Tuesday, 30 Aug 2005

The devastation wreaked on the Gulf Coast this week by Hurricane Katrina is sure to reignite debate over hurricanes and global warming. The science linking the two is ambiguous and complex, but the need to spur action on climate change is urgent. Would activists be justified in using Katrina to raise alarm about a globally warmed world, in which extreme weather events are expected to grow more intense? Or is sticking strictly to what's supportable by the best current science a value that outweighs any other? Discuss in the Gristmill.

What the Tuck?

Governator appoints industry flacks as state eco-regulators

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) earned green esteem early in his tenure, but as important regulatory appointments take on an increasingly pro-industry tinge, his cred is starting to fade. The latest is Cindy Tuck, chosen to chair the state's Air Resources Board after working for more than 15 years with or on behalf of an oil and energy trade group that opposed legislation to curb greenhouse gases, railroad emissions, and acid rain. The Governator has recently filled several other key roles -- including those involving forestry, radioactive waste, and water quality -- with folks who've worked within industries being regulated. His selections "have reflected a cross-section of California and haven't been skewed," said state Sen. Roy Ashburn (R), and some appointees seem to be proving themselves on the ground. But skeptics abound. Said one former air-quality official of Tuck, "This particular hired mouthpiece has spent her career working to undermine the laws that she will now be enforcing."

Tastes Like Chicken

Hong Kong becomes major outlet for trade in rare species

Hong Kong has become a linchpin location for smuggling rare species into China, according to some opponents of the trade, who fear that huge demand may wipe out many animal and plant species. In just one notable raid, police discovered that numerous boxes of alleged frozen chicken wings were actually filled with some 2,000 pangolins -- a rare species of anteater prohibited from trade by international treaty -- that had been killed, descaled, frozen, and vacuum-packed on their way to restaurants in southern China. Activists and officials say that Hong Kong's status as a free-trade port and proximity to China -- where many rare animals are prized for their alleged medicinal or aphrodisiacal qualities -- make it an ideal way station for meeting the massive demand in black-market species. And China's rising economic tide means more folks have more money to spend on their fix of endangered critters or protected plants.

Bombay Watch

Bombay bans plastic bags, saying they can clog drains and cause flooding

Plastic bags are maddeningly ubiquitous and ugly as sin, but did you know they can cause flooding? According to India's Maharashtra state government, millions of bags clogged up drains in Bombay's slums during monsoon season, dramatically worsening the epic late-July flooding that killed hundreds of people in the city. Now the state plans to outlaw most plastic shopping bags, to the great chagrin of bag manufacturers. The industry says the state is trying to duck responsibility for failing to repair Bombay's aged, crumbling drainage system and take other measures that would forestall flooding, like restoring the region's mangroves. But, said the buck-stops-here chief minister, "The media and environmental and citizens' groups demanded that plastic bags be banned, so we are banning them." By some measures, plastic bags account for 20 percent of the 770-odd tons of garbage produced in the Bombay area each day.

Petal Pusher

Entrepreneur sees vast potential for organic flower industry

Gerald Prolman is a man with an organic-flower plan. The California entrepreneur is not only after a significant chunk of the $20 billion-a-year cut-flower industry in the U.S. -- he's hopeful that cultivating demand for organic bouquets will transform grower practices in Latin America and Africa, where pesticide use in flower agribusiness has long poisoned workers and harmed the environment. Organic Bouquet, Prolman's company, is tracking to earn about $3.5 million this year -- much of it from organic long-stemmed roses. He envisions notching that up to $100 million within the next five years. Some fellow floral merchants are skeptical that Americans will care about going organic with a product they don't eat. But Prolman's optimistic, and has over a decade of entrepreneurial successes to back up his instincts. "I believe, within [about five years] ... you won't be able to sell a flower in America unless it's been deemed sustainable," he says.