Monday, 20 Nov 2006

The End Is Sigh

U.N. conference ends with little progress on climate action

In a monstrous anticlimax, the U.N. climate summit in Nairobi, Kenya, ended with a decision to ... review the Kyoto Protocol in 2008. "From Christian Aid's point of view that's simply not good enough, and we need some heads to be knocked together by somebody," said Andrew Pendleton of the charity organization. U.K. environment minister David Miliband put a finer point on it: "I come away from this conference with two senses: one, the world community can make progress when it puts its mind to it, but two, my goodness we really need to up the momentum, we need to increase the acceleration." Most agree that won't happen until the U.S., responsible for about 25 percent of the world's emissions, agrees to cuts -- not likely until post-Bush. "Everyone is waiting for the [U.S.]," said Paal Prestrud, head of Oslo's Center for International Climate and Environmental Research. "I think the whole process will be on ice until 2009." We'd make a melting-ice joke, but we're too busy crying.


You probably wear it every day, but do you think about where it comes from? We're talking about cotton, not your Puffy AmiYumi backpack. While it's one of consumers' favorite fabrics, its cultivation is destructive to land and people. Some advocates are pushing for a shift to organic cotton farming, but they say competition from other countries is making it economically tough. At the same time, GM crops are muscling their way onto the scene. Will lighter-weight sustainability goals fill the gap? Jason Mark weaves the story of the U.S. organic cotton industry.

Flipping the Bird

Experts say risk of a bird-flu pandemic has lessened

The world is safe from a bird-flu pandemic. Maybe. Last week, researchers said they'd isolated the mutations that could turn the virus into a human-to-human juggernaut, while another team unveiled an "MChip" test that identifies the distinctive flu strain, which has caused 153 human deaths since 2003. Experts agree the situation looks less beak -- uh, bleak -- than before. Alan Hay of the World Influenza Center: "Things have been quiet for the last six months in most parts of the world." Professor John Horvath, Australia's chief medical officer: "It may be that the world has already averted a pandemic by the actions it has taken in response to [the virus]." Aussie immunologist Peter Doherty: "Even if we duck [Ed. note: ha!] the bullet this time, the effort and resources expended here will have ensured that our capacity to deal with an unexpected invader is enhanced." But don't relax yet, says Hay: "We don't know what's smoldering away in some part of the world we can't keep our eye on."


Nothing beats the summer joy of a farmers' market, with obscenely ripe tomatoes and berries vying with just-washed, glistening greens for your eyes, mouth, and dollars. But what happens in winter? Turnips might not have quite the same allure, but advice maven Umbra Fisk says it's possible to eat locally all year long -- even in bitterly cold New Hampshire, where today's letter-writer lives and eats.

Rubber Ducky, You're Not the One

San Francisco set to enact first-in-nation ban on toxics in baby toys

Next week, San Francisco will become the first U.S. city to ban the manufacture, distribution, and sale of baby toys containing chemicals linked to cancer and developmental delays. The prime targets -- bisphenol A and phthalates -- have been found in everything from rubber duckies to teething rings to bathtime books. Concerned advocates say the chemicals can leach out when babies do that gnawing, gumming, sucking thing. "Protections for children from chemicals in toys are weak at best and dysfunctional at worst," says Joel Tickner, environmental health professor at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. "Consumers would be astonished if they knew that federal laws regulating chemicals in children's toys all require balancing the benefits of protecting children with the costs to industry of implementing safer alternatives." (Yes, knock us over with a feather.) Industry, kicking and screaming all the way, has sued to block enforcement of the E.U.-inspired ban, which takes effect Dec. 1.