Tuesday, 02 Jan 2007

Welcome to your new year! Before we rush into this great unknown annus, let's pause to reflect on the wonders of 2006. Remember when George W. Bush proclaimed that the U.S. was "addicted to oil"? Yep, that was just 12 months ago, and it was a confession that kicked off one hell of a year. From Al Gore's box-office success to Nicholas Stern's economic reprimand, from disgruntled scientists to a dismantled Republican Congress, the events of 2006 truly changed the environmental climate. We offer our picks of the best of '06, and toss out a few predictions for '07. Think you've got an inkling of what's to come? Add your green guesses in Gristmill.

Threat Level: White

U.S. proposes listing polar bears under Endangered Species Act

Maybe they saw one too many cute Coke ads, or maybe it was the court-imposed deadline. All we know is last week officials at the U.S. Interior Department proposed listing polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, in response to a suit filed in 2005 by three green groups. Melting Arctic ice has already led to starvation, cannibalism, and drowning among the world's 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears. As global temperatures rise, scientists say, the summer sea ice that the keen hunters rely on could be gone by 2040. So if the U.S. has to help the bear, does that mean it has to tackle climate change? Inquiring minds wanted to know immediately, but U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne compartmentalized like a pro. "That whole aspect of climate change is beyond the scope of the Endangered Species Act," he said, though the agency's own study had fingered climate change as a probable contributor to the animal's decline. That and the Coke -- everyone knows it rots your guts.

Since U Been Gone

Loss of wayward ice shelf linked to climate change, scientists say

You know that part in Back to the Future where Michael J. Fox is holding his family photo, and the people in it are disappearing? And he feels faint, because he knows he's next? That happened in a Canadian lab recently, only a lot more slowly -- and without "Earth Angel" playing in the background. Scientists poring over satellite images realized that an ice shelf bigger than Manhattan had disappeared from its usual spot. Turns out it broke off from Canada's remote Ellesmere Island, about 500 miles south of the North Pole, in August 2005. The rupture, which took only an hour, created a vast "ice island" that is now frozen into surrounding seas, but could menace shipping and oil-drilling areas next summer. Researchers say climate change is a major factor in the unusual break. "This is a dramatic and disturbing event," said Warwick Vincent of Laval University. "We are crossing climate thresholds, and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead." Got your bulletproof vest ready, Doc?


Some will forever picture him as the handsome young doctor on St. Elsewhere. For others, he made his mark more recently as an alopecic real-estate tycoon on Arrested Development and a doomed dean on Veronica Mars. But Ed Begley Jr.'s latest role? Himself. To be more specific, his green-leaning, solar-crazed, I-ride-a-bike-to-power-my-toaster self. The reality series Living With Ed debuts this month, inviting viewers to spend six weeks with a man who is arguably America's most passionate eco-celeb. Grist's Sarah van Schagen talks with the veteran actor about riding the bus, delivering his Begley's Best line of cleaning products in person, and how his family saw the green light.

Naughty and Nice

How the energy industry spent its holiday vacation

While you were whooping over your Wii, the energy industry exulted in a few holiday gifts of its own. Just before Christmas, a federal appeals court gave ExxonMobil a $2.5 billion break, slashing in half the $5 billion in damages that had been awarded to thousands of Alaskans affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The (ridiculously profitable) corporation has appealed the size of the award several times since it was first handed down in 1994, and this cut is the largest yet. Thanks, yer honors! Renewable-energy operations, for their part, were showered with gifts from a southern California utility, which signed the biggest wind-power contract in U.S. history, and the state of New York, which put $15 million toward construction of the country's first cellulosic ethanol plant. And finally, in a classic case of re-gifting, Royal Dutch Shell announced that former U.S. Interior Department Secretary and industry-lover Gale Norton would join the company as general counsel. Mmm, fruitcake.

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

Louisiana sliding into the Gulf of Mexico, new report says

Talk about kicking a state while it's down. A new report says swampy southeastern Louisiana isn't just sinking -- it's sliding sideways into the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists say Mississippi River sediments are causing Cajun country bedrock to shift. While those rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged area ponder this fact, the authors of the report, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, offer reassurance. "People should not be afraid that we're going to fall into the gulf," said lead researcher Roy Dokka of Louisiana State University, adding that last year, movement was equal to roughly the width of two credit cards. Call us crazy, but that sounds like kind of a lot. Insurers may be thinking the same: A post-Katrina emergency rule that kept local insurance policies in place ended yesterday, meaning many will not be renewed. And with insurance companies limiting coastal coverage from the gulf to the mid-Atlantic, "we're sliding into the sea" might not be the best way to woo them back.