Wednesday, 15 Sep 2004

Vanity Blair

Tony Blair calls for action on global warming, critics heap scorn

U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair made a major speech yesterday that referred to global warming as the earth's "greatest environmental challenge," and though he never mentioned U.S. President Bush by name, he pointedly called on the world's wealthiest countries to take the lead in battling it. Saying that international cooperation was vital, he laid out three goals for 2005: to reach agreement among the G8 nations about the nature and causes of global warming; to agree about scientific and technological means to address it; and to persuade large non-G8 countries like China and India to take steps to scale back emissions. He also pledged to address aviation emission limits and redouble domestic efforts to move the U.K. closer to its overall emissions goals. Blair was promptly scoffed at by just about everybody -- from the right by Tory leader Michael Howard, from the left by Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson Norman Baker, and from outside the government by several environmental organizations. All said the same thing: Blair's well-meaning words belie his insufficient action.

Labor Pains

Slave labor used to clear Brazilian rainforest

The Amazon rainforest is disappearing at a precipitous pace, and as is too often the case, this environmental catastrophe is connected to equally dire human-rights abuses. To wit: Thousands of poor, illiterate Brazilian peasants work every year chopping down the forest in conditions Brazil's Labor Ministry delicately refers to as "analogous to slavery.'' Promised $3 to $4 a day, peasants are lured to southeastern Brazil to clear forests with machetes, tractors, and chain saws. They often find themselves working from sunup to sundown in the tropical heat, seven days a week, only to find themselves in debt to their employers, who keep them working with threats of nonpayment and even death. The Brazilian government acknowledges that there are at least 25,000 such slave laborers, and other estimates range up to 50,000. There are also hundreds of thousands more doing what Brazil calls "degrading" labor, working in slave conditions though not held against their will. The resultant products -- timber, soybeans, processed meats, and pig iron -- often end up in U.S. markets. Something to keep in mind next time you're eyeing that Brazilian cherry for the cabinets in your kitchen remodel.

I Like Mike

New York City mayor signs long-term recycling contract

The debate over whether recycling is economically "worth it" continues, but one famously tight-fisted municipal leader has made up his mind. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) announced that the city will sign a 20-year contract with one of the nation's largest recycling companies, Hugo Neu Corp., which will build a $45 million plant on the Brooklyn waterfront to recycle all the city's metal, glass, and plastic. The contract marks the end of NYC's struggle with the issue. Two years ago, Bloomberg decided that recycling was an economic drain and largely abandoned it, but with landfill and transportation costs rising, he has changed his mind. The key is long-term contracts, which encourage recycling companies to invest more in the latest technology, and local siting of the facilities, to avoid shipping waste over long distances. The city's decision is expected to have widespread influence. "Much like market analysts watch the Federal Reserve in order to assess monetary issues, many people look to New York City when it comes to municipal policies," said market researcher James Thompson Jr.

Lava Actually

Philippines turn to volcanoes and wind for energy

The Philippines is positioned to become a significant producer of renewable energy -- which is a good thing, as the country is currently saddled with a $61 billion national debt, a growing oil-importation bill, and an increasing appetite for energy. Currently, geothermal and hydropower provide a third of the nation's electricity output, but there's potential for geothermal and wind to provide a lot more, as the Philippines straddles a string of volcanoes and is subject to frequent typhoons. This week the Filipino government pledged to double its renewable energy output by 2013 by becoming the world's leading producer of geothermal energy and upping use of wind, solar, hydro, and biofuels. Still, the plan has been met with some skepticism from both the financial and environmental communities, given the Philippine government's history of financial mismanagement and other problems.

The Joy of Sachs

Exotic South American forest set aside as wilderness by ... bankers?

When New York investment banking and management firm Goldman Sachs acquired a logging operation in Tierra del Fuego, on an island off the southernmost tip of Chile, it did something unusual: Rather than "seek to maximize its economic value, which is what we would have done if this were a shopping mall or an apartment building," says the firm's Larry Linden, "we decided to do what we thought was the right thing" -- dedicate the land, more than 1,000 square miles, as a wilderness reserve. The U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society will administer the reserve, but to avoid the PR and political difficulties that have faced other foreign green do-gooders in Chile and Argentina, WCS will work in conjunction with an advisory council to be composed largely of Chileans. Tierra del Fuego has long fascinated naturalists: It is one of the southernmost temperate forests in the world and home to an unusual variety of plants and birds -- not to mention the guanaco, a relative of the camel that wards off attackers by spitting on them.