Monday, 18 Jul 2005

The U.S. EPA's refusal to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions from automobiles is legit, a federal appeals court panel ruled on Friday. The coalition of 12 states and more than a dozen green groups that filed suit against EPA over the issue begs to differ -- they say that since CO2 from cars is heating up the atmosphere and threatening public health and safety, the Clean Air Act compels the EPA to act -- and they are itching to file an appeal. Muckraker gets the inside scoop.

Spies Like Us

FBI terrorism unit investigating doings of peaceful green groups

FBI agents working on behalf of the bureau's counterterrorism unit have been gathering information on nonviolent environmental, civil-rights, and peace organizations for the past several years, according to Justice Department documents revealed in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The documents reveal that the FBI has amassed thousands of pages of records on the activities of groups like Greenpeace and the American Civil Liberties Union. The feds claim they're just trying to prevent violence at political demonstrations, not, you know, stifle free speech or free assembly or anything like that (heaven forfend!). But "if the FBI has taken the time to gather 2,400 pages of information on an organization that has a perfect record of peaceful activity for 34 years," said Greenpeace USA's John Passacantando, "it suggests they're just attempting to stifle the voices of their critics."


As VP of Defenders of Wildlife, Jamie Rappaport Clark spends a lot of her time, um, defending wildlife. Lately, her work has been focused on protecting the Endangered Species Act from members of Congress who are bent on weakening its provisions. As InterActivist this week, Clark chats about her early fascination with the natural world, her trepidation about testifying before Congress, her affection for her Palm Treo, and more. Send in your burningest questions for Clark by noon PDT on Wednesday, July 20; we'll publish her responses to selected questions on Friday.

Elephant Fight! Elephant Fight!

Global warming, of all things, causes intra-party tensions in GOP

Democrats have long hoped that the eerily monolithic modern GOP would fracture, but few expected global warming to be the wedge issue. Nevertheless, there you have it: Last week, House Science Committee Chair Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) laid into fellow Republican Rep. Joe Barton (Texas), chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, accusing him in a sharply worded letter of conducting a "misguided and illegitimate investigation." Last month, Barton contacted three climate scientists requesting extensive records; outrage ensued. Twenty noted climatologists sent Barton a letter decrying what they called political intimidation, and in a separate letter, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said the request might be seen "as a transparent effort to bully and harass climate-change experts who have reached conclusions with which you disagree." An Energy Committee spokesflack noted caustically that "Chairman Barton appreciates heated lectures from Representatives Boehlert and Waxman ... We regret that our little request for data has given them a chill." Zing!


Back in January, advice maven Umbra Fisk aired her feelings about wind farms. In short: yeehaw! But a reader from Vermont called her to task for not substantiating her exuberant yodeling with numbers. (Some people are so picky!) So she's back on it, with a whirl of figures and factoids and metaphors -- all delivered with her usual gusto.

These Aren't the Hybrids You're Looking for

Newer hybrids emphasize engine muscle instead of fuel efficiency

Some of the newest hybrid car models are not notably more fuel-efficient than their conventional brethren, but still qualify buyers for a "clean fuels" tax credit, causing greens no end of mixed feelings. In the case of the Honda Accord, the 2005 hybrid model uses electric-motor technology to boost the car's power rather than significantly reduce fuel consumption and save gasoline -- testing by Consumer Reports indicates that it gets about the same miles per gallon as the conventional Accord. Oil-phobic activists are guarded in dissing the power-happy hybrids, since their growing popularity motivates automakers to improve hybrid technology. But they'd like to see the government get a little more selective about which hybrids qualify for tax benefits. Honda, meanwhile, points out that it does offer hybrid cars that emphasize gas savings over power -- for those who want them.