Monday, 22 Nov 2004

Another Brick in the Wal-Mart

Umbra on whether to buy your sparkling water at Wal-Mart

With the busiest shopping day of the year coming this Friday, we think we know what's on your mind: globalization, the race to the bottom, sprawl, and low, low prices! OK, maybe not. But that's what's on Umbra's mind. A reader writes in asking what's wrong with a certain store that begins with "Wal" and ends in "Mart," and Umbra tells it like it is. (Hint: plenty.) Get the skinny on where not to buy your holiday gifts -- today on the Grist Magazine website.

Lockyer and Load

California says it will sue feds over Sierra Nevada forest plan

If the Bush administration's plan to increase logging in the Sierra Nevada national forest is approved, California will sue to block it, said state Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D). Last Thursday, the head of the U.S. Forest Service approved the plan; U.S. Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey now has 15 days to review it before it becomes final. Though the plan is billed as a way to reduce wildfires, it is widely viewed by enviros as a giveaway to the timber industry. In a scathing statement, Lockyer blasted the Bush administration for its "betrayal of treasured forests and the public trust," noting that its "continued willingness to sacrifice California's natural resources" has forced the state "to divert countless taxpayer dollars from fighting polluters to fighting the federal government." Lockyer claimed the plan would violate federal environmental protection laws, though Forest Service head honcho Dale Bosworth disagrees.

The End of Violence

The last thing enviros need at this point is an outbreak of radicalism

A recent Grist poll asking readers where they think green-minded folk should direct their energy over the next four years generated the following top response: armed resistance. Presumably you were kidding. Right? Just in case, David Roberts reviews just how bad an idea it would be at this point to get all radical -- in Soapbox, today on the Grist Magazine website.

Arabian Fights

Arabs and Latinos work together for environmental justice in Michigan

The area that includes south Dearborn and southwest Detroit is densely populated, ethnically diverse, and highly industrialized -- as such, it is a revealing test case for the environmental-justice movement. For at least five years now, particulate pollution in the area's air has exceeded federal standards by anywhere from 15 to 33 percent, to the point that some public officials have suggested residents move from their homes. But residents, many of them first- and second-generation Latino and Arab immigrants for whom home ownership is part of the American dream, resist the notion. They are banding together across ethnic lines to fight for funding for studies to determine local sources of pollution and get them cleaned. "That is the only good part of all this mess," said resident Yasser Maisari. "It is bringing all of us together."

My Chemical Romance

Green chemistry gets rolling

A change is gradually taking hold in the world of chemistry. Increasingly, chemists regard the toxicity and environmental effects of a chemical as fundamental to the process of creating it, rather than afterthoughts. "Green chemistry," which puts this kind of holistic thinking into practice, is a growing industry. Its roots trace back to two sources. One is the growing cost for companies of cleaning up after themselves -- DuPont got whacked for Teflon and Gore-Tex, General Electric for PCBs in the Hudson River, and other companies are on the hook for asbestos, dioxin, perchlorates, and plenty of others. The second is the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, which prompted the U.S. EPA to begin offering research grants and forming public-private partnerships that encouraged the budding field. Businesses are enthusiastic about the approach as it centers on innovation rather than regulation.

Do Good

Call on your senators to block oil drilling in the Arctic Refuge

Emboldened by the recent election, congressional leaders and the Bush administration are more determined than ever to get oil drills into Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. No matter that pilfering this pristine parcel would result in only enough oil to satisfy the U.S. market for a few months, or that the oil wouldn't even be available for a decade, or that we could eliminate the need for that much crude altogether by, say, driving vehicles that guzzle a little less gas. The Wilderness Society has made it easy to write your senators with the message that the Arctic Refuge should be off-limits to oil exploitation. Get cracking!