Tuesday, 07 Mar 2006

As an organizer working for the Sierra Club along the U.S.-Mexico border, Oliver Bernstein sees firsthand the messy interplay between poverty and the environment. In Mexico, activists and residents struggling with booming industrialization are fighting for cleaner air and water, but also for a decent standard of living in their low-income communities. Meanwhile, their American neighbors seem to be focused mainly on protecting natural areas. Bernstein weighs in on the U.S. movement's oversights.

Fools Russia In

Russia to build oil pipeline within half-mile of world's deepest lake

A 2,550-mile-long oil pipeline is set to be built within 900 yards of the world's deepest lake. And really, what could go wrong? Lake Baikal -- home to a variety of unique species of flora and fauna and over 20 percent of the planet's unfrozen freshwater -- has the misfortune to lie along the cheapest route for Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft to expand the country's oil exports to Asia. Scientists have warned of erosion, water pollution, and the possibility that earthquakes, which happen regularly in the area, could rupture the pipeline and cause oil to flow into the lake. A government commission of experts that originally rejected the plan on environmental grounds was increased by 34 members and asked to review the project again, after which they approved it. Coincidentally, the pipeline is backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A Spat on the Back

California governator at odds with biz lobby over plan to cut CO2

Arnold Schwarzenegger's til-now cozy relationship with the California Chamber of Commerce has hit turbulence over the Republican governator's ambitious proposal to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The chamber has denounced a preliminary report from the California EPA's climate action team, which predicts that fulfilling Arnie's pledge to cut the state's CO2 pollution 80 percent by 2050 could create 83,000 new jobs over 15 years. The chamber -- fronting a coalition including agricultural and heavy-industry interests -- claims that mandatory emissions caps could hurt profits and drive businesses to states with more permissive regulations. (No word yet on whether massive climate disruption might hurt profits.) Schwarzenegger himself has publicly opposed the climate team's recommendation to tax wholesale gas and diesel sales to raise funds for alternative-energy research. Whether he'll stick his neck out to support mandatory emissions caps remains to be seen.

We Ain't Sayin' They're Gold Diggers ... Oh Wait, Yes We Are

Mining industry tries to clean up its reputation

This may surprise you, but the mining industry has an image problem. It's awash in record profits, but as it exhausts easy-to-reach mineral deposits and moves into more remote areas, it is under increased pressure to work in an environmentally and socially conscious way. (Also at stake is funding from the World Bank, which claims only to finance convincingly "sustainable" projects -- and what could be more sustainable than removing irreplaceable metals and fossil fuels?) The industry, well aware of its rep, is attempting to clean up its image: In 2001, several companies formed the International Council on Mining and Metals to serve as "the responsible face of mining." The council deals with issues of waste disposal and toxic chemicals; for example, they have developed a list of guidelines for safe application of cyanide in gold mining. The guidelines are voluntary. If you know what we mean.

You're Looking Swell, Dalai

Dalai Lama's admonition may be cooling illegal tiger-skin trade in Tibet

What's it like to have a leader with genuine moral authority? To find out, we take you to Tibet, where the Dalai Lama's exhortations are leading many Tibetans to forswear the multimillion-dollar trade in wild animal skins. Heavy Tibetan demand has fueled a spike in poaching of ever-scarcer tigers and leopards in India. But in January, the Dalai Lama told Buddhist pilgrims that he was "ashamed" to see pictures of Tibetans sporting wild animal skins and furs. He asked his followers to "never use, sell, or buy wild animals, their products or derivatives," and since then, reports have emerged across Tibet of people torching animal furs. The Tibetan reaction "gives a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel for the Indian tiger," says Belinda Wright of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, who saw dozens of tiger skins and thousands of leopard skins openly on sale in Tibet last year. Perhaps His Holiness could drop by North America and say a little something about SUVs ...