Friday, 29 Oct 2004

Play to Winslow

A green financial guru dishes up election-related investment tips

Matt Patsky, a green-investing expert with Winslow Management Co., thinks investors worried about their wallets should also be worried about the outcome of the presidential race. The election will surely have an impact on markets, in both the short and long-term, and the success of eco-friendly investments could be on the line, along with so much else. In a chat with Glenn Scherer, he shares electoral insights as well as stock tips -- today on the Grist Magazine website.

Bhopal Lowball

Bhopal disaster victims seek to quadruple compensation

Victims of the devastating 1984 industrial gas leak in Bhopal, India, have appealed to the country's Supreme Court to quadruple the amount of compensation they will receive. They have long charged that the Indian government has been slow to distribute funds from a $470 million settlement paid by U.S.-based Union Carbide, owner of the plant, to the Indian government in 1989. On Tuesday, a favorable Supreme Court ruling ordered the government to release the money remaining from the settlement, some $330 million, and accepted a sharp rise in the estimated number of victims, from the 105,000 listed in 1989 to 572,000, accounting for new births and previously unreported cases. However, the victims are appealing to quadruple the amount, based on the higher number of cases, though it's unclear where the additional money would come from. At a press conference yesterday, victims pleaded their case and told their tragic stories, like that of 80-year-old Shanti Devi, who lost her husband and his two businesses and has been forced to spend her savings caring for her children and grandchildren. Devi is to receive $2,200 in compensation.

We've Got Spirit Bear, Yes We Do

See pretty pictures of the Great Bear Rainforest

The Great Bear Rainforest lies along the coast of British Columbia, where the species-rich Pacific Ocean collides with hundreds of miles of coastline and an archipelago of 1,000 islands. It is one of the last pristine temperate rainforests in the world, home to the rare white spirit bear, grizzlies, a genetically distinct population of wolves, and thousands of other rare or endangered species. The folks at the Raincoast Conservation Society are hustling to protect it, and they've provided us a photo gallery that captures the unique beauty of the forest. Come see pretty pictures -- in Main Dish, today on the Grist Magazine website.

Overpowering

Utilities seek to build power plants near national parks

Visibility in many U.S. national parks is declining and demand for electricity is rising -- two trends that are set to collide. Since 2000, the number of applications to build power plants within 62 miles of park boundaries has quadrupled, relative to the previous five years. More than 10 percent of those plants would be coal-fired. "The interior West is witnessing the biggest resurgence in coal-fired power plants in a generation," said Vickie Patton of Environmental Defense. This resurgence comes at a time when several studies of national parks, particularly in the West, show the number of low-visibility days on the rise. Though in most cases states issue permits for power plants, the federal Clean Air Act requires park officials to review possible impacts on national parks larger than 5,000 acres. Officials say, however, that such reviews rarely stop permits from being issued. Paul Hoffman, deputy assistant secretary at the Interior Department, says there really isn't a problem: "We can have our power and clean air, too." And you were worried!

Dole-ing Out Favors

A lobbying success story, from the maker of atrazine

The manufacturer of atrazine, an herbicide connected by studies to frog deformities and increased risk of prostate cancer in humans, spent $260,000 lobbying the U.S. EPA and other government bodies on behalf of the chemical. Not only that, but Syngenta Crop Protection enlisted the formidable lobbying talents of Viagra emissary and ex-senator Bob Dole, who met at least once with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin to discuss the issue. After reports began emerging about atrazine's ill effects -- biologist Tyrone Hayes testified to Congress that low levels of atrazine "chemically castrate and feminize" male frogs, fish, and other wildlife, and other tests indicate that men who work around the chemical are at risk of prostate cancer -- Syngenta hired PR firm Alston & Bird to lobby the White House, the Justice Department, and Congress on its behalf. Before Dole's meeting, Alston & Bird prepared a memo saying that the EPA should reregister atrazine by Oct. 31, 2003; after Dole's meeting, the agency did just that.