Tuesday, 19 Oct 2004

Porkic Victory

Pork-laden corporate-tax bill socks it to the environment

It's a measure of how beleaguered environmentalists feel in the halls of power these days that some are expressing relief -- almost a sense of victory -- over the massive, pork-filled corporate-tax bill that recently sailed through Congress. The bill would hand out tax breaks worth tens of billions of dollars to the fossil-fuel and nuclear industries. Why would an enviro call that victory? Because it could have been much, much worse. Read about what passes for good news in the current political climate in Muckraker -- today on the Grist Magazine website.

Green Dawn

Activists work to form Green Party in Russia

A group of environmental activists and scientists is seeking to create a Green political party in Russia, expressing high hopes despite considerable hurdles. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia's environmental situation has gone from bad to worse. Environmental standards are among the world's lowest, the country is a dumping ground for nuclear waste, and male life expectancy is now below 60. The mover behind the nascent party is Alexander Nikitin, who has butted up against the federal government in the past over his publication of a report on nuclear pollution. Most of the nation's citizens are concerned about the environment, despite Putin's near-exclusive focus on terrorism, says Nikitin: "Not everybody thinks there's a terrorist hiding behind every tree." The group faces an uphill climb, however, as Putin has been moving in a decisively anti-democratic direction, putting in place new legislation consolidating his control and raising further barriers for new parties.

The Hansen Bothers

More climate scientists come out against Bush

Andrew Revkin of The New York Times has written what may be the definitive account of the battle over science politicization in and around the Bush administration. The broad outlines are familiar -- the science community is more politically mobilized than it has been in decades, outraged at what it sees as the Bush administration's disregard for and manipulation of science -- but there are juicy new details for those interested in Bushian climate-change policy. Revkin reveals that the 2001 decision to backtrack on Bush's campaign promise to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions was based on a single, tendentious Energy Department study -- one that assumed that there would be no technical advances to make compliance cheaper, and that was contradicted by several other studies. Another interesting tidbit is that NASA scientist James Hansen, one of the pioneers of climate science, has spoken publicly for the first time in criticism of Bush, joining several others inside and outside of government in accusing his administration of suppressing and distorting inconvenient facts about global warming. It's worth a read.

They've Been Working on the Railroad

Recycled plastic railroad ties making inroads

There are nearly a billion wooden railroad ties holding together the railroads and subways of the U.S. That's a lot of wood, and thus a lot of trees. It's also a lot of creosote, a preservative chemical used on wood and deemed by the U.S. EPA "probably a human carcinogen." The cost of wood coupled with insurance against creosote-related litigation is inspiring some rail operators to switch to ties made from recycled plastics and rubber -- milk jugs, plastic bags, Styrofoam cups, and so forth. Manufacturers claim that plastic ties are environmentally friendly, and that they last longer and resist humidity better than their wood counterparts. Makers of plastic ties now have less than 1 percent of the market, but they anticipate a growing share in years to come.

We Take Our Coffee Green

Central American coffee industry rebounds by going green

A global surplus of coffee five years ago sent the Central American coffee industry into a tailspin, but it is gradually recovering by focusing on high-quality beans -- which in many cases means organically grown. In that rarest of things, a genuine win-win situation, the industry is being helped by an odd coalition including large U.S. coffee corporations, international conservation groups, U.S. aid agencies, and Central American governments. The U.S. government sees aid as a way of encouraging financial stability in nearby nations; conservation groups see it as a way of encouraging biodiversity and reducing erosion, both enabled by organic coffee farms; U.S. coffee corporations see it as a way of ensuring a steady supply of high-quality coffee, which is in high demand these days; and Central American governments see it as a way of reducing unemployment and social unrest. The assistance available to farmers willing to go organic also enables them to pay higher salaries and offer more health benefits.