Wednesday, 01 Feb 2006

Might as Well Face It, You're Addicted to Oil

In SOTU speech, Bush decries oil addiction, promises half-measures

Those expecting bold, groundbreaking environmental policy from President Bush's fifth State of the Union address were, uh, deluded. The big "news" is Bush's stark declaration that "America is addicted to oil." Though he's made remarks about dependence on "foreign oil" in every SOTU he's delivered, this was his most blunt acknowledgement of America's energy dilemma. But Bush's policy response -- the "Advanced Energy Initiative," a set of relatively modest subsidies for "clean coal," nuclear, ethanol, solar, and wind -- feel short of historical, to say the least. Notably lacking in the speech were the phrases "global warming" and "Hurricane Katrina," though the latter was obliquely referred to as a "natural disaster" several times, an assurance to critics that the devastated Gulf Coast is nature's fault, not Bush's.


When it comes to disturbingly pleasing odors, fresh paint ranks right up there with the interior of a new car. But alas, we must put our olfactory peccadilloes aside and remind you of the terrible chemicals in paint, and how important it is to find less-toxic applications for your thirsty walls. When a new homeowner asks Umbra Fisk for tips on which paint to use, our advice maven lays it on thick.

The Pain in Maine Falls Mainly on the, Uh, Salmon

Maine salmon teeter on the edge of extinction

Endangered Maine salmon don't get as much press as their sexy Pacific Northwest cousins (what, you don't find salmon sexy?). But they may be closer to extinction. Currently only about 80 adult salmon return from the ocean each year to spawn in the eight Maine rivers where they're endangered. The government has spent five years and at least $20 million on efforts to restore the once-abundant fish, with a focus on breeding them in hatcheries for release into streams, but this strategy has had limited success. So now researchers are debating riskier steps, like putting salmon from more successful runs into the eight rivers to learn why they do better than the natives, even though this might pollute the gene pool of the endangered fish. Conservationist Andrew Goode says the problem is the focus on just one species instead of whole ecosystems. "To save Atlantic salmon," he says, "we need to save all the native species in the rivers."


Here at Grist, we're always on the lookout for opportunities to score free food -- oops, we meant "cover compelling eco-events." So we were excited to discover that this year's Seafood Summit, an annual gathering of sustainable-fisheries advocates, would take place in Seattle. We sent Katharine Wroth down the street to find out what's new with the movement -- and how many types of fish she could eat without getting sick.

Pier Pressure

Dockworkers' union pressures seaports to cut emissions

Sittin' on the dock of the bay, gettin' lung cancer ... wait, that's not how the song goes? Tell it to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, representing 60,000 dockworkers on the West Coast, which this week is kicking off a campaign to pressure ports and shipowners to cut diesel emissions. The massive seaports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., take in about 40 percent of the nation's cargo and together are the single largest source of air pollution in SoCal; a study last year showed that diesel fumes from the two ports raised cancer risk in populations up to 15 miles inland. Shockingly, ships are largely immune from U.S. environmental laws. The union is urging a 20 percent reduction in emissions by 2010 for all diesel-fueled ships docking at West Coast ports, and its size and clout could help push such an initiative through. Yo ho ho!