Tuesday, 21 Sep 2004

Oh Danny Boy

Danny Seo talks with Grist about making green living sexy

Danny Seo has a straightforward aim in life: He wants to make eco-friendly living hip, sexy, and accessible. To that end, he consults with celebrities, works for a green style magazine, writes books, and consults for companies. He's even got a reality-TV show in the works. Some people say he sold out and criticize him for touting General Electric, hawking T-shirts made of only 40 percent organic cotton, and even raking in big bucks. Seo says they just don't get it. He spills the green beans in an interview with Amanda Griscom -- today on the Grist Magazine website.

Have Modified Genes, Will Travel

Genetically modified plants spreading hither and thither

Genes from genetically modified grass can spread much farther than previously believed, according to a new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study focused on a new strain of creeping bentgrass -- commonly used on golf courses for its resilience -- developed by two companies, Monsanto and Scotts, to be resistant to the common herbicide Roundup. Critics, including enviro groups, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management, have worried that the pollen from bentgrass, which is extremely light, will spread where it's not wanted and possibly create herbicide-resistant "superweeds." In the study, scientists at the U.S. EPA found that the GM bentgrass pollinated plants as far away as they measured, up to 13 miles downwind. The new results could set back plans by biotech companies to develop GM grasses for residential use. In other creepy news, Chinese scientists have complained that the millions of GM trees planted to combat desertification are essentially untracked and are so widely planted that, in the words of one scientist, "pollen and seed dispersal cannot be prevented." It's a GM world now, folks!

Gridding Our Loins

New energy sources await a smarter energy grid

Newsweek has a dandy package of stories on the future of energy. Aside from an interview with ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond, in which he says, more or less, "screw everything else, oil is the thing," the stories present a relatively hopeful picture. There are bits on getting petrochemical substitutes out of prairie grass, using spinach to produce higher-efficiency solar panels, generating electricity from ocean waves, Seattle's new fleet of hybrid buses, Indonesia's move toward geothermal energy, and the expanding solar-power industry. Perhaps most intriguing is an article on making power grids smarter, more flexible, more decentralized and democratized, able not only to dispense power but to accept it from a variety of sources, from solar-powered homes to hydrogen-powered cars. Renewable energy and fossil-fuel energy would be funneled into a level playing field, with every energy consumer also an energy producer -- and more conscious of the energy they use.

Ocean's 212

Government ocean commission calls for sweeping reforms

The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, concluding two and a half years of studying oceans, coastal areas, and the Great Lakes, delivered its final report to the political types in Congress and the White House yesterday, where it will be waved around for a day or two and then quickly forgotten. We kid! Actually, this may be a rare case where lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are fired up to do some good. Members of both parties in Congress and enviro groups came out in support of the commission's recommendations, and President Bush even saw fit to make sympathetic, if vague and studiously noncommittal, comments. Perhaps the report is being taken seriously because it paints such a grim picture of oceans ravaged by pollution and overfishing. Said James Watkins, chair of the commission, "The oceans are saying, 'We've had it, human beings. Give us a break.' And that's what we are trying to do." The report has 212 specific recommendations aimed at saving our beleaguered oceans. Bush has 90 days to respond to the report; enviros aren't expecting much.

And You Thought the Food Was Bad

Water on many airplanes is contaminated

Happy National Clean Hands Week! While more than 90 percent of folks say they wash their hands after using the bathroom, researchers have discovered that many of them are, well, lying. So wash those hands, people. Except, uh, don't wash them on airplanes. A new U.S. EPA study just found that the water on more than one out of eight planes tested was contaminated with coliform bacteria, evidence that it contained ... how to put this delicately ... traces of doo-doo. EPA acting enforcement chief Thomas Skinner urged people with weakened immune systems to avoid drinking the water (or coffee or tea) or washing their hands in it. The EPA is working with major airlines to develop new guidelines for water-testing and handling. The airline industry, not surprisingly, denies that water on planes is unhealthy. Nonetheless, we're planning on packing Handi Wipes on our next flight.