****************************************
earthsystems.org news Volume 2 Issue 35
Please, visit our site:
http://earthsystems.org
****************************************
*****************************
FROM EARTHSYSTEMS.ORG:
*****************************
************************
ISSUE OF THE WEEK
************************
Telecommuting - a big benefit to the environment. Is is right for
you?
http://earthsystems.org/issues.html
************************
POLL OF THE WEEK
************************
If offered at your work place, would you telecommute?
http://earthsystems.org/issues.html
*************************************
FROM GRIST:
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/gist
*************************************
BEET NIX
A study published today in Science found that the planting of
genetically engineered sugar beets could cause a dramatic decline in
England's already waning skylark population. The British researchers
argue that sugar beets engineered to be resistant to herbicides will
allow farmers to use more powerful sprays to wipe out weeds, possibly
leading to a 90 percent reduction in the weed that produces seeds
crucial to the skylark's diet. The study is likely to find a
concerned audience in England, where the skylark has been celebrated
in poetry and suspicion of genetically engineered foods is already
high. Some American scientists, however, questioned the study's
reliance on computer models rather than field research.
straight to the source: London Guardian, Tim Radford, 09.01.00
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4057697,00.html
straight to the source: BBC News, 08.31.00
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_904000/904948.stm
straight to the source: MSNBC, Associated Press, 09.01.00
http://www.msnbc.com/news/453954.asp
OOH, BURNED!
Reduced logging on national forests does not seem to be a cause for
wildfires in the West, says the bipartisan Congressional Research
Service. In a study requested by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the
service found that if anything, heavy logging in the past may be
partially to blame for creating forests more prone to catching fire
by removing big trees that act as fire retardants and leaving behind
smaller trees and brush that are much more flammable. Over the last
month, Republicans in Congress and Texas Gov. George W. Bush have
said that reduced logging levels under the Clinton administration
have been a cause of rampant wildfires this year. The administration
next week is slated to release a plan recommending that controlled
burns and thinning be used to manage the 40 million acres of federal
forest most at risk of wildfire. Some enviros are wary that major
forest cuts could be billed as thinning projects in order to boost
logging levels for timber companies.
straight to the source: New York Times, Timothy Egan, 09.01.00
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/090100western-fires.html
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner, Associated Press, John Hughes, 09.01.00
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2000/09/01/national0156EDT0438.DTL
DUMP AND DUMBER
In a ruling that could have serious implications for the environment,
an independent NAFTA tribunal decided on Wednesday that Mexico must
pay a California company $16.7 million in damages because municipal
authorities prevented the company from opening a hazardous waste
treatment plant in the state of San Luis Potosi. Mexico is appealing
the decision, arguing that it violates the constitutional powers of
municipal governments. Mexican officials say the company, Metalclad,
bought a dump under the condition that it would clean up hazwaste
pollution in the area, but the company changed its plans and tried to
expand the dump. Michelle Swenarchuk of the Canadian Environmental
Law Association said the decision confirms some environmentalists'
fears that NAFTA and the environment are at odds. Swenarchuk said,
"This case is a terrible example of how necessary environmental
controls can become near impossible for local communities."
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, James S. Smith, 09.01.00
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20000901/t000081992.html
straight to the source: Toronto Globe and Mail, Heather Scoffield, 09.01.00
http://www.globeandmail.com/gam/Environment/20000901/IBNAFT.html
BREACH OF DECORUM
To highlight its unhappiness with Japan's decision to expand whale
hunting in the North Pacific, the U.S. said yesterday that it will
boycott two international environmental meetings being hosted over
the next two weeks in Japan, cancel a meeting between U.S. and
Japanese fisheries officials, and oppose the choice of Japan as the
location for a meeting next year of the International Whaling
Commission. The U.S. said it is also considering economic sanctions
against Japan. In addition to expanding its hunt of minke whales,
Japan said earlier this year that it will hunt sperm and Bryde's
whales for the first time in 13 years. The country contends that its
hunts are conducted for scientific research and thus do not violate
an international moratorium on commercial whaling.
straight to the source: Washington Post, John Lancaster, 08.31.00
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52672-2000Aug30.html
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner, Associated Press, 08.31.00
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2000/08/31/international0502EDT0459.DTL
YEAH, I'M THE TAX, MAN
Automakers avoided $10.2 billion in taxes on 1999 models of SUVs,
pick-up trucks, vans, and minivans because of a loophole in the law
establishing fuel-efficiency standards, says Friends of the Earth.
