Thursday, 05 Apr 2007

How Do You Like Them, Apple?

Greenpeace ranks Apple as least eco-friendly electronics firm

Are you reading this on a Mac? D'oh. A new Greenpeace report ranks Apple's environmental record worst among 14 major electronics firms, based on use of hazardous chemicals in production and efforts to recycle products at the end of their lives. The iPod manufacturer was i-poohed for continuing to use several types of harmful chemicals, including PVC and some brominated flame retardants, and for the lack of a comprehensive recycling program for its products. Little-known Chinese PC maker Lenovo got top honors in the Greenpeace report, and was lauded for letting all of its customers give back their computers for recycling. Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Dell, and Samsung filled out the top five. Apple disputed the rotten report and claimed through a spokesperson that it "has a strong environmental track record and has led the industry in restricting and banning toxic substances such as mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium, as well as many [brominated flame retardants]." How's that for biting back?


If life's going to imitate art, we hope we don't end up in Kim Stanley Robinson's Sixty Days and Counting, wherein characters struggle to cope with abrupt and rapid climate change. (Fingers crossed!) But while the book, the third installment in the author's Capitol Code trilogy, can feel frightening familiar, it's uplifted by comic elements as scientists, politicians, and everyday people deal with the catastrophe du jour. Jonna Higgins-Freese reviews the latest release from one of her favorite authors.

She Puts the Dud in Dudley

Bush appoints anti-regulation advocate as top regulatory official

Mere days ago, we mentioned that President Bush might give Congress the runaround by making recess appointments of industry-tied folk to top environmentally related positions in his administration. Well, that didn't take long. Meet Susan Dudley, the newly appointed head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, who will have occasion to change or block rules proposed by government agencies. As the administration's top regulatory official, it's only logical that she's a conservative academic considered to have an anti-regulation agenda. In the past, Dudley has argued that ground-level ozone is beneficial, and that it's more cost-effective for pollution-sensitive people to stay inside on smoggy days than for the government to force polluters to clean up. Dudley was first nominated in July, but her appointment was stalled by a Senate that just wasn't that into her; now, appointed by Bush while Congress is on its spring break, she'll serve without confirmation until the 110th Congress adjourns in January 2009.


Christine Gardner admits that few things are less environmentally friendly than kids. So go figure -- it wasn't until she had children that she became inspired to attempt a more sustainable existence. Even when it means waiting for the bus in a hailstorm with her kids, she continues to be up to the challenge. Today, she asks you, dear Grist readers, how a suburban mom can live more greenly. Dare her to make a difference -- she's asking for it.

Look, Ma, Green's on TV!

Discovery and Sundance channels plot green programming

Good news: soon you can be green without leaving your couch. Next year, Discovery Communications will start up an around-the-clock channel focused on eco-friendly living. The already-existent Discovery Home channel will be rebranded as Discovery PlanetGreen and beamed into 50 million homes, starting off with a series called "Ten Ways to Save the Planet." (And it just so happens that your favorite online green magazine -- yes, that would be us -- will be a partner in Discovery's green initiative.) The Sundance Channel is also getting into the game: under a campaign dubbed The Green, it's widely airing a public service announcement wherein Robert Redford directs readers to eco-tips on the Sundance website. In mid-April, the channel will debut a weekly three-hour green programming block, kicking off with "Big Ideas for a Small Planet," and will announce a promotion soliciting one-minute green-living films from viewers. Says Discovery CEO David Zaslav, soon to be working out of a carbon-neutral headquarters: "Today, green means responsible."