Wednesday, 08 Mar 2006

The green movement is frequently accused, too often with good reason, of being more concerned about wilderness than human suffering. The roots of the lingering elitism go back farther than the fair-trade-sipping, fleece-wearing enviros of today -- all the way back to the conservation movement's 19th-century founders, including John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt. Many of their prejudices have carried through into modern-day environmentalism, write Matthew Klingle and Joseph E. Taylor III.

Rebuke Nukem

U.K. government advisory commission puts the smackdown on nuclear power

Nuclear power incites stiff support in U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair. But he may be feeling a bit flaccid this week: The Sustainable Development Commission, an advisory body established by the U.K. government, has formally advised against revitalizing a national nuclear-energy program. Says the commission chair, "There's little point in denying that nuclear power has its benefits but, in our view, these are outweighed by serious disadvantages." In a report, the SDC cites five major concerns about nuclear -- waste, cost, inflexibility, security, and efficiency -- and notes that doubling nuclear capacity would only decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 8 percent below 1990 levels by 2035. Instead, the SDC recommends the U.K. pursue renewables, which could potentially supply more than two-thirds of the country's electricity, and increase energy efficiency, which could cut carbon emissions by 20 million tons a year. No word on whether Blair plans to abandon Bush's Axis of Atom.


L.A.'s South Central Community Garden, the largest and oldest such garden in the U.S. and a food source for more than 300 low-income families, sits on private property. Big mistake! Now the property's owner plans to evict the growers and build a Wal-Mart warehouse on the land. The fate of the garden seems straightforward, but the backstory is complex. Tom Philpott muses over how local food production fares in the "free market."

Foresight Is 20/20

Researchers identify 20 future conservation battlegrounds

The soldiers of conservation have been given their marching orders. (Ah, martial metaphors ... never can get the hang of them.) A new study has identified 20 future conservation battlegrounds around the world, from Alaska's far north to the southern tip of the Australian island of Tasmania -- hotspots where land-mammal species aren't yet endangered but could be especially vulnerable in coming years due to pollution, deforestation, hunting, and other pressures. "Conservation is a crisis discipline," said lead researcher Marcel Cardillo. "Because there are so many species on the verge of extinction, that's where most of the effort goes." But the researchers hope their map, published this week in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, will spur conservationists to target these regions now for preemptive protection.


Recently, we reported on a growing number of Brits who are pledging not to fly. Easy enough to do when you've got the Chunnel and all. But where's a poor American sap to turn when she wants to be kind to the earth and still explore faraway places? Today, a traveler asks advice maven Umbra Fisk for her opinion, and the answer makes waves.

Tray's Anatomy

Hospital menus getting green overhaul

Soon "hospital food" may no longer mean the worst American factory-farmed cuisine has to offer. A handful of hospitals around the country are starting to put hormone-free meats, rBGH-free milk, and organic veggies on their menus. For years, the best advice of health-care professionals hasn't been reflected in the typical hospital menu. But now, hospitals "are increasingly seeing food as a treatment issue and not necessarily as a cost center," according to Scott Exo, director of a group working with hospitals to green up their menus. Patients at the Good Shepherd Medical Center in rural Hermiston, Ore., for example, now get made-to-order meals featuring organic, sustainably grown meats and produce. Food waste is down, and people are even asking for the recipes. The trend is partially driven by baby boomers, who are spending more time in hospitals and want the meals to appeal to their restaurant-honed palates.