Automakers are required to pay a tax on gas-guzzling passenger cars
that don't meet fuel-efficiency standards, but light-duty trucks are
currently exempt from the tax. The environmental group is calling
for an end to the exemption. A spokesperson for the Alliance of Auto
Manufacturers said the report exaggerates the size of the
hypothetical tax and asserted that competition would lead to more
efficient vehicles over time.
straight to the source: Seattle Times, Associated Press, Curt Anderson, 08.31.00
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/nation-world/html98/guzl31_20000831.html
MOVIN' ON UP
Global warming could dramatically change a third of the world's plant
and animal habitat and drive some species to extinction by 2100,
according to a report by the World Wildlife Fund. The report says
that areas in the high northern latitudes, such as northern Russia,
Scandinavia, and Canada, are likely to be hardest hit, with as much
as 70 percent of their habitat adversely affected. In the U.S., most
of the northern spruce and fir forests of New England and New York
state could be lost. Adam Markham, one of the report's authors,
said, "In some places, plants would need to be able to move 10 times
faster than they did during the last ice age merely to survive." The
predictions are based on the assumption that the amount of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere will double from pre-industrial levels by
2100.
straight to the source: BBC News, Alex Kirby, 08.30.00 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_901000/901147.stm
******************************************
To subscribe to DAILY GRIST, click here
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/daily/
or send a blank email message to
daily-grist-subscribe@egroups.com.
******************************************
******************************
FROM TIDEPOOL.ORG:
http://www.tidepool.org
******************************
(more on the puddle story!)
North Pole is Melting -- Well, It's More Complicated Than That
"The North Pole is melting" declared the lead story in The New York Times two
weeks ago. In a story that surprised readers across the nation, the Times
reported that "an ice-free patch of ocean about a mile wide has opened at the
very top of the world, something that has presumably never before been seen
by humans. . . . "The last time scientists can be certain the pole was awash
in water was more than 50 million years ago." The paper characterized the
observation, made by scientists and tourists on a July trip to the Pole
aboard a Russian icebreaker, as evidence of global warming's relentless
acceleration in the Arctic. Not exactly, the paper admitted a week later.
(9-4-00) From Anchorage Daily News
http://www.adn.com/nation/story/0,2360,191852,00.html
Many Workers Saying Timeout to Overtime
Even as millions of U.S. workers celebrate economic good times this Labor Day
weekend, many are complaining about mandatory, or forced, overtime. Federal
law requires companies to pay hourly employees extra if they work more than
40 hours a week. But nothing except union contracts can stop the companies
from ordering workers to stay late or come in on weekends and from firing
them if they don't. Managers and employees have fought over the appropriate
length of the workweek since the U.S. labor movement began in the 19th
century, but recent workplace changes have created new frictions. Facing a
tight labor market and the intense competitive pressure of the
round-the-clock economy, it's no surprise that companies are trying to
squeeze as much as they can from their employees. What's new is that workers,
including the ever-growing number of women on the job, are beginning to balk.
(9-4-00) From the Washington Post
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7713-2000Sep3.html
******************************************************
Listowners: Please feel free to re-distribute this
update to your lists.
******************************************************
******************************************************
earthsystems.org News is distributed weekly to our
members and others who have expressed interest in our
work. It is archived at:
http://earthsystems.org/list/members
******************************************************
******************************************************
If you do not wish to receive further mailings, please
write to members-request@earthsystems.org and make the
subject unsubscribe. If you have any problems or
questions, please write to www@earthsystems.org
******************************************************
Other Archives - Generated on : Thu Sep 07 2000 - 15:31:21 EDT