Friday, 14 Jan 2005

Don't Make Her Mildly Scold You Again!

Christie Whitman's forthcoming book assails GOP's rightward lurch

Former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, who hails from a distinguished line of patrician East Coast Republicans, is not given to unseemly displays of anger or resentment. But her forthcoming book, It's My Party Too, contains pointed (if decorous) criticism of current Republican Party radicalism and its threat to the party's long-term viability. When Karl Rove told her that, as head of the EPA, she would be one of three cabinet officers who would determine Bush's reelection prospects, she took it as an endorsement of a robust environmental ethic. "As it turned out," she says, "I don't seem to have understood Karl correctly." Ouch. Read about her dissatisfaction in Muckraker -- today on the Grist Magazine website.

Clear Skies and Present Danger

Clean Air Act more effective than proposed Clear Skies bill, panel says

A new report by the National Academy of Sciences suggests that the Bush administration's proposed reform of current air-quality standards will effectively do less to reduce pollution than existing Clean Air Act regulations, much as critics, including John Kerry (remember him?), charged during the presidential campaign. The NAS assessment states that the 28-year-old new-source review rules requiring emissions-reducing upgrades in existing power plants is more stringent than the cap-and-trade program proposed in the Clear Skies legislation. Industry groups disagree, as does Will Hart, spokesflack for Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who says, "It's the same argument we've had before." Exactly.

Me Fred, You Jane

Jane Goodall's right-hand man has all the right answers

Fred Thompson, CEO of the Jane Goodall Institute, says his first encounter with primates -- an orphaned gorilla and chimpanzee -- changed the way he thinks about the natural world. Now, through the institute's outreach programs, he works to change the thinking of others. He answers questions from readers about this ambitious mission, as well as protecting chimp habitat, dealing with volatile central African governments, learning from Goodall, and more -- in InterActivist, only on the Grist Magazine website.

Uncritical Mass

Anti-nuke opposition muted even as U.S. nuclear industry expands

Opponents of nuclear power in the U.S. have been having a rough time of late attracting attention to their cause, even as the nuclear-power industry gears up to build five new reactors by 2015 and as many as 50 by 2050, with enthusiastic backing from the Bush administration. Concerns over high oil prices, enthusiasm over the prospect of nuke-plant jobs, and smart, targeted lobbying by nuke execs have combined to put the industry on its strongest footing in years. Generous new federal subsidies and the prospect of more in the near future haven't hurt. Even environmentalists' concerns over carbon-dioxide emissions are contributing to the nuclear comeback, as the industry can now tout itself as a solution to global warming. A stumbling block remains that pesky problem of what to do with spent nuclear fuel. While it seems that fewer communities are fighting the construction of reactors in their midst, nobody wants the waste.

Power Corrupts; Renewable Power Corrupts Renewably

Guantanamo military base to be powered partly by wind

We've got good news and bad news. Bad news first? OK: The U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba is the alleged site of government-sanctioned torture, practiced on suspects whose guilt is at best uncertain, likely to leave a permanent moral scar on the nation's soul. The good news? It's using renewable energy! Four large windmills -- two already completed -- will soon begin providing 25 to 30 percent of the base's power, marking a rare foray by the U.S. military into clean energy. Once the system, augmented by new, cleaner-running diesel generators, is fully up and running, it will represent annual savings of $2.3 million in energy costs and 13 million pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions. Much of the power goes toward producing clean water at a desalination plant, part of the base's commitment to being entirely self-sufficient, lest it sully its, ahem, moral purity by paying for resources from its communist Cuban neighbors.

The King and We

Grist to honor civil-rights leader by taking three-day weekend

On Monday, Grist will honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy by, well, not working. We'll be back Tuesday with more of the wit and wisdom you've come to know and love, or at least tolerate.