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earthsystems.org news Volume 2 Issue 29
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FROM EARTHSYSTEMS.ORG:
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ISSUE AND POLL OF THE WEEK
We are extending last week's issue and poll of the
week through this week. Come tell us who you
rely on for accurate environmental information.
2000 SUMMER ASSESSMENT
As you and people in your region crank the air conditioner up another notch,
you may want to know the outlook for electric power brownouts or service
disruptions during peak loads. The North American Electric Reliability
Council (NERC) has published its latest analysis of your regional sub-grid's
readiness for summer power demands. The report, "2000 Summer Assessment:
Reliability of the Bulk Electricity Supply in North America" can be
downloaded from http://www.nerc.com/~ac/syscond.html.
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FROM WORLDWATCH:
http:// www.worldwatch.org
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20TH CENTURY POWER SYSTEM INCOMPATIBLE WITH DIGITAL ECONOMY
Study Calls for Greater Use of Micropower Today's giant coal and nuclear
power plants are failing to provide the high-quality, reliable electricity
needed to power the new digital economy, according to a new report from
the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, DC-based research organization.
Power interruptions due to the vulnerability of central power plants and
transmission lines cost the United States as much as $80 billion annually.
"We're beginning the 21st century with a power system that cannot take our
economy where it needs to go," said Seth Dunn, author of Micropower: The Next
Electrical Era. "The kind of highly reliable power needed for today's economy
can only be based on a new generation of micropower devices now coming on the
market. These allow homes and businesses to produce their own electricity,
with far less pollution."
The new micropower technologies, which include fuel cells, microturbines, and
solar roofing, are as small as one-millionth the scale of today's coal or
nuclear plants-and produce little if any of the air pollution of their larger
cousins. Already, the multi-billion-dollar potential of the market for
micropower has sent investors scrambling to buy into some of the new
companies, sending their share prices soaring earlier this year.
Further info: www.worldwatch.org
AFRICA IS DYING
The recent International AIDS conference in Durban, South Africa, reminds us
that Africa is dying. The HIV epidemic that is raging across Africa is now
taking some 6,030 lives each day, the equivalent of 15 fully loaded jumbo jets
crashing--with no survivors. This number, climbing higher each year, is
expected to double during this decade.
Public attention has initially focused on the dramatic rise in adult
mortality and the precipitous drop in life expectancy. But we need now to look
at the longer term economic consequences--falling food production,
deteriorating health care, and disintegrating educational systems.
Effectively dealing with this epidemic and the heavy loss of adults will
make the rebuilding of Europe after World War II seem like child's
play by comparison. Further info: http://www.worldwatch.org/chairman
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FROM ENS
http://ens/lycos.com
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ELECTRIC POSTAL VEHICLE DEBUTS IN LOS ANGELES
LOS ANGEL^¸±úCalifornia, July 17, 2000 (ENS) - The first two
electric vehicles (EV) from the largest EV order in U.S. history have
started to appear near Los Angeles. The Ford EV will be used by the
U.S. Postal Service (USPS), and the first two units will be placed into
use by the Fountain Valley Post Office. Five hundred EVs will be
evaluated in the first phase of the program, and USPS has an option
to purchase an additional 5,500 units based on the vehicle's
performance and cost effectiveness. The units are produced in a
joint venture between Ford Motor and Baker Electromotive of Rome,
New York.
Full Story: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jul2000/2000L-07-17-09.html
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FROM GRIST:
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/gist
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KISS AND TELECOMMUTE
This Friday will be the first National Work at Home Day, aimed at
encouraging employees to give telecommuting a try, for the sake of
the planet and their own productivity. About 19.6 million Americans
telecommuted to work in 1999, up from 4 million in 1990, and that
number will continue to grow as technology and the Internet make it
easier for many people to do their work from their own domiciles.
Fewer folks trekking to offices means fewer cars clogging the roads
and polluting the air. And word is that people who work at home,
even just one day a week, are often more productive.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Jan Paschal, 07.19.00
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=7512
SIMPLY GRAND
Thousands of Californians are embracing a new state program that
gives residents $1,000 to junk cars and trucks that fail to meet
emission standards. The program, launched July 7, aims to take
50,000 polluting clunkers off the roads over the next four years.
Residents can alternatively get up to $500 to make repairs that will
help their vehicles pass smog checks. The state is spending $2.7
million on radio and TV ads this summer to advertise the program, and
the publicity drive is working. Between 550 and 1,000 Californians
have been calling the government each day for program information and
applications.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Nancy Vogel, 07.17.00
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20000717/t000067163.html
RARA AVIS
Travelers to some U.S. cities can now rent eco-friendly cars. EV
Rental Cars opened its first site at the Los Angeles airport in
December 1998 and has since expanded to several other California
airports. The company recently struck a long-term deal with Budget
Rent-a-Car and has plans to open sites this year in Atlanta, Dallas,
Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C. Its fleets include
natural gas, electric, and gas-electric hybrid cars made by Honda,
Toyota, and others.
straight to the source: Christian Science Monitor, 07.17.00
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/07/17/f-p12s3.shtml
THE DARK SIDE OF PAK MOON
Poor citizens of Thailand have begun teaming up with non-governmental
organizations and academics to protest environmentally destructive
development projects being undertaken without their input. Over the
past year and a half, thousands of people have demonstrated in the
village of Pak Moon against a hydroelectric dam, funded in part by
the World Bank, which is blocking the migration of fish that locals
depend on. Last month, protestors halted operations at the dam's
hydroelectric plant and got the authorities to agree to open the
dam's floodgates for four months of the year to allow fish migration.
"Poor people have been losers in the country's modernization for a
long time, but we won't accept that any more,'' said Boonmee
Khamraung, whose family farm is now at the bottom of the reservoir
behind Pak Moon Dam.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner, Associated
Press, Busaba Sivasomboon, 06.30.00
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2000/06/30/international0338EDT0454.DTL
ENRIQUE SUAVE
Enrique Penalosa, mayor of Bogota, Colombia, is championing the
bicycle as the means to a cleaner environment and has directed the
city to build nearly 125 miles of permanent bike paths. Penalosa
instigated a car-less day in the city in June and a recent poll found
that Bogota residents would support another car-less day, though they
may be less enthusiastic about Penalosa's plans to call for a
permanent ban on all cars in the city by 2015. But some enviros are
critical of the mayor's efforts, pointing out that many trees have
been chopped down to make room for the bike paths. Activists have
tacked signs onto some trees that read, "This tree is condemned to
death," and, "If you hear the chainsaw hug me." Others criticize
Penalosa for neglecting public transport.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Paloma Dallas, 07.18.00
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=7489
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