Wednesday, 28 Mar 2007

It Just Gets In the Way

U.S. Interior considering revamp of Endangered Species Act, draft shows

Last week, a U.S. Interior Department memo quietly changed where endangered species are protected. Now it seems the feds have been giving the Endangered Species Act an even broader rethink. A leaked draft shows that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has toyed with shifting significant ESA powers to states and allowing activities that imperil species if they don't "hasten the rate of extinction." It may also change the ESA timeframe -- species are now eligible if they face extinction in "the foreseeable future," but that could be cut to 20 years or 10 generations. "It's a radical weakening of the Endangered Species Act," says Daniel Patterson of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and Kieran Suckling of the Center for Biological Diversity calls it "a rewrite from top to bottom" that "makes recovery of species impossible." While Fish and Wildlife spokesfolks insist plans are still evolving, an anonymous federal employee told Salon that many staffers think the draft is daft.


Wal-Mart's gotten truckloads of positive press about its green initiatives, some of it on this very website. And the mega-retailer's eco-commitments do have substance -- which is exactly what makes them so dangerous, says Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. With its meaty advances, she argues, Wal-Mart's managed to distract shoppers, journalists, and activists alike from the fundamental unsustainability of the big-box retail system.

Don't Make Me Pull This Cargill Over

Amazon soy export plant shut down in win for environmentalists

Greens did a victory dance this weekend as Brazil forced U.S. agribiz giant Cargill to close a soy export terminal in the country's Amazon region. The facility has long been the focus of a targeted Greenpeace campaign protesting rapid deforestation of the tropical rainforest -- which lost about 6,500 square miles between 2005 and 2006 -- for growing soy, which is then used as cheap feed for future chicken nuggets, wings, and drumsticks. The terminal's closure, which the company plans to appeal, was the result of a court ruling that Cargill had failed to submit a required environmental impact assessment. Said chief prosecutor Felicio Pontes, "Cargill believed that because they were a powerful multinational, they could disrespect both Brazilian legislation and the environment." Though the distribution plant has been involved in a lengthy legal battle, often on the losing end, Friday's decision was the first to actually suspend work. Respect that, soy-suckas.


So you've found your eternal sweetheart and you're ready to settle down. How can you use your wedding to pay tribute to the planet? There are two roads you can go by, says advice maven Umbra Fisk: have a three-day blowout anyway, just subbing organic flowers, party favors, and food for the conventional ones, or think a little harder about how to simplify your needs and really reduce your impact. Torn? Umbra vows to help.

Sacks Education

San Francisco approves first-in-nation ban on plastic bags

San Francisco is the first U.S. city to pass a ban on non-recyclable plastic bags at major supermarkets and drugstores. Once it's signed into law, the stores will have six months to a year to sack the sacks, switching to compostable, recyclable ones made from corn or potato starch -- or reverting to recyclable paper. "We can take steps to make our economy a little more soulful," said lawmaker and ban author Ross Mirkarimi. "Hopefully, other cities and other states will follow suit." Similar bans are in place in South Africa, Taiwan, Bangladesh, and Paris. Noting that his city's businesses hand out 180 million plastic bags a year, Mirkarimi asked, "Why did we have to obligate [stores] to do this? Why didn't they do it voluntarily? It's like waiting for the auto manufacturers to increase gas efficiency." The California Grocers Association raised some half-hearted concerns -- it'll cost more! it'll confuse shoppers! compostable bags suck! -- but all we hear is that Charlie Brown teacher voice.