Thursday, 28 Oct 2004

Pass the Pipe Dreams

Speculation on possible Kerry administration environmental appointments

In these last, tension-filled days, all eyes in the Kerry campaign are on Nov. 2 (and any subsequent legal battles, riots, impositions of martial law, etc.). Outside the campaign, however, the inevitable speculation has begun on who might staff key Kerry cabinet positions. Would firebrand advocates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or Deb Callahan head the U.S. EPA, or would Kerry make a more cautious, political choice? What state-level officials are ready for the federal game? Read what insiders are saying -- in Muckraker, today on the Grist Magazine website.

The Lion Shall Lie Down With the Dam

Bush administration tweaks dam regulations to favor industry

The Bush administration has just proposed a regulatory change that would grant the hydropower industry exclusive rights to appeal Interior Department rulings on dam licensing and operation -- and deny those rights to states, Indian tribes, and environmental groups. Many privately owned dams, built before laws protecting fish and other species were enacted, will come up for relicensing in the next few years, and the administration's proposed change could save the hydropower industry many millions in environmental mitigation settlements. Some lawyers inside the Interior Department say the change may be an unconstitutional violation of due process. Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) says the change "would protect utility profits at the expense of fish, wildlife, and conservation values." Tex G. Hall, president of the National Congress of American Indians, protests that the regulatory shift "undermines the very trust responsibility that Interior is supposed to be the lead department in protecting." The proposal is open to public comment until Nov. 8.

Home Is Where the Bloat Is

American homes are growing and consuming more electricity

American homes are sucking more and more energy, contributing to a cycle of rising prices that is putting a financial crunch on poor and fixed-income families. In 1970, the average new home was 1,500 square feet; in 2003, it was 2,230 square feet. Even that startling statistic obscures the fact that for America's rich and upper-middle class, huge suburban McMansions in the 5,000- to 8,000-square-foot range are now the norm. Despite the Energy Star appliances and improved insulation, these homes are using vast amounts of energy. It's not unusual for such homes to sport a second or third refrigerator, plasma televisions, decorative natural-gas fireplaces, multiple computers, and who-knows-how-many chargers for cell phones, PDAs, and other widgets. And then there's demand for heated water to feed the growing number of multiple-head showers, Jacuzzis, and indoor pools. Natural gas prices are up 11 percent from last year and are expected to keep rising; home heating oil is up 60 percent; propane's up 30 percent. Home energy costs represent a bigger and bigger chunk of income for low-income families, with no end in sight.

Wonder If Michigan Left Cookies Out for Him

Energy secretary ladles pork into swing states as election approaches

$36 million for a power plant in Minnesota. $100 million for a clean-coal project in Pennsylvania. $235 million for a power plant in Florida. $19.7 million for a clean-coal facility in New Mexico. Being a swing state is a profitable vocation during an election season. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has been traveling to hotly contested regions like a federal Santa Claus, his bag filled with environmentally questionable pork. And he is not alone: Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, Treasury Secretary John Snow, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and numerous Education Department officials have all been traveling heavily in purple states, on the taxpayer's dime, "celebrating" this program and doling out money to that one. It's not unusual to see these kinds of shenanigans as an election approaches -- Clinton was no saint in this department -- but, says Deb Callahan of the League of Conservation Voters, "the Bush administration might have set a new standard for pre-election pork."

Flipper Flop

Court rules that whales and dolphins can't sue

"..." Did you hear that? That was us breaking the bad news to the whale community: They can't sue the U.S. government. Such was the unanimous ruling of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week, responding to a lawsuit against President Bush brought on behalf of "the cetacean community" by Hawaii lawyer Lanny Sinkin. At issue is the Navy's use of low-frequency sonar, which is believed to cause tissue damage and other injuries in whales. Currently, the law allows only humans to sue, when they are affected by some threat to animals. But this doesn't help animals "in the middle of nowhere," said Sinkin. "We were trying to close that gap." The attorney does not plan to appeal to the Supreme Court, generally considered less sympathetic to environmental regulations than the 9th Circuit. The only way for the whales to get standing now would be for the law itself to change. "But that," said Sinkin, "will depend on who wins the presidency and who wins the Congress." Too bad the whale lobby can't reach landlocked swing states.