Wednesday, 11 May 2005

We Can't Handle the Truth

Court rules that Cheney may keep task-force deliberations secret

In a major political and legal victory for the Bush administration, a federal appeals court has ruled that Vice President Dick Cheney is not obliged to release records on his secretive 2001 energy task-force meetings, effectively ending the long-running legal challenge brought by the Sierra Club and open-government advocate Judicial Watch. The court originally ruled that Cheney had to cough up the documents, but the administration appealed to the Supreme Court, which sent the case back to the appeals court with the stern suggestion that it reconsider. It did. The ruling relates to the 1972 Federal Advisory Committee Act, which says government committees must seek advice in the open. Breaking with past rulings, the court narrowly defined what constitutes committee membership (having a vote or a veto) and essentially accepted at face value the word of senior administration officials that energy executives were not committee members thus defined. Said Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton, "Today's decision means that now the public may never know the truth about how these policies were formulated."


Three weeks ago, Umbra Fisk (that's Ms. Fisk to you) surprised readers with a pop quiz on climate change. Since then, she has spent many an hour toiling in the basement stacks, grading your work. At last, the results are in. Are you A students, destined to receive calligraphied certificates at the next Grist assembly? Or will you just end up smoking under the bleachers? Find out today.

If the Military Can't Pollute Freely, the Terrorists Have Won

Pentagon asks Congress for exemptions from environmental laws, again

For the fourth time in as many years, the Defense Department has appealed to Congress for exemptions from major environmental laws -- this time it's air and hazardous-waste laws, as part of the 2006 defense authorization bill. In congressional testimony last year, a senior Pentagon official could cite no actual problems reported by base commanders that had resulted from having to comply with environmental laws. But still! "The [Defense] department has experienced several close calls where the relocation of military readiness activities could have been stymied by the conformity requirements of the Clean Air Act," said a Pentagon spokesflack. This talk of "close calls" and "could have" does not impress opponents of the exemptions -- a coalition of green groups, Democrats, and families in and around military bases whose health has been affected by air and groundwater pollution. They claim the military, widely regarded as one of the country's worst polluters, has all the flexibility it needs under current laws. The U.S. EPA lists more than 130 Superfund sites on military bases.

Where There's a Shill, There's a Way

USDA pays freelance writer to tout Farm Bill's green cred

In an effort to manufacture some green credibility, an Agriculture Department agency hired a freelance "journalist" to produce five articles on the conservation benefits of its Farm Bill programs. Paid at least $7,500 for his work, freelancer Dave Smith was instructed to push his stories to hunting and fishing magazines. The contract between Smith and the Natural Resources Conservation Service -- a government agency that works with landowners on issues related to wildlife habitat, water conservation, and soil erosion -- was uncovered by The Washington Post via a Freedom of Information Act request. It's just the latest deal to come to light whereby the Bush administration has paid so-called journalists to tout its policies in the press. Smith, dude, Armstrong Williams cleared $241K! Looks like you got punk'd.

Onward Christine Soldier

Washington gov signs groundbreaking renewable-energy legislation

Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) has signed into law two bills that some are calling the most progressive renewable-energy legislation in any U.S. state. The measures earned bipartisan support thanks to their focus on creating a renewables market that would generate jobs and boost the state's economy. One bill calls for a credit to be paid to home and business owners for each kilowatt-hour of electricity they generate via solar photovoltaic and wind-power systems, with higher credits paid if the energy systems are manufactured in-state. The second offers tax breaks to renewable-energy businesses that relocate to or already reside in Washington, with increased tax incentives for those that set up shop in economically depressed areas. Gregoire also signed a number of other environmental bills on Friday, including one that adopts California's tough car-emissions standards. Now, if she can just hang onto that governorship ...

Art for ... Well, Not Really for Art's Sake

Send Grist cool posters!

The Grist office walls are looking sadly barren these days (with the exception of a certain unnamed but smitten editor's life-size Barack Obama poster), and we're so darn busy bringing you the best green news on the world wide interweb that we don't have time to hunt down handsome wall decor. So, dear readers, we come to you with this plea: If you work for an environmental group or eco-minded company with a way-cool poster, send us one. It just might get a place of honor in our hallowed halls. Our only requirements: Nothing too political (we're a 501(c)(3), yo), nothing involving treacly inspirational homilies, and, really, go easy on the soft-focus portraits of charismatic megafauna. Send to Grist Magazine, 811 First Ave., Suite 466, Seattle, WA 98104. We love you, 4 true and 4-eva!