Tuesday, 12 Oct 2004

Tempest in a Tight Spot

Writer Terry Tempest Williams barred from speaking on Florida campus

Renowned author and wilderness activist Terry Tempest Williams is touring the country to promote her new book, "The Open Space of Democracy." Given the subject, it's a rather pointed irony that the board of trustees of Florida Gulf Coast University voted 11 to 1 to prohibit Williams from speaking at a convocation, unhappy with statements in her book lamenting the Bush administration's environmental policies and saying that her speech would lack "balance." All 11 of those who voted against her, including university President William Merwin, were appointed by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), and Merwin has given money to the Bush/Cheney campaign. Oh, and Vice President Dick Cheney is holding a campaign rally on the university campus this Thursday. Williams discusses this unique interpretation of balance in a series of reports from the road -- in Dispatches, on the Grist Magazine website.

Run-Run-Run-Run Runaway

Scientists puzzled by accelerating CO2 buildup in atmosphere

A sharp acceleration in the rate of increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has climate scientists puzzled and sounding a bit nervous. Mauna Loa Observatory, perched on a mountain in Hawaii, has been taking atmospheric CO2 measurements for almost 50 years. In recent decades, the rate of increase has averaged about 1.5 parts per million (ppm) a year, but in 2002 and 2003, the rate jumped up to 2.08 ppm and 2.54 ppm respectively, an unprecedented acceleration. Climate researchers acknowledge that it could be an anomaly -- perhaps due to increased forest fires in the Northern Hemisphere or something of the sort. But if the acceleration continues, warns climate-research old-timer Charles Keeling, it could herald "the beginning of a natural process unprecedented in the record" -- the so-called "runaway greenhouse effect," wherein the world's natural carbon sinks lose their ability to absorb CO2 and a self-reinforcing cycle of rapid warming begins. Yikes.

Hey, Man, Is That Freedom Rock?

Marc Ross, rock 'n' roll activist, answers Grist's questions

In 2001, watching his favorite band The String Cheese Incident in California, Marc Ross experienced what he calls the "Incident at Mt. Shasta." The idea came to him in a flash: an organization that marshals the energy and passion of the music community in service of environmental good. Thus was born "Rock the Earth." Ross discusses the struggles of getting a new environmental group off the ground, and the number of Phish shows he's seen, in InterActivist, only on the Grist Magazine website. Send him a question of your own by noon PDT, Wednesday, Oct. 13.

Thy Rod and Thy Staff, They Disturb Me

Bush's EPA and Interior stocked with industry lawyers and lobbyists

New York Newsday is running a series called "Erasing the Rules" about the Bush administration's coordinated efforts to remove or weaken regulations on industry. Of particular interest to Gristians will be the third installment, about the administration's staffing of the U.S. EPA, Interior Department, and Agriculture Department with lawyers and lobbyists drawn directly from industries those agencies regulate. While Bush has had little luck persuading Congress to weaken the Clean Air Act or allow drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- perhaps because open debate on these unpopular measures draws undue public attention -- he has been able to drastically alter the regulatory landscape, thanks in part to agencies staffed with industry veterans. Newsday's analysis of public personnel records shows that Bush's appointments at the top level have been markedly less diverse than Clinton's, who spread them more evenly over lawyers and lobbyists, nonprofit workers, and academics. "With this administration, it seems like everybody at the political level here has either a close attachment with industry or with an ultra-conservative think tank or legal organization," said a long-time EPA attorney who elected, probably wisely, to remain anonymous.

PLU Perfect

Umbra gets to the bottom of the produce-sticker mystery

You know those overly sticky little stickers on fresh fruits and veggies at the grocery store? Ever wondered what the numbers on them mean? Maybe you should. According to our intrepid investigator Umbra Fisk, these so-called PLU codes can tell you whether the produce is organic and even, at least in theory, whether it's genetically modified. Indulge your inner numerologist in Ask Umbra -- today on the Grist Magazine website.