Tuesday, 05 Oct 2004

Norwegian Wood

Porn activists go all the way for the rainforest

Leona Johansson and Tommy Hol Ellingsen love the earth, and each other. What better way to unite their passions than to unite! Repeatedly! In public! Johansson and Ellingsen gained notoriety when they mounted the stage at a music festival in Norway this summer and proceeded to ... mount. It drew quite a bit of attention to their environmental organization and website, which we will refrain from naming or linking to here, as there may be impressionable youths reading (all such impressionable youths should skip immediately to news item No. 2). Lissa Harris had what we assume is a great deal of fun investigating this new meeting of Gaia and Eros, and she lays it, uh, bare -- today on the Grist Magazine website.

Lead Astray

Lead contamination in municipal water systems systematically underreported

If you live in the U.S., the water you drink may contain unsafe levels of lead, thanks to a water-safety enforcement system rife with manipulation and negligence. Water utilities across the U.S. are discarding unfavorable test results and ignoring safety regulations. State regulators rarely enforce standards and in many cases assist utilities in avoiding penalties. The U.S. EPA, charged with overseeing state efforts and penalizing utilities that fail to comply with regulations, has drastically reduced enforcement in recent years and doesn't have the staff to do the job adequately even if it wanted to. In 2003, the number of EPA enforcements against water utilities was less than a tenth of the number in 1997. Despite all this, EPA Acting Assistant Administrator Benjamin Grumbles told Congress in July that "we have not identified a systemic problem." Perhaps he should get in touch with the folks at The Washington Post. Seems they have.

Little Red Tibet

Tibet suffers melting glaciers and nuclear dumpage

As if living under the heel of a repressive communist neighbor wasn't bad enough, Tibet now has to contend with a coming ecological catastrophe and nuclear waste it didn't produce. According to a survey conducted by some 20 U.S. and Chinese scientists, Tibet's glaciers -- which have been receding for decades, particularly since 1990 -- could melt entirely by 2100. The short-term result of melting will be an increase in river flows from the glaciers, but in the longer term those rivers could dry up, which could be devastating for 300 million or so residents of western China that depend on that water. Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama this week accused China of surreptitiously dumping nuclear waste in Tibet, citing birds and other animals born with birth defects. Still, despite being the spiritual and political representative of a country whose recent history makes the Book of Job look like a fairy tale, the world's most famous Buddhist said, "I believe the world is getting better. I'm optimistic."

Cheese-Eating Efficiency Monkeys

France has made big strides in energy efficiency

After the global oil crises of the 1970s, both the U.S. and France took steps to increase energy efficiency and reduce their vulnerability to oil price fluctuations. Unlike the U.S., however, France stuck with them. Since 1973, U.S. oil use has risen by 16 percent, while France's has fallen by 10 percent. France imposed a stiff gasoline tax (its citizens pay more than $5 a gallon for gas, $3.75 of it taxes), subsidized a massive shift to more fuel-efficient diesel-powered automobiles, and aggressively developed its nuclear power industry. These demand-oriented strategies stand in sharp contrast to those of the U.S., where "we try to control things over which we have no control, like Russia or Saudi Arabia, instead of looking at what we could do inside," said Amy Jaffe of Rice University's energy program. "We're like drug addicts. We're looking around for another dealer instead of going to detox." With American oil use projected to rise by 43 percent by 2025, the U.S. might consider shedding its Francophobia and taking a few tips from the Frogs.

Air Force Une

New car powered by compressed air to hit France

There are some nifty-sounding cars in the making these days. The latest -- to be introduced in France, where production will begin next year -- is the Air Car, a car that runs on, uh, air. Well, and electricity too. You plug it in at home, where an electric pump compresses air into the tank; the compressed air then powers the engine during driving. A full charge will enable you to travel about 50 miles at top speed (70 mph) and farther at lower speeds, more than enough, says manufacturer Moteur Developpment International, for most urban drivers. As MDI rep Sebastien Braud aptly summarizes, "It's safe, doesn't pollute, doesn't explode, it's not poisonous, and it's not expensive." The three-seater compact will go for just under $10,000, the six-seater $16,000. Of course, there are skeptics. Some enviros note that converting electricity to compressed air is inefficient, and the electricity has to come from somewhere. Still, we can't help but be charmed by the vision of poot-pooting our way across the Bordeaux region, leaving only air in our wake.