Monday, 11 Dec 2006

By Hook and By Crook

Congress passes drilling, fisheries bills in final days of session

Gasping and flopping like a landed fish, the Republican-led Congress passed an offshore-drilling measure during its final days. The legislation, passed by the House and Senate as part of a larger tax bill, will open 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and natural-gas exploration, with nearly 40 percent of royalties going to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. The victory jig was slightly muted by misty watercolored memories of a bigger, badder bill that failed earlier this year: "When it comes to passing important legislation around here," said Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.), "you learn to shoot for the stars in the hope that you might land on the moon." In other ocean-related news, Congress shot for the, uh, StarKist, overhauling U.S. fisheries rules. The updated Magnuson-Stevens Act requires regional councils to combat overfishing and endorses a cap-and-trade plan that would, as with pollution, allow oversteppers to buy credits from those with a modicum of self-restraint.


We had a good long nap over the weekend, and now we're ready to bring you the second and final week of our biofuels series. Last week we looked at how the Western world grew to love oil, how corporations have pushed ethanol, and other sordid tales from the past. This week, we shift to the future: Amanda Griscom Little interviews venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, who's banking on biofuels; Jennifer Weeks forecasts the outlook for cellulosic ethanol; and Yolanda Crous talks with a young entrepreneur who's betting on grease conversion kits changing the landscape. And in a response to the series, an editorial by environmental-justice advocate Alan Hipólito asks a key question underlying the biofuels boom: who's going to get the jobs when this industry ramps up?

Shh ... It's Around the Corner

As climate report downplays human impact, scientists struggle to speak freely

The U.N.'s new climate report will apparently lower the estimate of human impact on global warming by 25 percent. Skeptics may salivate, but as a top U.K. scientist says, "The bottom line is that the climate is still warming while our greenhouse-gas emissions have accelerated, so we are storing up problems for ourselves in the future." Hate it when scientists say stuff like that? Try muzzling! U.S. investigators continue to unearth claims of Bush administration censorship of climate researchers. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration senior scientist Pieter Tans says his supervisor told him not to utter the word "Kyoto" and barred him from using the phrase "climate change" in lecture titles at a carbon dioxide conference. While the boss equivocates, Tans remains unmoved by the fear of being demoted to chief swab licker. "Whatever the consequences are, I will tell [investigators] what my experiences have been," he says. "Whether anyone likes it or not, I don't care."


To Sarah James, environmental activism isn't an extracurricular -- it's an integral part of life. James, a member of the Gwich'in tribe in Alaska, works tirelessly to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (or, as the Gwich'in call the area, the Sacred Place Where Life Begins) from persistent drilling attempts. As InterActivist this week, this 2002 Goldman Environmental Prize winner talks about the Arctic Refuge's close calls, the good that came out of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and her hope for the future. Send James a question by noon PST on Wednesday; we'll publish her answers to selected questions on Friday.


Today a young reader from Minnetonka, Minn., wonders what eco-tips she might include in the printed program for her bat mitzvah. Advice maven Umbra Fisk doesn't do what we would do, which is offer a long and rambling digression about the polysyllabic pleasures of that place name. Instead, she suggests looking at a few eco-lists, including her own, and tailoring the tips based on geography and faith.

This Blurb Brought to You By "Your Company Name Here"

Utah basketball arena renamed for nuclear-waste corporation

Here in Seattle, home of Qwest and Safeco fields, we know well how corporations have rushed the pro-sports playing field. But our McMonikers are nothing next to Utah's latest rechristening: The Salt Lake City stadium that's home to the Utah Jazz, formerly the Delta Center, is now known as EnergySolutions Arena. Sounds all green and forward-looking, doesn't it? But locals aren't stoked about the company's best-known business operation, a nuclear-waste facility in the Utah desert. Indignant fans are hollering nicknames like HazzMat Center, Half-Life Arena, Radium Stadium, and the Tox Box (there go all our headlines) and asking for a do-over. "Utah's always been the 'stick-it' state: whatever you don't want in your state, stick it here," said Jazz fan Tom Kessler. "We're not tree-huggers, but these guys lend credence to bringing all this stuff to Utah. It's bogus." The company and its supporters counter that, far from bogus, nuclear reprocessing is the future. Refs are reviewing the play.