Tuesday, 08 Nov 2005

What could a white farmer from rural Michigan have in common with a black inner-city resident of Detroit? Lynn Henning and Rhonda Anderson say the answer starts with two words -- environmental justice. The two women teamed up to take their neighbors on a "Common Justice Tour" of an agricultural community being devastated by corporate factory farms in Hudson, Mich., and a Detroit neighborhood being polluted by an oil refinery. In a dispatch, they tell us what they saw and learned, and what they're going to do about it.

You Taint Seen Nothing Yet

Fans and foes of gene-modified crops square off over biotech pollution

Folks who want their vittles straight up with no freaky-gene twist may find it increasingly tough to get the good stuff. Genetically modified (GM) crops are gaining popularity worldwide, leading to more accidental biotech pollution, wherein ordinary crops are tainted by their GM cousins. Organic farmers in the U.S. say "leaky" biotech is costing them export sales; they're going farther and farther afield to find guaranteed pure seeds. Some local communities are taking precautions: Three California counties have banned GM farming and a fourth may soon join. Meanwhile, biotech crop growers complain anti-GM fears are hurting their sales at home and abroad. The U.S. government isn't too concerned about biotech pollution, as long as the gene mods come from plants certified for human consumption. "Why do [GM crops] need to be treated any differently?" asks an administrator at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "They're not any more unsafe."


A team of researchers triggered an uproar this summer by suggesting that big, wild animals -- like lions and elephants! -- be reintroduced to North America. And the media went wild! And people freaked out! Now that the stampede is over, megafauna advocate Josh Donlan returns to the public eye to offer Grist readers a few reflections on what life was like in the belly of the beast.

Shanghai Hopes

China plans even bigger expansion of its clean-energy capacity

China yesterday announced plans to more than double its clean-energy capacity -- from 7 percent of electricity production today to about 15 percent by 2020, up from a previous goal of 10 percent. While this could make the country a leading global player in the hydropower, solar, and wind industries, it still wouldn't offset the country's climate-damaging emissions, say greens. China's heavy reliance on coal to power its economic growth makes it the world's second-largest greenhouse-gas emitter (after the U.S.) and causes an estimated 400,000 premature deaths a year from heavily polluted air. Chinese leaders are increasingly vocal about the serious consequences of reliance on dirty power. "The environmental situation is ... very grim and emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and other greenhouse gases are very great," says Zhou Dabing, president of a leading Chinese energy company.


After reading the umpteenth screed against evil economists and their dastardly attempts to commodify the environment, professor Jason Scorse got fed up. In a two-part essay in Gristmill, he argues that market mechanisms offer some of the most hopeful routes to environmental protection, and that greens should spend more time studying economics and less time vilifying it.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Deforestation

Take a few easy steps to stem the flood of holiday catalogs

Judging by the fake-snow-and-forced-cheer displays popping up in stores, it's almost that time of year again: Time for overcrowded travel, bad TV specials, a deluge of dead trees, and heaps of precious gift catalogs through your mail slot. Greenies hope you'll celebrate the holidays this year by opting out of catalog mailing lists via a postcard to the Direct Marketing Association. Even the sellers will thank you, says the DMA's Amy Blankenship: "From the merchants' point of view, if there are truly people who don't want to hear from you, why waste the time and money sending them things?" The Abacus Alliance offers a similar service, geared to help both the environment and your peace of mind. "It's a quality-of-life issue," says Sean Sheehan of the environmental group Center for a New American Dream. "People are already harried, and they don't find coming home to a giant pile of junk mail to be calming."