Tuesday, 14 Mar 2006

Rich, white environmentalists love to moan about why the movement is so ... rich and white. But activists who don't fit that description are busy on the ground, wondering what the hell the white folks are talking about. Robert Bullard is one of them. Considered the first to articulate the concept of environmental justice, Bullard has been battling eco-inequities for nearly 30 years. He talks with Gregory Dicum about why he entered the fray, how things have changed since, and why "creating little black Greenpeaces" isn't the answer.


In London, recent protests in favor of animal testing (no need to email us, veggies, we know) got our business columnists John Elkington and Mark Lee thinking: is there a place in the lab for human subjects? A growing number of researchers think so. It's not as callous as it sounds: These folks are studying ways that big businesses can reach -- and help -- the 4 billion people at the bottom of the world's wealth pyramid. Find out what they're up to in today's Full Disclosure.

City Bickers

Housing developers compete with manufacturers for urban land

You know the story: developers target a tract of land for condos and are met with outraged protests from ... manufacturers? Progressive urban planners envision dense cities where housing and clean industry (think solar-panel manufacturing, not smokestacks) co-exist peacefully, with the latter providing jobs for those who live in the former. But such plans face two obstacles: First, much of the actually existing industry in cities like Oakland, Calif., dates back to the early 20th century, and won't be making any eyes glisten with visions of a green future. But the jobs it provides are real nonetheless. The second problem is that, in popular cities, "housing developers can outbid just about anybody for any land," as one city planner puts it. In many cases, blue-collar jobs are sacrificed for housing out of reach for anyone but the affluent. Different cities are tackling these issues in different ways, from offering manufacturing incentives to creating "industrial protection zones," as they try to solve a riddle that's only going to get trickier in coming years.

Chem and Get It

State report urges California to adopt greener chemical policy

California continues to leave the rest of the nation in the (toxic) dust: A new report commissioned by the state legislature recommends a tough "green chemistry" policy to identify, restrict, and replace the most dangerous chemicals used by American industry -- because, says the report's lead author, federal laws are not strong enough to protect the public. Cautioning that the "United States has fallen behind globally in the move toward cleaner technologies," the research team recommends that industry be required to provide hazard data on individual chemicals, and state regulators be given more authority to restrict the most dangerous substances and motivate industries to find safer replacements. Bills to restrict particular chemicals have been debated recently by California lawmakers, but industry lobbying has derailed most of them so far. Godspeed, obscure research team and soon-to-be-forgotten report!

Love Means Never Having to Remove Your Oil Platforms

Controversial research shows fish thriving around California oil platforms

Controversy over 27 oil platforms off the California coast is making waves (ouch!). Delightfully monikered marine biologist Milton Love says the submerged portions of the platforms are serving as artificial reefs and valuable habitat for overfished species like rockfish and bocaccio (which we had previously thought was a kind of sausage). Oil companies love them some Love; they've seized on his research as a key reason why they shouldn't have to remove the platforms once they stop pumping oil. Leaving them in place would save industry up to $1 billion. Many enviros hate the idea and insist, like our last boyfriend, that Love is not to be trusted. He gets about 20 percent of his research money from the industry-funded California Artificial Reef Enhancement Program. (Love: of money?) Love scoffs at the notion that his research is anything but many-splendored, and invites critics to come look at his underwater videos of fish packed around the platforms as tightly as "cocktail wieners in a can." Love's packed wieners have failed to impress enviros thus far; they hope his labor is lost.