Wednesday, 01 Nov 2006

Seeing green on your TV? Do not adjust your dial: Eco-themed campaign ads are popping up across the country. From races already deemed environmental showdowns (California gubernatorial) to those that haven't been in the green spotlight (er, Nevada senate?), candidates are eager to tout their crunchy credentials. But which candidate narrowly avoids being body-slammed in his ad? Tune in to find out.

The Best Damn Solar Show, Period

U.S. renewable advocates say their power is bigger and better

If America has to resort to renewables, we're gonna do it in butt-kickin' style. Yesterday, Arizona approved rules that would require a 15 percent renewable-energy mix by 2025, pending certification from its attorney general. "Move over California," said utility commissioner Kris Mayes. "We are making Arizona the solar energy capital of the world once again." Sounds like Mayes has been sipping the Kool-Aid served by fund-manager-turned-solar-advocate Travis Bradford, who's organizing "solar salons" across the country. "One of the interesting things about the U.S. when compared to other industrialized countries is that it has more sun per capita," Bradford said. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! While solar currently produces 0.1 percent of U.S. power, it's growing 30 to 40 percent a year, inspiring brokers, hedge fund types, and others. Said renowned folkie Peter Yarrow, who hosted a salon last month, "There were more people interested in solar in my living room than started the Civil Rights movement."


Say you wanted to buy the world a Coke. Know where you'd have to start? In a cornfield in the Midwest. The corn grown there gets shipped away and processed into sweeteners that keep people humming through their days, eyes and waistlines bulging. But what if that corn, and other crops, stayed closer to home? What if people in the Midwest bought food that was actually -- gasp -- grown there? Tom Philpott furrows his brow over the current state of commodity farming in the U.S.

You Say Tobago, and I Say No Thanks

Island activists battle plans for new aluminum smelters

Put on your sixth-grade geography cap, because a battle over aluminum smelters is heating up in, of all places, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Residents of the tiny Caribbean nation have spent nearly two years fighting plans for two new smelters put forth by a Trinidadian corporation, U.S.-based Alcoa, and a Venezuelan company. And while it's nice to think that U.S. and Venezuelan interests overlap in any way, this might not be the place to start. Anti-smelter activists say the plants will be built near a major fault line and will create waste-disposal and health issues whose full implications aren't known. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Patrick Manning -- the prospect of thousands of jobs a persistent gleam in his eye -- has just announced that a third smelter might be built. "The prime minister is behaving recklessly and defying the population," said former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj. Hmm, sounds like someone we know.


Just when you thought you'd seen it all, dripless candles came along. Oh, the sweet relief of lighting a tiny flame without worrying about waxy residue! But wait: how exactly does that dripless thing work? Is it safe? Is it environmentally OK? A worried reader fires those burning questions at advice maven Umbra Fisk, and gets a flicker of hope in response.

You Can't Spell Lobotomy Without "EPA"

As feds close EPA libraries, researchers and others protest

Gagging didn't work, so the feds are trying something new. The U.S. EPA has closed four of its research libraries and cut hours at seven more. The agency says materials will still be available digitally, but many worry that the shift will stymie scientists seeking data on, say, the 1,700 potentially hazardous chemicals introduced each year. The library system houses some 400,000 sources; a 2004 report showed that its librarians have saved EPA staff over 214,566 hours of research time, equating to more than $7.5 million. (The cutbacks are expected to save $2 million annually.) The American Library Association called the cuts "draconian," while Jeffrey Ruch of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility equated them to a "self-imposed lobotomy." Meanwhile, others are protesting the apparent dismantling of EPA's Northwest environmental-justice office, which coincides with the appointment of a regional administrator who once worked at Dow Chemical. Weeding is fundamental!