| Cap 'n' Crunched Bush's controversial mercury rule for power plants struck down by federal court Bad news for the Bush administration: A federal appeals court on Friday struck down a U.S. EPA rule that would have let coal-fired power plants trade the right to emit mercury, a neurotoxin that contaminates waterways, accumulates in fish, and has been linked to nerve and brain damage, particularly in children. Environmentalists and public health advocates, among others, had wanted every coal plant to have to reduce its emissions of mercury, but in 2005 the Bush admin opted for a cap-and-trade system that would let dirtier plants buy the right to pollute from cleaner ones. (The cap-and-trade approach is widely accepted as a good way to tackle greenhouse-gas emissions because they affect the atmosphere as a whole; in contrast, mercury pollution has severe local effects, so communities near plants with high mercury emissions would get the short end of the stick.) The court said the EPA violated the Clean Air Act in 2005 when it implemented the rules, which exempted power plants from strict emissions controls. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by a number of states, enviros, and public health groups; they're all cheering today's ruling as a major victory. [ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ] sources: Reuters, Associated Press |
Compare and Contrast the Candidates. How green is your candidate? Take a look at Grist's in-depth coverage of the presidential candidates' green stances, including exclusive interviews and fact sheets on their energy and climate platforms.
TODAY'S NEWS
| Against Ethanol Odds Biofuels not helpful in climate-change fight, new studies say Two new studies published in the journal Science conclude that growing and burning biofuels actually increases net greenhouse-gas emissions and exacerbates climate change. The new research calls into question the assumptions of many earlier studies. When land-use changes are taken into account, it turns out that plowing up rainforests and grasslands to make way for biofuel crops tips the balance, making biofuels more problematic than helpful. Biofuels proponents, including the powerful U.S. ethanol lobby, have for years cited figures asserting that biofuels made from crops like corn release about 20 percent fewer emissions overall than gasoline and that fuel from switchgrass emits about 70 percent less. One of the new studies, however, found that due to the impact of plowing up new fields, corn-based ethanol nearly doubles greenhouse-gas emissions compared to gasoline and that fuels made from switchgrass increase emissions by about 50 percent. Not all biofuels were net losers, though. The study authors suggested that producing biofuels from waste products still makes sense. [ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ] |
| Shelling It Out Sell-off of oil leases in polar-bear habitat brings record bidding The Bush administration's sell-off of leases for oil and gas drilling in Alaska's polar-bear-harboring Chukchi Sea raised a lot of controversy -- and a lot of moola. The sale brought in a record $2.66 billion in bidding, well beyond the $67 million the feds had expected and budgeted for. Royal Dutch Shell was the big winner, with the highest bid for a single tract; the polar bear, which is awaiting a decision on its endangered status, is likely the big loser. However, drilling won't commence in the area for at least a decade, so maybe there won't be any polar bears left anyway. Protesters gathered outside the Anchorage library where the sale was being conducted; said Inupiat subsistence hunter Earl Kingik, "I wish I could have money so I could bid myself to save my ocean." [ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ] sources: Reuters, Anchorage Daily News, The Washington Post |
| Car-Hip Enterprise Enterprise and other rental companies move into car-share market Enterprise Rent-a-Car is zooming ahead with a car-sharing program modeled after the successful Zipcar. The Enterprise venture, called WeCar, started on the campus of St. Louis's Washington University last month, but will kick off in urban style in the city downtown next week. WeCar will begin with nine Toyota Prius hybrids and will target employees who commute without a car to work and then need a vehicle during the day. (Zipcar, which targets residential areas, is not available in St. Louis.) WeCar joins a U-Haul program with the self-explanatory name U Car Share, available in college cities like Ann Arbor, Mich., and Berkeley, Calif. Car rental companies Hertz and Avis are also eyeing car-sharing. Because, as we all learned in kindergarten, sharing is caring. [ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ] source: The Wall Street Journal see also, in Grist: Rental and car-share companies get hip to hybrids |
| That Was Easy Staples cuts off contracts with paper supplier over eco-concerns This is spiffy, so allow us to Post-it: Office supply giant Staples has cut off all contracts with gigantic Asia Pulp & Paper, citing concern that APP feeds Indonesian and Chinese rainforest into its pulp mills. In recent years, other businesses including Office Depot have quit dealings with APP over environmental concerns, but Staples had stuck with 'em. Now, though, Staples' Vice President for Environmental Issues Mark Buckley says that staying with APP would be "at great peril to our brand." Kudos to all you office suppliers who talked up rainforest destruction while purchasing your label makers. [ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ] source: The Wall Street Journal (access ain't free) |
| Urban Legends Cities run into roadblocks in attempts to reduce CO2 Announcing an ambitious plan to reduce a city's greenhouse gases is the easy part; when it comes to putting goals into action, local officials tend to run up against significant roadblocks. To take just a few examples: The subprime mortgage crisis has left taxpayers across the country unable to fund efficiency-minded proposals. Across the country, homeowners' associations have vetoed plans for home solar panels on aesthetic grounds. In one city, police pushed back against plans for less-polluting cop cars, saying it would restrict needed speed. And everywhere, individuals are resistant to changing their habits. "They've seen the Al Gore movie, but they still have their lifestyle to contend with," says Ann Hancock of the California-based Climate Protection Campaign. With that in mind, says Laura Fiffick of Dallas' office of environmental quality, "the idea is to figure out what emissions we are going to go after and what we can do and then set the goal. When you set the bar too high, it becomes demotivating." [ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ] source: The New York Times see also, in Grist: Mayoral climate-protecting agreement hasn't necessarily translated into action |
Read more news ...
Are your eco-ethics getting lost in the Land of Cubicles? Find or post socially responsible job opportunities on Grist's new job board.
GRIST COLUMNS AND FEATURES
| One Nation, Under-Blogged Grist writer David Roberts guest-stars in new Nation blog Grist staff writer David Roberts, who spins his wit and wisdom in our blog Gristmill, will be moonlighting this month at a new blog on the site of the progressive magazine The Nation. Check out his firs t post, on being an enviro who hates jam bands, and his latest, on whether the media will give John McCain a free pass on the climate issue. [ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ] new in Gristmill: Dave's first Nation post |
Tip #5 from Grist's new green-living guide, Wake Up and Smell the Planet
Q. Valentine's Day is coming up, which sex toys are safest?
A. Playthings that are free of phthalates and PVC. Click here for more green-living tips, or buy the book!
No comments:
Post a Comment