Friday, 05 Jan 2007

When the Can Comes Around

Canada replaces environment minister, pledges to get greener

As part of a major cabinet shakeup, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has replaced oft-criticized Environment Minister Rona Ambrose with former Treasury Board head John Baird, acknowledging that his government needs to greenify. "We've clearly determined we need to do more on the environment," Harper said. "Particularly when it comes to clean air and climate change ... Canadians deserve a lot more." Motivated by the prospect of a federal election against ultra-green Liberal Stephane Dion and by polls showing that Canadians consider the environment the country's top issue, Harper "basically admitted [his previous stance] was a mistake," said a member of parliament. All eyes are now on Baird -- including those of First Lady Laureen Harper, whom the new minister escorts to functions when the PM's outta town. Baird "is a great guy, he is fun to be around, he looks good in a tux, and he is a great date," she said yesterday. "He is also a lover of felines." Oh, sometimes it's just too easy.

Ready Orleans Not

Big Easy residents move back into homes that remain in danger's path

While officials continue to debate the best way to rebuild New Orleans, those who lived there just want to go home. But as residents slowly but surely return, many are reinhabiting houses that may not stand up to severe weather and returning to areas planners think should be abandoned, some of which were submerged in 20 feet of water when Hurricane Katrina hit a year and a half ago. New federal flood guidelines say "substantially damaged" homes must be raised on foundations up to three feet off the ground, but homeowners are finding ways around the requirement, which can cost $50,000. "It's terrifying," says civil-engineering professor Robert G. Bea. "We're doing the same things we have in the past but expecting different results." The city's levees are not guaranteed to withstand another strong hurricane, and buffer wetlands continue to erode, but residents like Vincent Gangi are willing to take the risk. "Something like Katrina happens only once in a hundred years," he says. Let us all hope.


These days, Vanessa McGrady works at a desk, in a suit, producing corporate communications about conservation for an electric utility in Los Angeles. But not so long ago, she was hauling water and chopping wood as a homesteader in a remote part of Washington state's Olympic Peninsula. How did she get from one place to the other? And what did she learn along the way? She reflects on her journey in today's Soapbox.

Tongue Wrestling

In India, U.K., and U.S., climate change is cause for conflict

Climate challenges erupted all over the globe this week. In India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a group of 5,000 scientists that the developing world "cannot afford to ape the West in terms of its environmentally wasteful lifestyle," adding that India must invest in alternative energy and research how climate change affects monsoons. In the U.K., British Environment Minister Ian Pearson and Michael O'Leary, CEO of budget carrier Ryanair, sparred over an E.U. plan to curb airline emissions, with Pearson calling the company "the irresponsible face of capitalism" and saying O'Leary's opposition to the plan was "completely off the wall." O'Leary countered that Pearson was "silly." Ooh, Brit-fight! In D.C., President Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met to discuss several issues, including the Kyoto Protocol. "I believe there is a chance now to put behind us the old stale debates of the past," Bush said. He concluded their press conference by muttering, "No back rub." No, really. He did.

Globalization Shmobalization

San Francisco Bay Area coalition urges focus on local economy

What will those hippies think of next? A coalition of groups in the San Francisco Bay Area is undertaking a push against globalization and the labor and environmental offenses it incurs. The coalition, which just released a 30-page plan, hopes to coordinate with business and government leaders to move the Bay Area toward a more sustainable, less exploitative economy. One of its main goals is to have environmental costs reflected in the price of goods -- for example, upping the price of electronics because of their disposal costs. The hope is to reduce "overdependence" on the global economy, according to the report; not, says coauthor John Talberth, to encourage isolationism. Next step: mobilizing the public with messages about the benefits of localization. It may be tough, as Don Shaffer of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies admits: "It's well documented that people tend not to act unless there is a crisis." Also, everyone knows the best hemp products come from abroad.