Monday, 15 Aug 2005

Rob Elam thinks looking to Big Oil to solve our petroleum-dependence problem is like looking to the Marlboro Man for help giving up cigarettes. That's why he cofounded Propel Fuels, a Seattle-based company that aims to fill fuel tanks with biodiesel. As InterActivist this week, Elam rails against greenwashing, warns about the downside of looking at "the big picture," praises biodiesel-loving musicians, and more.

That's Some Commitment

Bush administration cuts protections for Pacific salmon habitat

In a move it says reaffirms its "commitment to salmon recovery," the Bush administration on Friday slashed critical habitat for Pacific salmon facing extinction. The National Marine Fisheries Service announced that federal protection for salmon habitat in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington would be cut from 167,700 miles of river to 33,300 miles -- encompassing only waterways that the 19 listed species of threatened and endangered salmon use today, rather than their historic range. The feds agreed to revise the scope of the habitat designation in response to a lawsuit filed by the home-construction industry and property-rights advocates, which claimed that the economic impacts of the earlier designation hadn't been assessed. Eco-advocates say this demonstrates the Bush administration's desire to gut the Endangered Species Act.


Recent media reports have a well-meaning reader all atwitter: Is it true that the latest hybrids boost performance at the expense of fuel efficiency? How can he tell good hybrids from bad? Umbra Fisk distinguishes "true hybrids" from the "pseudo" variety, and explains how to make sure you get the former.

Lakes and Pains

Great Lakes beset by myriad threats

This weekend, The Detroit News published a massive series on the latest threats facing the Great Lakes -- and we mean massive: close to 30 articles. The lakes, which hold a fifth of the world's freshwater, were once emblematic of America's environmental malaise, choked with algae and pollutants. While water quality has improved, a panoply of new threats now confront the lakes: invasive species, unregulated growth in surrounding areas, agricultural and sewer runoff, nearby mines, states and bottled-water companies anxious to siphon off water, an influx of new toxins (and female hormones), mercury pollution, pressure to expand shipping channels, and last but not least, global warming. While the feds spent $1.7 billion to help the lakes between 1992 and 2004, momentum is now building behind a $20 billion package, first recommended by a task force convened by President Bush to study the lakes. If passed, it would be one of the most expansive pieces of environmental legislation in U.S. history.

Better Off, Dead

Eco-burials on the upswing

We're all gonna die! Eventually, anyway. If you'd like your demise to contribute to a greener planet, reserve a plot at Forever Fernwood, a northern California cemetery specializing in "eco-interments." About half of Fernwood is devoted to burials that use environmentally friendly practices: hemp-silk blend shrouds, biodegradable coffins, low-key grave markers made from petrified wood, and no embalming. Fernwood owner Tyler Cassity is a wild child of the funeral world -- he transformed a decrepit old Los Angeles-area cemetery into "Hollywood Forever," a destination location featuring weekend movie screenings on the side of Rudolph Valentino's mausoleum. While only a select few celebs can hope to have their eternal resting place trampled by moviegoers with bags of popcorn, the green lean of millions of aging baby boomers is expected to create a very lucrative eco-burial market over the next few decades. Compost in peace.