Tuesday, 31 Jan 2006

Exxon Lax

Exxon posts record-breaking profit, tries to evade Exxon Valdez penalty

ExxonMobil has announced that it reaped $36 billion in profits for 2005 -- the largest single-year profit ever by any American corporation. In related news, last week Exxon lawyers asked a federal court to effectively waive $5 billion in punitive damages related to the massive 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, meant to compensate thousands of Alaskans who lost their livelihoods. The company, which has been tenaciously resisting the fines since the day of the spill, argued that it had already done enough by spending $3 billion on cleanups and settling other lawsuits. Some in the packed courtroom openly laughed as an Exxon lawyer argued that "harm was largely avoided" by what the company's paid so far. Yup, that's funny all right. Ha. Ha.


Last month, we asked you to pepper green-biz guru and Grist columnist Joel Makower with questions about your environmental woes at work. You peppered! Once the sneezing subsided, Makower realized one thing is plaguing you above all else: office paper recycling. Today, he offers a primer on how recycling works, why it sometimes doesn't, and what you can do to make it happen at your workplace. Oh, and if there's any more pepper out there, by all means send a letter and help keep things spicy.

Fine and Randy

Bush admin deal exempts thousands of farms from pollution fines

A Bush administration deal announced yesterday will allow thousands of factory farms to evade pollution fines. The U.S. EPA has signed consent agreements with nearly 2,700 companies in the egg, poultry, dairy, and hog industries, exempting them from paying major daily fines for toxic air emissions. The companies will ante up a flat $2,500 to participate in the amnesty, along with $200 to $100,000 in civil penalties to settle past violations and avoid liability four years into the future. In return, they'll allow the EPA to collect data on their air pollution and will abide by regulations that are expected to eventually result from this research (thanks!). Pork industry spokesflack Randy Spronk says the deal will let the EPA "use sound science to develop practical policies." But greens are suing, saying the agency should be protecting public health, y'know, now.

Urethra Ranklin'

California plumbers union opposes water-conserving urinals

If California plumbers have anything to do with it, you'll be peeing in water 'til the day you die. (We feel that our whole careers have been leading up to that sentence.) Many public facilities in the water-strapped Golden State have installed no-flush urinals, which use gravity and replaceable cartridges to conserve about half a gallon of water per whiz -- an average 40,000 gallons yearly per device. But a powerful plumbers union, which made almost $500,000 in campaign contributions in 2005, has proactively written to dozens of state lawmakers suggesting they "proceed with extreme caution" -- that is, do nothing -- on proposals to explicitly permit no-flush urinals under the state's plumbing code. The California Pipe Trades Council says that waterless urinals are a health threat. But advocates note that getting relief without having to touch a handle makes the no-flush experience more sanitary than the traditional water-wasting one. Really, we just wrote this blurb because it's about pee. Why lie?

Book Your Guilt Trip Today!

British enviros curb flying to protest airplane emissions

A growing number of British enviros are quitting or cutting back on air travel, resisting the siren song of low-fare, no-frills airlines. "I just realized that all my other efforts to be green -- recycling, insulating the house, not driving a giant 4x4 -- would be totally wiped out by a couple of holidays by air," said Michael Gibson, one participant in this fledgling movement. A round-trip flight from the U.K. to Florida produces about as much CO2 as a year's worth of driving by the average Brit, and the number of such flights is expected to soar over the coming years: The British government forecasts that more than twice as many people will use the nation's airports by 2030 as do now. Flight abstainers are launching a website next month that will encourage people to pledge to cut back on or refrain from flying. The activists are also pressuring the European Union to tax airplane fuel, which would raise the price of flying and thus tamp down demand.