Friday, 27 May 2005

Salmon and Denial-Ah

Federal judge calls Bush admin's salmon plan fishy

In a strongly worded opinion, U.S. District Judge James Redden yesterday ruled that the Bush administration's salmon-protection plan for the Columbia and Snake rivers in the Northwest is "contrary to law" because it doesn't take into account how dams affect the fish's chances of recovery. This is the third time in 12 years that the government's plan has been thrown out in court during battles over limited water supplies sought both for operating hydropower plants in the Northwest and for sustaining salmon populations that have been hammered by overfishing and habitat disturbance. The plan rejected by the judge included $6 billion worth of hydropower-dam improvements that would have been made over a decade to ease the salmon's plight, but the environmentalists, fishing groups, and Indian tribes that brought the legal challenge against the plan point to this spring's dramatic drop in returning chinook salmon and say small improvements are not enough. Some enviros say dams just need to be knocked down altogether to save the fish.


"For some people," says this week's InterActivist David Cash, "windmills will never be beautiful." As air-policy director for the state of Massachusetts -- charged with, among other things, coordinating state policy on wind turbine siting -- he knows a turbine's beauty can depend on how much it benefits the local community. In answering reader questions, Cash opines on the aesthetics of wind power, the importance of public transit, and getting communities involved in grassroots environmentalism.

Well, That's One Way to Shrink the Population

Studies link common chemicals to reproductive harm

Stronger evidence that a class of ubiquitous chemicals called phthalates -- found in a wide variety of plastics, nail polishes, fragrances, and other products -- are linked to adverse effects on the human reproductive system was made public Thursday. A study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found a strong correlation between the level of phthalates in the urine of 85 pregnant mothers studied and abnormal genital development in their infant sons, in particular (because we know you want the particulars) smaller penises and scrotums and a higher frequency of incompletely descended testicles. Says lead author Shanna Swan, "These changes are seen at phthalate levels below those found in one-quarter of the female population of the United States." A separate study released this week found that lab animals exposed to levels of the chemical bisphenol A many times below the U.S. EPA's "safe dose" during pregnancy had babies with impaired mammary glands, associated with a higher risk of breast cancer in humans.


Just like Deron Beal's small recycling network ballooned into the international phenomenon known as Freecycle, our small story about his network ballooned into ... well, a passionate blogfest, mostly. Some of those comments, including one from Beal, made their way to the letter editor's desk. They praise writer Matt Weiser for telling the truth, or damn him for telling lies, or both. Oh, it's a mad, mad, mad, mad world -- today in Letters.

The Blair Pitch Project

Biz leaders urge Blair to act on climate

A dozen of Britain's top business chieftains have sent a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair urging him to get on the ball in the fight against climate change. The heads of BP, Shell, HSBC Bank, and other major companies say global warming is a massive problem that demands aggressive business investment, but they want to know how government policies on climate will shake out before they firm up their plans to tackle the challenge. Meanwhile, Blair is on the road pitching his agenda for the G8 summit that his government will host in Scotland in July; one of his top goals for the meeting is to get the leaders of the big eight industrialized nations to agree on steps to address climate change. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi today endorsed Blair's agenda, but of course the real trick will be getting buy-in from U.S. President George W. Bush. Good luck with that, Tony.

Putting on the Breaks

Grist kicking back for Memorial Day

Attention Daily Grist junkies: You'll have to do without your fix on Monday, as we Gristers will be involved in a high-level meeting with Tony Blair. OK, we'll actually be lazing about by the Grist pool, eating peeled grapes and sipping organic lemonade to celebrate Memorial Day. Woo-hoo! We'll be back on Tuesday, after we've had our pun.