Friday, 08 Dec 2006

A charming airline chieftain who prays for high fuel prices and thinks people should take the train instead of fly? Richard Branson ain't your usual titan. The flamboyant British billionaire, head of the Virgin Group empire, has decided that his next big venture will be saving the world from environmental destruction -- and if he makes a few bucks along the way, what's the harm? Today Branson talks to Amanda Griscom Little about his enthusiasm for ethanol, his new plan to tow planes from gate to runway to save fuel, and his abiding love of U2. The band, not the spy plane.

Where We're Going, We Don't Need Science

U.S. EPA shifts pollutant-review process, mixing policy with science

The U.S. EPA continues to suck Big Oil's dipstick: Yesterday, the agency announced that its air-pollutant reviews, formerly conducted solely by staff scientists, will now incorporate recommendations from its political appointees. Deputy Administrator Marcus Peacock insisted the shift will bring "air rule-making into the 21st century," but former EPA staffers and greens lashed out at the move, widely seen as a result of pressure from the oil and battery industries. "EPA is downgrading the role of its own career experts and making sure that political appointees are running the show from the beginning," said Frank O'Donnell of Clean Air Watch. Rogene Henderson, chair of an EPA advisory panel that has provided internal auditing of scientists' reviews, confirmed that the panel will now only be asked to comment on proposed actions after they've been made public. On the upside, even when scientists weighed in with administrators ahead of time, she said, "they weren't taking our advice." Sigh.


Biofuels will never work. Oh wait, yes they will, but only if federal energy and agriculture policies shift. But wait, federal policies will only work if sustainability is given its due in all these discussions. Today's tennis match is brought to you by three thinkers on biofuels: Cornell professor emeritus and vocal biofuel critic David Pimentel; former presidential adviser and Institute for Local Self-Reliance VP David Morris; and Ana Unruh Cohen, director of environmental policy for the Center for American Progress (and Grist blogger!). To guide you through this mental morass, Grist contributing writer Tom Philpott offers an overview of the fuel smackdown. You might want to start there.

Owening Up to Their Mistakes

California's Owens River runs again after nearly a century

The most ambitious river habitat restoration in the West kicked off this week, as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa turned a knob on a dam and allowed water to flow through. The dam, built in 1913 to direct water into an L.A. aqueduct some 250 miles away, evaporated Owens Lake into salt flats and kick-started nearly a century of simmering rural resentment over L.A.'s habitat-destroying thirst. In 1991, the L.A. Department of Water and Power agreed to restore the Lower Owens River; in 2005, having missed 13 deadlines, DWP was spurred into action when informed by a court that it would be charged $5,000 a day until the project was completed. The river rehabilitation is not expected to cause water shortages or rate hikes for DWP customers, as water will be pumped back to the aqueduct once it reaches the lake. It will, however, boost habitat for a variety of species, as well as the tourism economy of small towns along the river's banks. Everybody wins!


This week's InterActivist, Ron Steenblik, is in his element answering a raft of reader questions about subsidies for wind, coal, solar, ethanol, and more. As the director of research for the Global Subsidies Initiative, Steenblik is well equipped to field anxious queries from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia. Tune in to learn why Dust Bowl-era policies are still in effect, whether a love of lawns is hardwired into the human brain, and what Grist readers can do to make change.

Native Shun

Representatives of more than 50 U.S. tribes gather for climate conference

This week, representatives of more than 50 Native American tribes met in Arizona for a first-ever tribal climate-change conference. The crisis is hitting home on U.S. reservations, as species migrate and weather patterns change. "We basically have two seasons now," said Robert Gomez of the Taos Pueblo reservation in New Mexico. "Hot and dry, and cold and dry." With reservation boundaries fixed, options are limited: "As our [plant and animal] species migrate off, we don't have the right to follow them," says Terry Williams, natural resources commissioner for the Tulalip tribes. To cope, many tribes are exploring the energy-efficient ways of their ancestors and today's alternative-energy technologies. "We're all singing the same song," said Colin Soto, spokesperson for the Cocopah Tribe, which organized the meeting. "We're trying to tell the rest of the world, 'Look, we're seeing these things, and you're not doing anything about it.'" To which the world will no doubt reply: Yeah, and?

The Thrilla in Chip Gilla

Kick in some cash, so we can keep on kickin'

Did you think we were going to let you skate by without reminding you about our end-of-the-year fundraiser? We've got to win you over so we can keep the green news rolling. As part of our New Year's Solutions package, we're offering "New Thrills" today, with giveaways ranging from earth-friendly sports balls to outdoor adventures across the country. We've even got pro-skater Bob Burnquist ramping up the excitement with his own personal plea for your (non-athletic) support. So make a mad dash for that wallet. The ball is in your court.