Friday, 12 May 2006

A Hard Sell

Bush admin land sell-off plan may be DOA

The future looks dim for the Bush administration's unpopular proposal to sell off 300,000 acres of public land to fund rural schools. A House subcommittee has excluded the proposal from a spending bill; it will be considered by other committees, but has no enthusiastic backers in Congress. Rural schools and roads have traditionally been funded by the logging industry, but with timber sales down, the Bush admin is searching for other short-term revenue. Short-term revenue that doesn't involve reversing any tax cuts for the rich, that is. The acreage the administration hoped to sell consists of forest tracts that, according to Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey, "no longer meet national forest system needs," whatever that means. Said Florida Audubon President Charles Lee, "Even the conservative Western Republicans are basically saying this is nuts." Well then!


With two sons of their own, flushable-nappie developers Jason and Kimberley Graham-Nye have dealt with their fair share of diaper dilemmas. As InterActivists this week, the husband-wife duo chats with readers -- many of them parents -- about issues ranging from the flushability of their gDiapers to the chemicals in disposables to backpacking with babies.

Monkey See, Monkey New

Scientists discover new genus of primate, and it's already in trouble

Scientists have discovered a new monkey in Africa, the first new genus of primate found in 83 years. Called kipunji by native villagers, scientists have classified the monkey under the genus Rungwecebus, after its habitat on Mount Rungwe in Tanzania. Kipunji live in groups of 30 to 36, are omnivores, and communicate via a "honk-bark" sound. Hmm, kind of like our boss. The monkey was found in the forests of Tanzania last year, but scientists have just determined its significance. "The discovery of a new genus makes this animal a true conservation celebrity," said Tim Davenport of the Wildlife Conservation Society. Enjoy the kipunji while you can: Its habitat is disappearing because of illegal logging, and scientists estimate only 500 to 800 remain in the wild. WCS has set up a website dedicated to protecting the monkey and is calling for action to conserve its habitat.

X-tinct Men

Pollutants cause tiny genetic mutations in humans

You know when your brother called you a genetic mutant, and you said "am not," and he said "are too"? Well, he was right. Sorry. According to new research, chemicals and pollutants like those found in exhaust fumes cause tiny DNA mutations which, while too small to cause immediate disease, can build up over generations. Mathematical models indicate that in a few million years, the mutations could render enough of us infertile that we, um, die out. Experiments on fruit flies designed by Laurence Loewe at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Edinburgh, Scotland, show that evolution (i.e., adaptation) won't save us -- the mutations are tiny enough to fly under the radar of natural selection. Unless we reduce our mutagenic activities, he said, we could be ensuring our eventual doom, "given that all the other doomsday scenarios don't happen first." Where's intelligent design when you need it?

In the Pipeline of Fire

Pipeline explosion kills up to 200 in Nigeria

Between 150 and 200 Nigerians were instantly incinerated when locals siphoning gasoline from an overground pipeline near Lagos, Nigeria, caused an explosion today. Nigeria is the biggest oil producer in Africa and the fourth-largest supplier of crude oil to the U.S.; as a consequence, it's become quite wealthy. But in keeping with the notorious "resource curse," that wealth is not widely shared. Most of the country's citizens are poor and desperate, and attempts to siphon off gas and oil from pipelines are common. In other news, citizens of the wealthiest country in the world continued to complain about high gasoline prices, despite those prices being some of the lowest in the developed world.

The Best Big Wind Farm in Texas

Biggest U.S. offshore wind farm planned for Texas coast

Yesterday, officials approved a plan to build the biggest offshore wind farm in the U.S. off the coast of Padre Island, Texas. Say it with us now: everything's bigger in Texas. Superior Renewable Energy LLC plans to erect as many as 170 turbines, with the capacity to power about 125,000 homes. Some conservation groups are up in arms, as the farm will be built in a major migratory route for several rare birds, but SRE vice prez Michael Hansen said the firm would study bird migration patterns and use turbine blades unlikely to harm our avian friends. As the project will be built off an unpopulated swath of the island, it may not suffer the NIMBYism plaguing the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound. No rich people are in danger of losing their scenic views. You may all breathe a sigh of relief.