Tuesday, 06 Sep 2005

Feel funny checking your values at the office door? Here at Grist, we wouldn't know anything about that. Our values follow us to work. Haunt us. Hang over us like heavy, deadening ... wait, what were we talking about? Oh, right, the office. Today we're pleased to announce the debut of our second business column, by sustainable-biz expert Joel Makower. Toiling Point, to be published monthly, takes on the everyday quandaries of the work world and shows those of you who work for a living how to bring some green to your cubicles. Today, Makower tackles the tasty question of how to green your workplace cafeteria. Belly up!

Glow Figure

Health fallout from Chernobyl less severe than expected

The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power-plant accident has yielded much less harm to human health than initially anticipated. According to a new report prepared for the U.N. by more than 100 experts, Chernobyl will ultimately cause about 4,000 deaths, primarily from cancer -- a lot, they concede, but far fewer than the tens of thousands once predicted. No birth defects or impacts on fertility have been detected in exposed populations of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Concentrations of radioactivity in agricultural foods produced in fallout areas are by and large below national and international levels considered action-worthy. The report says that Chernobyl's most severe impact has been on the mental health of the millions classified as victims, who have become fatalistic and dependent on government entitlements. These people should be given realistic information about the risks they face, says the report, and encouraged to become more self-reliant.


Feeling guilty about your carbon footprint? Lesley Marcus Carlson sells expiation at a bargain price. She's cofounder and president of the nonprofit Carbonfund.org, which makes it easy for individuals and businesses to buy credits that offset their carbon-dioxide emissions. She's also this week's InterActivist, so send her a question by noon PDT on Wednesday; we'll publish her answers to selected questions on Friday.

Bourbon Decay

Officials try to get grip on post-Katrina environmental problems

Multiple environmental crises loom in Hurricane Katrina's wake. New Orleans floodwaters are diluting sewage, chemical, and fuel contaminants right now, but these substances are likely to concentrate and deposit as the waters drain. Some parts of the city may become de facto brownfields, so soaked in toxic crud that they'll be unfit for rebuilding. Then there's all the nontoxic waste and debris generated by the storm -- Louisiana officials are so far at a loss for where they'll landfill it. Ecological damage to the Gulf Coast is also being assessed -- Louisiana's Chandeleur Islands, a national bird refuge, are inundated, and islands off the Biloxi coast were scoured and breached by Katrina's storm surge. Unchecked erosion along the Louisiana coast amplified the scope of Katrina's damage, say some experts; they argue that there's now a great opportunity to redevelop the coastlines carefully, avoiding past mistakes.

China Pattern

China may boost use of renewables, efforts to fight climate change

Recent developments show China making concerted efforts to boost its use of clean energy and engage the world community in efforts to battle global warming. Late last week, China and the European Union announced a deal that would have the formidable economic powers sharing technology and techniques to mitigate carbon-dioxide emissions. And Monday, the director of renewable energy for a Beijing policy commission said that Chinese leadership is considering boosting its clean-energy targets by 50 percent, from a goal of 10 percent by 2020 to 15 percent (to greens' chagrin, that target includes environmentally controversial hydropower). Though China likely wishes to be seen as a good global citizen on environmental issues, it has plenty of direct incentives to adopt clean energy, including the high cost of fossil-fuel imports, notoriously filthy air, widespread acid rain, and the likely impacts of global warming.