In Brief

Snippets from the news

Posted at 5:32 PM on 16 May 2008

Getting Their Message a Cross

Conservative Christians launch skeptical climate campaign

Posted at 5:21 PM on 16 May 2008

See Spot Recover

Bush admin debuts final recovery plan for spotted owl

Posted at 3:43 PM on 16 May 2008

The Bush administration has released a final plan for helping out the northern spotted owl, after a prior plan was deemed to have been watered down by political interference. Critics admit the plan is an improvement over last year's draft -- which relied heavily on, ahem, taking out predator barred owls with shotguns -- but still wish more emphasis had been put on restricting logging in the threatened bird's old-growth forest habitat. "We are definitely concerned this is not going to be sufficient to recover the owl," says Steve Holmer of the American Bird Conservancy. "It does appear to have some pretty significant loopholes." U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials say the spotted owl could be recovered within three decades if all goes well; the recovery plan will be reviewed in 10 years to see whether it's working.

sources: Associated Press, The Columbian, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
straight to the plan: 2008 Final Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl

It's Also National Pizza Party Day

Greens celebrate two holidays today

Posted at 2:03 PM on 16 May 2008

For Specious Skies

EPA plans to loosen air-quality rules near national parks

Posted at 11:45 AM on 16 May 2008

Photo: Wolfgang Staudt

Call us crazy, but rewriting the Clean Air Act to ease the way for new coal plants near national parks seems to fly in the face of that whole "clean air" thing. But sure enough, the U.S. EPA plans to make a change allowing the government to calculate the average annual emissions of power plants near parks and wilderness areas, instead of tracking (and potentially punishing) the spikes in pollution spewed during peak energy times. "It's like if you're pulled over by a cop for going 75 miles per hour in a 55 miles-per-hour zone, and you say, 'If you look at how I've driven all year, I've averaged 55 miles per hour,'" explains Mark Wenzler of the National Parks Conservation Association. The NPCA estimates that the rule change will ease construction of 28 new coal plants within 186 miles of 10 national parks. And those parks are hazy enough as it is, laments one National Park Service engineer: "It would really be a setback in trying to make progress."

sources: The Washington Post, Reuters
straight to the NPCA report: Dark Horizons
see also, in Grist: An interview with Tom Kiernan of the National Parks Conservation Association

The Tale That Dogs the Ag

Congress finally passes veto-proof farm bill

Posted at 5:54 AM on 16 May 2008

In Brief

Snippets from the news

Posted at 5:06 PM on 15 May 2008

The Old College Try

U. of Washington to create big eco-college

Posted at 4:36 PM on 15 May 2008

The University of Washington is planning to create the largest environmental college evah. The proposed College of the Environment would become the 5th-largest of U-Dub's 17 colleges, combining its current schools of forestry, fishery sciences, atmospheric sciences, earth and space sciences, marine affairs, and oceanography. "Certainly, higher education in general has a responsibility to tackle challenges that threaten the well-being of the planet," says the proposal. "The UW is strongly positioned to truly advance the contributions of academia to the very concrete problems of the world around us." The college is scheduled to open in fall 2009, and its graduates will no doubt solve the world's environmental problems shortly thereafter.

source: The Seattle Times

Where Many Have Gone Before

Prius sales top 1 million

Posted at 3:17 PM on 15 May 2008

Worldwide sales of Toyota's Prius hybrid have passed the 1 million mark, the auto company announced Thursday. The world's first mass-produced hybrid was introduced in Japan in 1997 and in other markets in 2000. While it was at the time a risky business venture, it didn't take long for the word Prius -- Latin for "to go before" -- to become synonymous with popular hybrid technology (and yuppie environmentalism). Nearly 60 percent of the 1.028 million Priuses/Prii/Priora sold have been to customers in North America. Inspired to join the crowd? "This is a special vehicle, and as fuel prices keep rising, it gets more special,'' says a Toyota spokesperson. "Right now, U.S. customers can get a Prius. Next month or the month after that, it's tough to say.''

sources: Wired, BusinessWeek, Associated Press

Winning: The Poo

Recycling sewer water into drinking water growing more popular

Posted at 11:39 AM on 15 May 2008

And Now for Something Completely Diffuse

Climate change messing with ecology worldwide, study says

Posted at 9:06 AM on 15 May 2008

In Brief

Snippets from the news

Posted at 6:24 PM on 14 May 2008

Forwards and Edwards

John Edwards endorses Barack Obama

Posted at 6:14 PM on 14 May 2008

Former presidential hopeful John Edwards has at long last endorsed a candidate: Barack Obama. Edwards, whose strong stances on the environment pushed his Democratic rivals to toughen their green proposals, said of his choice, "Democratic voters in America have made their choice and so have I." Hillary Clinton's campaign, which had also pursued Edwards' endorsement, chose to take a different view, stating, "We respect John Edwards, but as the voters of West Virginia showed last night, this thing is far from over."

