Tuesday, 30 Nov 2004

Injustice for All

On 20th anniversary of Bhopal disaster, justice still eludes victims

Thanks to bureaucratic inertia, government corruption, and corporate evasion, the citizens of Bhopal, India -- site of a catastrophic 1984 gas leak that killed some 7,000 people immediately and 15,000 since -- have yet to see justice, says a new report from Amnesty International, released this week to mark the 20th anniversary of the tragedy. Only about 30 percent of the meager $470 million settlement paid to the Indian government has actually been dispensed to survivors, and Dow Chemical -- which bought out Union Carbide, owner of the leaking pesticide factory, after the disaster -- claims it is not liable for further damages. Meanwhile, AI estimates 100,000 citizens are still suffering from chronic or debilitating illnesses stemming from the leak. "[A]stonishingly, no one has been held to account for the leak and its appalling consequences," says the report, aptly dubbed "Clouds of Injustice."

Her Name Is Rio

The new book Rio Grande tells the story of a fabled river

The Rio Grande river that divides Texas from northern Mexico is a source of myth and legend -- and also, sadly, a source of modern-day cautionary tales. Devastated by drought, irrigation demands, and invasive plant species, it ran dry before reaching its destination at the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in 2001. Rio Grande, a new book of essays and excerpts, tells the river's story and details its woes. Dan Oko assesses its success -- in Books Unbound, today on the Grist Magazine website.

GMOy Vey

Battle over GM crops rages on in Europe

Europe's ambivalence over genetically modified crops continues to lead to outbreaks of conflict and recrimination. The latest flurry involves a European Union vote on whether to approve a breed of GM corn made by biotech giant Monsanto. Eight countries voted to approve, 12 voted to deny, and five abstained, meaning the corn is a no-go for now. Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth Europe accused the European Food Safety Authority, Europe's top food safety agency, of pervasive bias in favor of GM crops, after it issued a stream of reports favorable to the biotech industry. Also this week, a study released in the U.K., funded in part by industry, found that herbicide-resistant GM crops did not decrease the diversity of weeds and flowers in fields where they were grown for four years, despite charges to the contrary by environmental organizations. Enviro groups immediately denounced the study. And so it goes.

Cap'n Crunchy

Earthships offer a model for green housing of the future

Looking to build an eco-friendly dwelling? An "earthship" could be just the ticket, says Mike Reynolds. Inexpensive to construct and even less expensive to run, these houses are built into hillsides, utilizing passive solar design and the thermal properties of the earth to provide natural climate control. Constructed of little but earth, plaster, trash (used tires and discarded building materials), and large windows, the houses first evolved in the arid lands around Taos, N.M., but have now spread as far afield as Fife, U.K. Hallmarks of Reynolds' earthship design are systems that capture and use rainwater, process sewage through plant beds, and generate electricity on site. So far, the designs are only found outside of urban centers, but Reynolds would like to see that change. "If we were to get into a place like Brighton [U.K.], I'd buy an east-west running city block, tear everything down, salvage all the materials and put up a bank of earthships ... People would go apesh*t! Soon other city blocks would be coming down."

Hyper Activism

Software company Hyperion offers employees money for fuel-efficient cars

California software company Hyperion is getting quite a bit of positive press for offering its employees $5,000 toward the purchase of a fuel-efficient car, and we're happy to jump on the bandwagon. The grant is available to any of Hyperion's 2,600 employees who have worked at the company for more than a year and who buy a vehicle that gets at least 45 miles to the gallon. The company will offer 200 grants a year on a first-come first-served basis. Currently, the range of vehicles that meet that standard is fairly small: the Toyota Prius, the Honda Insight, some of the newer diesel models, and whatever electric vehicle employees can find overseas or on eBay. Hyperion hopes other companies will follow suit and promises to share what it learns. "Companies and individuals have extraordinary power to make a difference," said Hyperion CEO Godfrey Sullivan.