Wednesday, 25 Apr 2007

Mine Your Business

Newmont Mining Co. acquitted of wrongdoing in Indonesia

Yesterday, an Indonesian court found Newmont Mining Co. not guilty of polluting Indonesia's Buyat Bay with toxic runoff from a now-defunct gold mine, ending a trial that had riled up eco-justice advocates for nearly two years. Judge Ridwan Damanik declared that Newmont's piping of arsenic and mercury into the bay did not pollute the water or sicken villagers. The doctor who had originally brought charges of wrongdoing withdrew her allegations during the trial, and while one police investigation found unsafe levels of heavy metals in the bay, multiple other tests found toxin levels did not exceed government standards. So that means locals' complaints of rashes, tumors, headaches, difficulty breathing, and dizziness were ... just a flu going around? While prosecutors plan to appeal the decision, mineral investors who had closely watched the trial are all set to start digging up Indonesia; newly exonerated Newmont may expand its regional copper and gold output by up to 40 percent.

Johnson Takes a Pounding

EPA administrator spars with Senate over climate action

Senate Democrats badgered EPA administrator Stephen Johnson yesterday about the agency's greenhouse-gas foot-dragging. They unleashed a barrage of questions at an Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, focusing on the recent Supreme Court ruling that said EPA has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide vehicle emissions. Faced with Johnson's repeated assurance that the agency will "move expeditiously, but we are going to be moving responsibly" and his refusal to commit to a specific timeframe, Dems got twitchy. "There is no excuse for delay," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the committee, while Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) instructed Johnson to "stop denying the impact of global warming." Aaaaaand speaking of denial, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) rose to Johnson's defense, urging him to resist the pressure. Call it a partisan squabble if you will, or heed William Reilly, EPA head under Bush the First: "If I were EPA administrator, I would welcome that authority."


Graduation time is nearly upon us, and a senior-class officer at a California high school wonders how his group can make its mark before they head out the door. Advice maven Umbra Fisk arrives, with due pomp and circumstance, at the perfect answer -- and, just in case that one doesn't work, commences to mention a few other ideas too.


Yesterday we introduced you to three of this year's six winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize. Today we bring you the rest: a business exec in Iceland who's casting about to protect salmon; a First Nations member in Canada who's fighting the development of her remote territory; and an indigenous leader in Peru who's battling loggers in the Amazon. Their stories serve as a reminder of the depth and breadth of environmental struggles around the world -- and their strength gives us strength.

Money Makes the World Not Drown

British retailers launch climate campaign, UBS unveils global-warming index

Eight companies in Britain have launched a campaign called "We're in This Together," offering products and price cuts to help customers lessen their eco-impacts. Leading retailers Tesco and B&Q, for example, halved the costs of light bulbs and insulation, and a cell-phone company will pay a credit to customers who reduce consumption by forgoing a new phone when renewing their contract. Appearing with the company heads, Prime Minister Tony Blair offered this vague rah-rah: "For this country to make an impact on the global framework [against global warming] -- which in the end is the answer to this -- it's important we demonstrate leadership." Yes! And shop! Meanwhile, international investment bank UBS has created the world's first global-warming index. And while we don't actually have money or understand what people do with it, it seems the index -- which tracks the average daily temps in 15 U.S. cities and will expand to include cities around the world -- will help investors, uh, invest better.