source: Associated Press

Show Them That You Car

Obama talks up green while courting manufacturers

Posted at 4:52 PM on 14 May 2008

Barack Obama courted manufacturers in Michigan Wednesday, touting proposals to boost both green energy and the auto industry. He talked up a plan to auction carbon credits and use the funds to boost clean technology (and, in turn, green jobs), and said he would help the U.S. auto industry get back on its feet while encouraging investment in hybrids, electric vehicles, and other fuel-efficient cars. "I don't think that we need to give up on manufacturing," he told the Detroit Free Press. "We need to find new sources of manufacturing jobs. And I think creating green energy jobs and helping the auto industry to retool -- those are all areas with enormous promise." Obama's speech excited some in Silicon Valley, who are anxious to see more government backing for clean-tech enterprises.

sources: Detroit Free Press, Boston Globe, The New York Times

Threat Laid Bear

Polar bears threatened, but drilling in their habitat still OK, says Interior

Posted at 11:47 AM on 14 May 2008

Polar bears are a threatened species, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced Wednesday -- but that doesn't mean we can't drill in their habitat! The "threatened" designation means the bear could become endangered if conservation steps aren't taken; it puts polar bears on the endangered-species list but in effect allows Interior to pick and choose which protections to impose. And those protections will, says the very subhead of the departmental press release, "allow continuation of vital energy production in Alaska." While the polar bear is being listed specifically because climate change is melting its habitat, Interior took pains to point out that the listing "should not open the door to use of the [Endangered Species Act] to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from automobiles, power plants, and other sources." In fact, the department plans to propose modifying the regulatory language in the ESA to "prevent abuse of this listing to erect a back-door climate policy."

source: Department of the Interior
see also, in Gristmill: Bush admin to list polar bears as threatened; advocates pledge to continue the fight

Northern Exposure

Melting Arctic ice poses security threat, says Pentagon

Posted at 10:09 AM on 14 May 2008

Waterways made navigable by melting Arctic ice pose a security threat to the northern U.S. border, says the Pentagon. The shrinking ice cap has led to increased interest in tourism and energy development in the Arctic, and the extra traffic makes the Pentagon wary. "The Arctic is a new area that is important to us because of the changes in ice flows," says Air Force General Gene Renuart. The Defense Department intends to beef up both its maritime and aerial surveillance of the northern border.

source: Associated Press

Beauty of the Beast

Wal-Mart tightens safety standards for toxics in toys

Posted at 7:55 AM on 14 May 2008

In Brief

Snippets from the news

Posted at 4:41 PM on 13 May 2008

Silva Buckle

Brazil's pro-rainforest environment minister resigns

Posted at 4:05 PM on 13 May 2008

Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva resigned Tuesday after six years in office, leading a Greenpeace campaigner to lament that "Brazil is losing the only voice in the government that spoke out for the environment." Silva's policies prioritized environmental protection, particularly for the Amazon; while her policies landed her a spot as one of Grist's fave green politicians, they made her unpopular with developers, her government peers, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. While the environment minister declined to give an official reason for her departure, Greenpeace's Sergio Leitao postulates that "the pressure on her for taking the measures she took against deforestation has become unbearable."

sources: Associated Press, Reuters, Brasilia Tempo Real
see also, in Grist: Silva spoke out against Brazil's legalization of biotech soy

Push the Plug

Nissan wants to offer you an electric car by 2010

Posted at 2:21 PM on 13 May 2008

Nissan wants to bring electric cars to the U.S. and Japan by 2010 and to the world by 2012, the automaker announced Tuesday. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn in 2005 called gas-electric hybrids "niche products," but he's changed his tune, declaring that his company is determined to demonstrate "zero-emission-vehicle leadership." While General Motors and Toyota also have plans to bring electric vehicles to market, Nissan is the first to say it will mass-produce affordable, all-electric cars on a global scale. "We are not interested in some 'Stars Wars' prototype," says Ghosn, "but in really bringing a mass market product that everybody can buy."

source: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal (access ain't free)
see also, in Gristmill: Nissan aims to help Israel build a national electric-car infrastructure