Court rules against Bush administration's fish-protection plan
The Great Judicial Smackdown of 2007 continued this week, with a federal appeals court ruling that the Bush administration's plan for "protecting" fish on the Northwest's Columbia and Snake rivers violates the Endangered Species Act. The feds had claimed that the rivers' hydroelectric dams could be made safe for the 13 listed salmon and steelhead species that must navigate them. They also said that since the dams were built before the ESA became law, they shouldn't be considered for removal or alteration. But the three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court called that argument "little more than an analytical sleight of hand" and issued a stern reminder that, when it comes to the ESA, "compliance is not optional." The coalition of sporting and environmental groups that had challenged the plan was pleased by the ruling, with a Sierra Club regional director saying, "Two decades of federal failure and dishonesty must stop here." He added, "Our region needs a scientifically sound, economically viable solution." Good luck.
straight to the press release: Earthjustice, 09 Apr 2007
see also, in Grist: The River Dry
Dry As a Slightly Moist Bone
Aral Sea restoration project nets $126 million more from World Bank
When is a sea not a sea? When it's a desert. Over the last five decades, the inland Aral Sea -- which straddles the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan -- has shrunk to a fraction of its original size, thanks to Soviet policies that diverted its feeder rivers for farming. But a dam funded by the World Bank has begun to restore the Kazakh section, and now a second, $126 million infusion from the bank will do even more to fix one of the world's worst human-made environmental disasters. "The rebirth of the Northern Aral Sea ... shows that if we fret about the environment and invest money, it is possible to get reassuring results," says Viktor Danilov-Danilyan of the Russian Academy of Sciences. "The loss of such a unique natural resource ... would be a global tragedy. And it cannot be allowed to happen." Heeding Viktor: Kazakhs who are once again catching fish and finding strength in the sea. Not so much heeding: Uzbeks who may leave their part of the seabed dry and explore it for oil and gas.
straight to the source: BBC News, Natalya Antelava, 09 Apr 2007
see also, in Grist: Aral Be There
 | NEW IN GRIST Career Fields of Gold An overview of the growing options for green-job seekers |
T.S. Eliot once wrote, "April is the cruelest month." Not so for environmental-job seekers, says Kevin Doyle of the Environmental Careers Organization. In fact, he says, this April could almost be certified "cruelty free." In the latest installment of his recurring column for Grist, Doyle reviews the growing crop of green careers and analyzes which fields are in full bloom. Maybe the Manatees Would Do Better in the Arctic
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers fate of two beloved critters
The proposal to list polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act inspired more than 500,000 emails and oodles of snail mail before yesterday's public-input deadline. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will read what could be a record number of comments; activists confirm that they pulled out all the stops. "The plight of these animals is critical, and so is the sense that the changes affecting them are eventually going to affect us," says Andrew Wetzler of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Meanwhile, the Florida manatee may be downgraded from endangered to threatened status, according to an internal FWS memo -- despite the fact that 416 of about 3,200 died in 2006, the most in 30 years of stats. "We've entered the witching hour of the Bush administration, where there are going to be frantic lame-duck attempts to do under the table what they cannot pass through Congress," says Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Two words: spoo-ky.
straight to the source: The Washington Post, Peter Whoriskey, 09 Apr 2007
Was It Something We Said?
Global warming and other woes cause rise of eco-anxiety
The world already has ecotourism, eco-movies, and eco-purses -- in fact, more eco-trends than you can shake an eco-stick at. So it was only a matter of time before another trapping of modern life took the prefix: eco-anxiety. Seems people are flocking to, yes, eco-therapists to talk about the unpleasant feelings they get upon pondering things like global warming, food shortages, nuclear waste, and pesticides. (Then there's the one that keeps us up at night: does Cameron Diaz use toxic hair dye?) Melissa Pickett, one such therapist, says symptoms can include sleeplessness, irritability, loss of appetite, and panic attacks. Those tuned into the trend blame media hype and the trouble scientists have talking to laypeople. If you're among the worried, we suggest you lie back on the couch and repeat after NASA climate analyst Gavin Schmidt: "There's a scientific reason to be concerned and there's a scientific reason to push for action. But there's no scientific reason to despair."
see also, in Gristmill: My therapist says all this worrying isn't good for me
read this book: You Have the Power: Choosing Courage in a Culture of Fear
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