Friday, 24 Mar 2006

Farm and forestry groups are throwing their support behind the new "25 x '25" campaign, which advocates that 25 percent of energy in the U.S. come from "America's working lands" by 2025. That means biofuels like ethanol, bioenergy from processed animal manure and agricultural waste, and wind and solar power produced on agricultural lands. Sounds good in theory, but how beneficial would it really be for the planet? Muckraker digs around to find out.

Who Let the Catastrophe Out of the Bag?

Earth warming, ice melting, seas rising, umpteenth study says

Cutting greenhouse-gas emissions could -- maaaaybe -- stave off a catastrophic rise in sea levels that in coming centuries could return the earth to conditions last seen 129,000 years ago. We would never have guessed, but fortunately scientists keep pointing it out -- as in this week's climate-disruption-centric issue of the journal Science. One study in the issue suggests average temperatures could rise 4 degrees by 2100. The resulting melt in Greenland and West Antarctica could irreversibly raise ocean levels 13 to 20 feet in coming centuries -- but curbing atmospheric carbon in the coming decade might delay the worst of it. A second study suggests that more frequent "glacial earthquakes" in the bedrock below Greenland's two-mile-thick ice sheet are most likely due to surface melting. "People driving big old SUVs to their favorite beach or coastal golf course [should] start to think twice about what they might be doing," says University of Arizona researcher Jonathan Overpeck, lead author of the sea-levels paper.


How will you be marking Farmworker Awareness Week next week? What? No plans yet? Good thing Tirso Moreno is here to point to some ideas. An organizer with the Farmworker Association of Florida and this week's InterActivist, Moreno also answers questions from readers (including a whole third-grade class!) about immigration reform, organic produce, pesticide regulations, and more.

Papua Goes After the Weasel

Indonesia to Freeport: Clean up mining operations or we'll sue

Indonesia has warned New Orleans-based mining giant Freeport-McMoRan that it will sue if the company doesn't clean up its gold and copper mining operation in Papua -- ideally in the next two to three years. Politicians and eco-advocates have charged Freeport with polluting streams and rivers and killing wildlife, and now a report from Indonesia's Environment Ministry -- the country's first serious investigation into Freeport's environmental practices -- has found that the company is dumping thousands of tons of harmful tailings into Papuan rivers. Although Indonesia is eager for foreign investment to bolster its economy, Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar insists that Freeport must adhere to government standards. "Freeport shouldn't be its own country within a country," said Witoelar. "There are 500 other companies like Freeport here that follow the rules." Freeport says it will cooperate fully with the Indonesian government.

This Is Your Train on Drugs

Environmental Defense and Ad Council debut edgy new climate ads

You know what would really inspire us to turn off our thermostats, sell our cars, and fight global warming with all that we've got? Seeing a little girl almost get hit by a train. Or so seems to be the thinking of Environmental Defense and the Ad Council, as they kick off a new campaign with two public-service TV ads featuring cute children hell-bent on scaring the pee out of us. In one, kids tick down (literally) environmental catastrophes; in another, a precious blonde girl may not escape the climate-change train if you don't head straight to fightglobalwarming.com. Says Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense, "When you think about so many other major challenges we face, there comes a moment when we move from fear to action. We're at that moment now on global warming."