Monday, 09 Apr 2007

Do They Even Have Roads There?

Vermont court hears landmark vehicle-emissions case

This week, the U.S. state with the fewest registered cars will take the driver's seat in the race to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions. A Vermont court will hear a landmark case on whether the state's adoption of a stringent California emissions law is legal. Under the Clean Air Act, states can choose between federal legislation and California's, which is notoriously progressive. But miffed automakers argue that -- buckle your seatbelt -- because cutting emissions means burning less fuel, which means improving gas mileage, the law is attempting to govern fuel economy, something only the feds can do. Whew. In a decision last week confirming EPA's authority to regulate carbon dioxide, however, the U.S. Supreme Court said emissions regulations and efficiency improvements "may overlap." Covering their gases, carmakers also say the rule is too expensive to implement, will raise costs for consumers, and singles out their industry. In other news, this year's models all come equipped with tiny violins.


Love is in the air, and you know what that means: big, garish, resource-intensive nuptials. Buck the trend, says this week's InterActivist, and have yourself a green weddin'. Meghan Meyers is the founder and CEO of Portovert, the first and only eco-savvy wedding magazine. Today, she dishes about how to throw a stylish and sustainable party, where the betrothed can go to get a free rickshaw ride, and why she's inspired by Walt Disney -- and no, it has nothing to do with when her prince will come. Send Meyers a question by noon PDT on Wednesday; we'll publish her answers to selected questions on Friday.

Heart of Glass

Wracked with plastic-bottle worries, parents turn to an old standby

Anxious parents are snatching up glass baby bottles after a February report showed that plastic bottles can contain bisphenol A, a chemical that mimics estrogen. One website saw about a tenfold increase in glass-bottle sales before running out; a company in Ohio got 300 glassy-eyed orders the day the report surfaced and saw one bottle's monthly sales rise from the usual 60 to 600 in March. "When parents get ready to have a kid, they put plastic covers on the outlets, they test their walls for lead paint, they get the right kind of crib," says Dan Jacobson of Environment California, which issued the report. "Then you find out the baby bottle, of all things, is a problem." Reps for the plastics industry say low levels of BPA exposure are no big deal, and point out that glass breaks; American Chemistry Council spokesperson Steve Hentges says parents are "arguably being misled into buying products that may not be as safe." Are we the only ones picturing Dan Aykroyd and his Bag O' Nails?


Loyal readers of Ask Umbra notice her tendency to encourage a big-picture focus over small-picture fretting -- though, as she's the first to point out, even she's been known to dwell on the diminutive -- and today one asks how to "big-picture" (new verb!) his household water use. In response, our advice maven gives a wrenching account of the pipe-related changes that can make a big dripperence.

Grinding to a Halt

Changes in USDA policy could hit organic coffee hard

Hold onto your latte: News is seeping out about a change at the U.S. Department of Agriculture that could affect the cost and availability of organic products from developing countries, including bananas, spices, sugar, and coffee. Normally, a farm must undergo an annual inspection to get certified. But for years, co-ops and large growers' groups in the global south have been allowed to largely police themselves, with USDA inspectors visiting 20 percent of each group per year. Now, motivated by a Mexican group that let some violations slide, the agency says every farm needs an annual inspection, an expensive process that may make some small farmers quit the organic biz. "We're literally talking about hundreds of thousands of farmers who will be affected," says Michael Sligh of Rural Advancement Foundation International USA. Fellow organic advocates are steamed, saying the USDA could have reviewed the system instead of deep-sixing it. And our barista was all like, "Omigod, that totally sucks."