Thursday, March 22, 2007

DAILY GRIST

Tuesday, 20 Mar 2007
When Health Freezes Over
Send a question to Karen Bowman, who kisses global boo-boos as a busy, effective environmental-health nurse.


We'll Bill You
Grist is pleased to sponsor a March 21 reading and chat with eco-author Bill McKibben. Click here to find out how to score a seat at this Town Hall Seattle event.


Somewhere, Stalin Is Chuckling
Siberian mine disaster kills more than 100, rescuers search for survivors

The world may be addicted to oil, but it's coal that's doing us in. An explosion at a Siberian coal mine on Monday killed 106 workers, and rescuers were still searching for a handful of missing people today. While 93 lucky bastards escaped with their lives, the accident -- caused by a build-up of methane at a depth of nearly 890 feet -- is said to be Russia's worst mining disaster in a decade. So, must have been a creaky, outdated, unsafe facility, right? Nyet. The mine, about 2,000 miles east of Moscow, opened in 2002 and was equipped with state-of-the-art technology. In fact, the victims of the explosion included a British engineer, his interpreter, and 20 members of the mine's senior management team, who were apparently there to inspect or install an English-made hazard monitoring system. Alexander Sergeyev, chair of the Independent Coal Miners' Union, called for new methane-ventilation laws and criticized quota systems that pressure miners to work too quickly. But: coal mining? Still crazy.

straight to the source: BBC News, 20 Mar 2007

straight to the source: The Washington Post, Reuters, Dmitry Solovyov, 20 Mar 2007

straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, Misha Japaridze, 20 Mar 2007


What You Herd Is Not What I Meant
Bush administration reinterprets Endangered Species Act

The Bush administration has quietly issued a new spin on the Endangered Species Act that would have the feds protect imperiled animals and plants only in places where they're in trouble -- not where they're thriving or have already disappeared. A memo announcing the change was posted on the Interior Department website on Friday. The Center for Biological Diversity threatened to pursue the issue in court, saying the new policy could mean 80 percent of some 1,300 species now listed under the act would lose protection. "Say I'm an irrigator," said CBD's Kieran Suckling. "Say there are 10 fish in a stream. ... I'm going to go kill those 10 fish. Now they are part of the historical range, not the current range. It doesn't count." In more uplifting news, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said on Friday that the feds will look into whether some species should be listed as threatened or endangered because of climate change. Oddly enough, he failed to mention the ESA memo. So forgetful, that one.

straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Associated Press, Jeff Barnard, 19 Mar 2007

straight to the source: The Kansas City Star, Associated Press, John Heilprin, 16 Mar 2007


Gag, You're It
Congress revisits issue of feds messing with climate science

You've seen this show before, but now it's bigger, longer, and uncut: a heated hearing in Congress has exposed dark truths about federal interference with climate science. Brandishing more than 180 examples of doubt-injecting edits made to three climate reports, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform grilled some of the key keep-it-quiet players. Grillees included oil-shill-turned-White-House-official-turned-oil-shill Philip Cooney and former Bush campaigner and NASA press officer George Deutsch, who resigned when his resume proved fake. Can you feel the trust and goodwill welling up? Top NASA scientist James Hansen also testified, calling the "not constitutional" editing and review process an attempt to confuse the public. While Cooney and Deutsch-bag acknowledged their roles, they pleaded the faith: "When I came to the White House," Cooney said, "my sole loyalties were to the president and his administration." Who, of course, are all about the truth.

straight to the source: CBS News, Associated Press, 19 Mar 2007

straight to the source: The New York Times, Andrew C. Revkin and Matthew L. Wald, 20 Mar 2007

see also, in Gristmill: Final reflections on the Waxman hearing


Paying It Forward
U.S. investors worth $4 trillion beg feds for climate action

For a long time now, the Bush administration has said it can't possibly take action on climate change because it will harm the economy. Now the economy is all like, "Hurt me, baby, please." Yet another business-oriented coalition -- this one including investors who manage a combined $4 trillion -- is begging the U.S. to curb greenhouse-gas emissions and create a market-based emissions trading system. A letter aimed at Bush and signed by 65 parties -- including companies like Alcoa, BP America, and Sun Microsystems, as well as big-league money managers Merrill Lynch, Allianz, and CalPERS -- called for 60 to 90 percent cuts from 1990 greenhouse-gas emissions levels by 2050. "What businesses need to move forward is a mandatory policy that finally will address the global financial risk of climate change," says Mindy Lubber, president of Boston-based Ceres, which pulled the new alliance together. "It's very hard for businesses to act without certainty."

straight to the source: The Boston Globe, John Donnelly, 20 Mar 2007

straight to the source: Financial Times, Edward Luce, 19 Mar 2007

straight to the source: Forbes, Associated Press, Alan Zibel, 19 Mar 2007


G NEW IN GRIST
It Must Have Been Our Rippling Pecs
Outside magazine features Grist, Grist says, "Aw, shucks"

Outside cover. The green issue of Outside hits newsstands today, and you'll never guess who's in it: us! Complete with pictures of our chainsaw-wielding prez the article has the inside scoop on our wit and charm, our punny headline process, and why we're a "gateway drug" (oh, we're blushing -- we think). Check out an excerpt from the article in Gristmill, then go get your hot little hands on a copy.

new in Gristmill: Grist in Outside magazine



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