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The future at earthsystems.org
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Executive Director Phil Bailey
discusses changes and things
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http://earthsystems.org/future.html
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Issue of the Week
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Vehicle Emission Standards
California and New York state
have both adopted vehicle emissions
laws stricter than federal standards.
Will other states follow and can
the auto industry keep pace with the
changes?
http://earthsystems.org/issues.html
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Poll of the Week
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Do you support strict vehicle emission standards
in your state?
http://earthsystems.org/issues.html#poll
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From GIST:
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/
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HOLD ON, THERE
People are becoming increasingly concerned about the development of
"inholdings," or private land within national parks and national
forests. There are about 50 million acres of such land, only a
fraction of the total land within park and forest boundaries, and
in the past most landowners have kept their areas in a natural
state or sold them to the feds for preservation. But increasingly,
prices for some inholdings are soaring above what the government or
conservation groups can afford to pay, so private investors and
developers are moving in. The National Park Trust estimates that
20 percent of the privately held land within national parks
and forests is "in imminent danger" of development. The National
Park Service has a list of more than 10,000 privately owned tracts
that it would like to buy, at a cost estimated at $1.35 billion,
but Congress has not allocated nearly enough money for such
purchases.
straight to the source: New York Times, Michael Janofsky, 11.02.99
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/park-resorts.html
(earthsystems.org editor note: Does Trump know about this? Can you
say new and improved Acadia Trump Tower??)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture frequently approves the use of
new genetically engineered crops based on unsupported claims and
shoddy studies by seed companies, say many scientists who have
studied the approval process. The USDA, the primary agency
responsible for assuring the ecological safety of such plants,
has not rejected a single application for a genetically modified
crop. A growing number of studies suggest that genetically modified
crops could lead to rapid evolution of pesticide-resistant insects
and superweeds, create new plant diseases, and harm insects that
are beneficial to agriculture. But the USDA has set no scientific
standards for proving the environmental safety of a plant and it
asks only that petitioners explain why the new plant is likely or
unlikely to pose a number of broadly defined risks. Even some
scientists at seed companies acknowledge that they could have
done a more thorough job of providing data to regulators.
straight to the source: New York Times, Carol Kaesuk Yoon, 11.03.99
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/110399sci-ge-squash.html
MR. SMITH STAYS IN WASHINGTON
In a move that worries enviros, Sen. Bob Smith, a New Hampshire
conservative who recently bolted the GOP, then rejoined it on
Monday, was elected yesterday by Senate Republicans to be chair
of the important Environment and Public Works Committee. The
position had been held by Sen. John Chafee (R-R.I.) until his
death last month. Chafee was widely viewed as an ally of the
environmental community, while Smith is considered a
friend of the oil industry, chemical companies, and developers.
Smith said yesterday that he aims to reduce the federal government's
role in environmental protection, while giving more power to
businesses and local governments. In the past, Smith has
supported revising the Superfund program to shift the cost of
toxic waste cleanups away from polluters and onto taxpayers.
Meanwhile, John Chafee's son, Lincoln Chafee, was named to
fill his father's Senate seat until elections next year.
The younger Chafee said he shares his dad's moderate
"pro-environment" stance.
straight to the source: New York Times, Lizette Alvarez, 11.03.99
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/washpol/smith-environ.html
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Art Pine, 11.03.99
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/19991103/t000099761.html
BONN FIRE
Emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary cause of climate change,
would be cut by 4.6 percent if eight major developing nations
scrapped their energy subsidies, according to a report released
yesterday by the International Energy Agency. Energy consumption
in the nations, which include China, India, Indonesia, and Iran,
would be reduced by 13 percent and gross domestic product would
grow by 1 percent through increased economic efficiency, the
report found. Meanwhile, delegates to international climate
change talks being held in Bonn, Germany, are making little or no
headway in hammering out details of the Kyoto treaty on climate
change. Some negotiators are expressing serious doubts that the
Kyoto Protocol can be made to adequately address the threat of
global warming.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 11.03.99
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=4518
straight to the source: BBC News, Alex Kirby, 11.03.99
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_503000/503640.stm
(earthsystems.org editor's note: Will people let Mr. Smith know we like
Jimmy Stewart better? And can Mr. Smith do the Kyoto?)
IF WE'VE SAID IT ONCE, WE'VE SAID IT A THOUSAND TIMES ...
Without action to curb emissions of greenhouse gases, average global
temperatures would rise about 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the next
80 years, causing sea levels to rise and landlocked glaciers to
melt, according to new research conducted by the U.K.'s
Meteorological Office. Up to 94 million people would be displaced
as sea levels rose by nearly 16 inches, and an additional 290
million people would be at risk of malaria, according to the report.
A separate study published in the journal Nature has found that
climate change can alter the behavior of predators and therefore
change the balance of ecosystems. Researchers conducted a
long-term study of wolves on an island sanctuary in Lake Superior
and found that during harsher winters the wolves traveled in
larger packs and were more successful at hunting moose, their
favorite prey, causing moose populations to decline while the
number of balsam fir saplings, which moose eat, increased.
straight to the source: BBC News, 11.02.99
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_502000/502341.stm
straight to the source: New York Times, Henry Fountain, 11.02.99
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/110299sci-observatory.html
To subscribe to THE DAILY GIST, send an email to grist@gristmagazine.com
with the word "subscribe" in the subject line, or click
here,http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/gist/.
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>From Environmental Defense Fund:
http://www.edf.org/
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NEW SCORECARD GUIDE MAKES IT EASY IN TWO LANGUAGES
A new online guide to EDF's Scorecard web site shows you how to
get the real story on toxics in your neighborhood -- and how to
organize and take action! Available for download in English and
Spanish.
http://www.scorecard.org/about/guide.html
HOW DOES THAT HOUSE RATE ON THE GREEN SCALE?
(From the editors of E Magazine): Unlike homebuyers in the 1950's,
today's buyers often have environmentally friendly options to
choose from. Check out the homebuyers' green scale.
http://www.edf.org/pubs/emagazine/1999/checklist.html
To start receiving your own copy of EDF DISPATCH, just fill in
this simple form on the web:
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