Friday, 26 Jan 2007

Osama bin Warming

Climate change could lead to terrorism, security experts warn

Irony alert: as President Bush dwells on terrorism while barely acknowledging climate change, it turns out that climate change may lead to terrorism. The consequences of global warming could aggravate the already-ridiculous divide between the haves and have-nots, put 30 million people at risk of famine and disease, and create eco-refugees with a propensity for radical action, said experts attending a climate-change and security conference in London. "Those who are short of food, those who are short of water, those who can't move to countries where it looks as if everything is marvelous are going to be people who are going to adopt desperate measures to try and make their point," says former British U.N. Ambassador Sir Crispin Tickell, whose name knows no equal. Consider: the role of drought and scarce resources in the escalating violence in Rwanda and Darfur, and a 2002 "letter to the American people" in which Osama bin Laden villainized the U.S. for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol. Gulp.

The Best Defense is a Good ... Defense

Two-year exemption allows U.S. Navy to continue sonar trainings

In a saga lasting longer than Moby Dick, the U.S. Navy will be allowed to train with sonar for two more years, despite evidence that the technology's use has injured and killed whales and other creatures of the deep. The Defense Department has provided an exemption from the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act so the Navy can undertake an environmental impact study. Which is sort of like letting someone shoot a guy to see how it affects him, but we digress. "We cannot stop training for the next two years," said a Navy rep. "That would put our sailors ... at considerable risk." But others say it's possible to promote both national security and marine health: "The Navy has more than enough room in the oceans to train effectively without injuring or killing endangered whales and other marine species," said an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has sued the Navy over its sonar use. Man, what is it with green groups and their obsession with "the law"?


Looking to learn more about running a sustainable business? This week's InterActivist has not only a slew of resources, but valuable firsthand experience. As sustainability manager of outdoor-apparel retailer Nau, Eric Brody has scrutinized every aspect of his company's production for green practices -- and likes where they're going. In response to readers' questions, Brody describes the corporate mantra that influences him, his biggest easy-to-fix green pet peeve, and how simple it is to be an environmentalist.

But I'm a Cheerleader

Renewable energy could power half the world by 2050, says new report

Renewables could satisfy half the world's energy demand by 2050, says a new report by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council. But -- and there's always a but -- only if world governments encourage efficiency and crack down on fossil-fuel use. Well, it was a nice thought. The ever-optimistic "Energy Revolution" report is a road map of sorts, demonstrating how nations might encourage a huge jump in the use of wind, solar, hydro, tidal power, and biomass from their current 13.2 percent of world energy supply to 50 percent or more. If governments put a price on carbon, encourage efficiency, and strong-arm global warming, worldwide energy demand could even fall 6 percent by 2050, says the report. Compare and contrast to a 2006 study by the International Energy Agency, which suggested that use of renewables would rise just barely, to 13.7 percent, by 2030. Who's been drinking out of our half-full glass?

Nice Perc if You Can Get It

California to phase out toxic dry-cleaning chemical

Continuing its quest to show the rest of the country up, California has notched another first: the state's Air Resources Board has voted unanimously to phase out perchloroethylene, or perc, a toxic chemical commonly used in dry cleaning. Some 3,400 California cleaners who use the solvent -- a suspected carcinogen said to contaminate one-tenth of the state's wells -- cannot buy new perc machines after next year, and the substance will be fully banned by 2023. While the timeline is slower than greens had hoped, it's still a hit. "That's the wave of the future -- nontoxic, non-smog forming," said Annette Kondo of the Coalition for Clean Air. "We think this is going to ripple down to other states across the country." For their part, cleaners worried that the estimated $40,000 to $140,000 cost of replacing machines would sock it to small business owners. And since one of the leading alternative machines uses a petroleum derivative, this issue, like leggings and crocs, isn't likely to go away any time soon.