Friday, 20 Aug 2004

The Problem, My Friend, Is Blowin' in the Wind

Blowing Desert Dust Is Growing Environmental Problem

Dust blowing up from the Sahara Desert has increased tenfold in the last 50 years and represents a growing environmental threat, warned Oxford geography professor Andrew Goudie today. And SUVs are at least partly to blame. The replacement of camels with four-wheel-drive vehicles such as Toyota Land Cruisers in the Sahara, as well as the "Toyota-ization" of other deserts in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, has led to an increase in dust storms and a rise in the total amount of dust in the global atmosphere, to some 2 billion to 3 billion tons a year. The heavy off-road vehicles break the thin layer of lichen, algae, or gravel that holds the fine sand underneath in place. The dust contributes to a host of environmental problems by exacerbating climate change, salinizing soil, transporting disease, increasing air pollution, and fertilizing the growth of carbon dioxide-sucking algae in the oceans. Goudie recommends a ban on the vehicles in sensitive desert areas.

Tree Amigos

Bush Roadless-Rule Rollback Opposed by Tree Farmers

The Bush administration's proposal to revamp (critics say gut) the Clinton-era Roadless Rule, which prohibits road construction on some 60 million acres of federal forestland, is finding opposition in some odd places. Owners of tree farms, not typically considered a natural ally of greens, are backing the Sierra Club and other enviro groups in opposing the policy. They worry that a flurry of new logging on federal lands will create a glut of timber and hurt their livelihoods. "The [Roadless Rule] restrictions doubled our prices, so if you went back it could cut our prices in half," said Mark Woodall, who owns a 6,000-acre tree farm in Georgia. The tree farmers join enviros and many outdoor enthusiasts in their opposition to the rollback, once again showing that Bush is making good on his promise to be a uniter, not a divider.

Coolin' the Gang

Toronto Cools Itself with Cold Water

Starting this week, near-freezing water from the depths of Lake Ontario will bring relief to heat-stricken residents of Toronto, Ontario. A multi-million-dollar project will pump water from the lake through three intake pipes, where it will be used to cool down other water, which will subsequently be used to cool buildings in downtown Toronto; the original water will continue merrily on its way into the city system, where it will be treated and used as drinking water. It sounds complicated, but according to Dennis Fotinos, the president of Enwave, which is spearheading the project, "Compared to traditional air-conditioning, Deep Lake Water Cooling reduces electricity use by 75 percent and will eliminate 40,000 [metric] tonnes of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of taking 8,000 cars off of the streets of Toronto." Enwave claims it has the capacity to cool 100 office buildings or 8,000 homes -- some 32 million square feet of space. Cool!

For Those About to Rockfish

An Oceans Advocate on Fish, Communist-Anarchist Systems, and More

Why rockfish? Peter Huhtala explains how the fish he's devoted to saving connects with the larger West Coast marine ecosystem and the larger dilemma of ailing oceans. He also fesses up about the "communist-anarchist" management system at his organization and drops a tantalizingly brief mention of his recent marriage, which followed an 18-hour (!) engagement -- in InterActivist, only on the Grist Magazine website.

Oil Over Again

Analysts Warn That Natural Gas Could Pose Same Problems as Oil

As the inevitable oil crisis draws closer, with demand continuing to rise and production capacity rapidly approaching its peak, natural gas is set to be the next big thing in the U.S. energy sector. But some analysts warn that natural gas will push the country toward many of the same problems as oil. Currently, Canada is the major supplier of natural gas to the U.S., but as demand for the fuel rises in both the U.S. and Canada, the U.S. will become a significant importer of natural gas from countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and the former Soviet bloc -- many of them politically unstable with repressive regimes. This could put the U.S. in a position of perilous dependence and unwillingness to criticize human-rights abuses. Most future imports will come in the form of liquefied natural gas, and the extraordinarily expensive process of building LNG infrastructure is lagging behind demand, exacerbating dependence on a small number of suppliers and increasing vulnerability to disruptions -- political, environmental, or otherwise.