Agency, the antidepressant Prozac is building up in the nation's rivers and groundwater, a situation it called a "potential concern." In the decade leading to 2001, prescriptions for antidepressants in the U.K. rose from 9 million to 24 million a year. While the government's Drinking Water Inspectorate -- which does not specify limits for pharmaceutical residues in drinking water or test for them in water quality assessments -- said that the drug was likely sufficiently watered-down to be harmless, Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson Norman Baker decried what he called "a case of hidden mass medication." Said one U.K. enviro, "I know I should be outraged about this, but really I just feel kind of mellow and upbeat." Okay, we totally made that up. But the whole Prozac-in-the-water thing -- that's true.