Wednesday, 09 May 2007

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch today is unveiling a broad plan to address climate change throughout his media empire, which includes everything from Fox News to MySpace to movie studios to major newspapers. Grist obtained an exclusive advanced copy of Murdoch's speech and the company's energy plan. Not only will News Corp. pledge to reduce its own carbon emissions (practically de rigeur at this point), but it will weave climate messaging into the content and programming of its many media holdings, Amanda Griscom Little reports. How long before American Idol participants are tasked with creating a snappier climate anthem than Melissa Etheridge's "I Need to Wake Up"?

Measure Twice, Cut One of These Days

Coalition of 31 states creates greenhouse-gas emissions registry

Flipping the feds the collective bird, 31 U.S. states have created a registry to track industrial greenhouse-gas emissions. The states -- joined by British Columbia, Manitoba, and a Native American nation in California -- represent some 70 percent of the U.S. population and all (er, both?) sides of the political spectrum. Starting in January, the registry will track emissions data that's verified by a third party; the system is similar to a federal one already in place, except for that whole "verified by a third party" thing. Supporters say that difference is crucial. "When we say a reduction has happened, you can take it to the bank," says Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Gina McCarthy. Led by California and New England, the scheme has the support of companies like BP America and Pfizer, as well as green leaders. Says Natural Resources Defense Council head Frances Beinecke, "You have to be able to count carbon pollution in order to cut carbon pollution."


A couple weeks ago, advice maven Umbra Fisk offered tips to a high-school senior whose class wanted to leave its school a green legacy. Today, a high-school junior with loads of foresight writes to say that her class, too, would like to give a gift in 2008 -- but at her Seventh-Day Adventist school, certain things are off-limits. Umbra, undaunted, wades into the waters of Creation Care for a class gift idea that's sure to please.

So What's Plan C?

United Nations report outlines the trouble with biofuels

Remember how biofuels were going to save us? That lasted about as long as an ice cream cone on a hot day. A new United Nations report says the switch to biofuels, if not well managed, could lead to rampant deforestation, food and water shortages, and increased poverty. It also says using biofuels for heat and power is a better and cheaper way to cut greenhouse-gas emissions than using them for transportation. With demand exploding, 17 countries have committed to growing crops like palm oil, corn, and soy on a large scale. But, the U.N. warns, that could lead to erosion, nutrient leaching, and -- if the crops replace forests -- "large releases of carbon from the soil and forest biomass that negate any benefits of biofuels for decades." On the upside, biofuels do hold the promise of making clean energy available to millions. But the U.N. recommends a certification program for an industry that is, says U.N. energy coordinator Gustavo Best, "so fast and so disorganized ... and so misinformed."

One Bad Scrapple Spoils the Bunch

Regulators reveal new information on China-U.S. food links

The tangled food relationship between China and the U.S. keeps getting tangledier. As new details emerge in the wake of the March wave of pet deaths, concerns about the possibility of tainted food reaching U.S. dinner tables are growing. U.S. regulators said yesterday that cyanuric acid, a chemical used as a stabilizer in swimming pools, was added to pet food, and that some doctored wheat flour used in the pet food was fed to fish raised for human consumption. Meanwhile, the USDA is considering approving sales of chicken from China, a prospect that worries some. Mix all these revelations with just a dash of xenophobia -- "They're already killing our pets. Do we want to eat their food?" is an honest-to-goodness quote from one U.S. poultry-industry rep -- and you get one big mess. Said Rebecca J. Goldburg of Environmental Defense, "It shows the degree to which, with the globalization of agriculture, things that go wrong in one country can affect many of us who never thought we'd be touched."