Tuesday, 27 Feb 2007

If At First You Don't Secede

Five western states form regional climate-change partnership

Citing a federal leadership void, the governors of five western U.S. states have formed a regional partnership to cut greenhouse gases and fight climate change. The Western Regional Climate Action Initiative, which includes Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, and New Mexico, will create a regional target for cuts over the next six months and a market-based plan for meeting the goal within 18 months. Like the Northeast's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the partnership "shows the power of states to lead our nation addressing climate change," says California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), whom we just want to hug. "Western states are being particularly hard-hit by the effects of climate change," says Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) pitifully. What the heck, we'll hug her too. With British Columbia expressing interest in the pact and the middle of the country caught in the squeeze, some expect businesses to beg even louder for national standards. Mr. Void, are you listening?


Last week, the U.S. arm of build-it-yourself furniture furnisher IKEA announced a new policy on plastic bags: customers who want one have to pay a nickel. It made for good headlines, but it turns out it's a minor initiative compared to the Swedish retailer's other environmental undertakings. What else is the company working on, and why is it so quiet about its green successes? David Roberts talks with IKEA sustainability director Thomas Bergmark to find out.

CSI: My Apiary

U.S. honeybees disappearing from hives, not even leaving a note

Don't let the pharmaceutical giants get wind of this: U.S. honeybees are suffering from "colony collapse disorder." Beekeepers in 24 states say their pollinating pals are simply disappearing, with losses of 30 to 60 percent on the West Coast and, in some cases, more than 70 percent on the East Coast and in Texas. "I have never seen anything like it," says California keeper David Bradshaw. "Box after box after box are just empty. There's nobody home." Perplexed scientists are testing theories including stress, toxins, and viruses. It's not the first time bees have met a mystery fate, "but it's never been on a scale like this," says bee specialist Dennis van Engelsdorp. With bees pollinating more than $14 billion of U.S. seeds and crops a year -- every third bite we eat, according to industry buzz -- those with full hives stand to benefit. "It's supply and demand," says a keeper who expects to earn $520,000 for a month in California's almond orchards. "That's what drives the whole dang thing."


With less than two months to go until April's nationwide Step It Up climate-change protests, the movement's organizers have landed hardly any high-profile newspaper or TV media coverage. Disaster, right? Wrong. Thanks to the power of this thing called the internet, nearly 750 protests are planned, and more people are signing up every day. Bill McKibben, grateful for the web wizardry of his college-age colleagues and feeling somewhat like a geezer despite being only in his mid-40s, marvels at the organizing power he's witnessing -- and how it reflects our increasingly decentralized world.

Hey, One Thing At a Time

NASCAR deals with switch to unleaded fuel, considers adding ethanol

As the NASCAR season gears up, fans are all atwitter. No, not about the Daytona 500 scandal -- that's so last week. It's the switch to that dang unleaded! This weekend saw the first-ever NASCAR race fueled by the gas the rest of the country's been using for health and environmental reasons since the 1980s, and it wasn't pretty. Engine failures felled three of the top seven qualifiers and left drivers scratching their heads. "This unleaded fuel has sprung a little bit of a surprise on us -- a little bit of a curveball," said unfortunate son Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 40th with a busted motor. Meanwhile, with the Indy Racing League switching to ethanol and the American Le Mans Series using an ethanol blend, some think NASCAR should get cornier, if only to bridge the redneck-hippie divide. As driver Kyle Petty puts it: "I think once you start seeing alternative fuels show up in places like racing ... then you don't think about that guy with the Volkswagen van that runs off of whatever."