Thursday, 11 May 2006

Will $3-a-gallon gas finally prod Congress to boost auto fuel-economy standards? Muckraker pokes around Capitol Hill and finds that both sides of the aisle are rethinking the issue, and bills to raise CAFE standards are gaining ground. The Bushies, however, aren't inclined to change their minds. Will we have to wait for $4?

Far From the Madding Cloud

Pollutants contribute to Arctic warming some more

The Arctic climate is already sensitive to global warming; now it turns out human pollutants are kicking it -- or rather, warming it more -- while it's down. According to a new study in Nature, particulate pollution (mostly from cities in Europe) changes the size and number of water droplets in clouds above the Arctic, increasing their ability to trap heat. On particularly hazy days, especially in the winter when there's little precipitation to wash out pollutants, the effect causes the Arctic surface to grow 2 to 3 degrees warmer than it would be under clean air. Particulate pollution is known to help clouds reflect sunlight and thus reduce surface temperature -- so-called "dimming" -- so the discovery that it contributes to warming is an unfortunate surprise. The Arctic really can't catch a break.


Now that our Peru sweepstakes is over, we can tell you the truth: man, that place is screwy. And it's about to get even screwier, thanks to none other than the U.S. government. A new U.S.-Peru free-trade agreement modeled on the oh-so-successful NAFTA and CAFTA is raising hackles in the land of Lima. Will residents and activists band together to stop it in its tracks, or is it adios, Amazonia? Kelly Hearn investigates.

Oops

Oil leaks all over everything

Oil, oil everywhere! And not in a good way. In its dubiously named Sustainability Report, oil behemoth Royal Dutch Shell reports that oil spills at its facilities rose 50 percent from 2004 to 2005. Hurricane damage was responsible for a goodly portion of the spillage, and sabotage of a major pipeline in Nigeria didn't help either. The amount of oil spilled leapt from 6,724 tons to 9,921 tons. We would advise not trying to convert that to a mental picture. Nor this: a ship that sank off the coast of Freeport, Texas, in 1976 has apparently leaked 300 gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Officials disagree on whether it is fuel oil or crude oil -- crude is less toxic, but stays in the environment longer. The Texas General Land Office's Oil Spill Prevention and Response Team (goodness, what are they compensating for?) has concluded that the leak poses no significant environmental problem. And really, why would it?


Agribiz giant Archer Daniels Midland is making a killing on high-fructose corn syrup, despite rising concern about its health effects. How? Believe it or not, it's connected to Brazil's successful sugarcane ethanol production. Tom Philpott traces the long, sordid string of tariffs and insider deals that allows Big Corn to rig the game in its favor.

Another One Fights the Must

Canada is totally over the Kyoto Protocol

O, Canada. What are we going to do with you? Besides invade when oil gets too expensive, we mean. Canuck greenhouse-gas emissions are 35 percent above Kyoto targets, and Environment Minister Rona Ambrose has declared that to meet them, Canada would have to cease using all trains, planes, and automobiles. (Great flick, by the way -- thanks for John Candy.) The country's newly elected Conservative government has already indicated they're just not that into Kyoto. Next week, Ambrose is due to chair an international meeting on how to strengthen the protocol; yesterday, a network of about 100 environmental and activist groups demanded that she step down as chair, lest she damage international negotiations on a treaty she disdains. The government is said to be working on a made-in-Canada plan to deal with climate change. Hmm, sounds familiar -- is the word "voluntary" involved?