Friday, 03 Mar 2006

Offshore drilling is the new ANWR. With the fight to pry open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge having stalled out (at least for the time being), the oil and gas industry and its cronies in Congress are now focused on parts of the outer continental shelf that have been off-limits to drilling for nearly 25 years. Muckraker examines a raft of recent bills and plans that would sink new oil drills into offshore areas from Florida to Alaska.

Nobody Undoes It Like Sara Lee

Industry-backed bill would overthrow state food-labeling laws

Two hundred or more state laws requiring warning labels on foods -- labels indicating the presence of, say, cancer- or birth-defect-causing ingredients -- would get nixed under a bill debated yesterday in the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation would preempt state food-labeling rules in favor of a national standard, even when the state laws are tougher. Critics of the legislation, including state food and agriculture regulators and a bipartisan coalition of 37 state attorneys general, say this is the food industry's bid to overturn state rules and regulations they've opposed in the past. "The real effect of this legislation will be the deregulation of the United States food industry," said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.). Food giants like Heinz, Sara Lee, and Kraft back the measure, and there appears to be enough support to get the bill through the House next week. It's expected to face a tougher road in the Senate. Label us nervous.


Ever wondered what percentage of their income poor Americans pay for food? (Hint: more than the rich.) What proportion of Americans drive to work versus take public transit, and how much it costs them to do it? What the average household will pay to heat their home this winter? How much it costs to have a kid with asthma? Todd Hymas ferreted out these, uh, fun facts and more.


What can the well-off do to help low-income people? Alan Hipólito, this week's InterActivist, shares some ideas. He also answers questions about getting his nonprofit off the ground, replicating the concept of a local garden nursery, staving off discouragement, and painting his toenails. To find out what color, you'll have to read the whole thing.

Melts in Your South, Not in Your Plans

Antarctica ice sheets melting faster than expected

Another day, another round of studies showing the world's ice sheets melting faster than expected, another outbreak of indifference from the public, another resigned sigh from enviros, another bout of empty rhetoric from legislators. K, see you tomorrow! Oh, what, you want details? All right: The lucky ice sheets featured in these particular studies are in Antarctica. New research shows they're melting faster than they can be replenished by new snow. So, sea levels could rise faster than anticipated in coming centuries. The result was confirmed in two independent studies, one in the journal Science, another in The Journal of Glaciology. The reports come on the heels of last month's news that Greenland's glaciers are melting twice as fast as expected. Congressional Democrats say the new findings should impel the U.S. to put mandatory curbs on greenhouse-gas emissions right away. Only, like, for real this time. They mean it. Ooh, look, a shiny port scandal ...

Any Portugal in a Wind Storm

Portugal gives wind power a big bear hug; England gives it the finger

Portugal is already building the world's largest solar power plant; now, to make us feel even worse about ourselves, it's planning a huge new project to more than double its wind-energy capacity. A contractor bid will be accepted by this summer for the project, which will provide enough energy to power 750,000 homes, and is expected to create 1,600 jobs. But what's some good news without a little bad news? Plans to create the largest wind farm in England, able to power 45,000 homes, have been rejected by the government. As explained by Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks, "the impact on the landscape and recreation would outweigh the benefits in terms of reducing carbon emissions." Hey, aesthetics over averting climatic catastrophe, we always say.