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New at earthsystems.org
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Issue of the Week:
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World Population: The world population
topped 6 billion people last week. Explore
the issues this turn of events presents.
http://earthsystems.org/issues.html
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Poll of the Week:
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Are we in danger of overpopulation in your lifetime?
http://earthsystems.org/poll.html
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>From Gist:
http://www.gristmagazine.com
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GREENHOUSE COSTS A BUNCH OF HOT AIR
Fighting global warming might cost the U.S. and
other industrialized nations far less than most
analysts have predicted, according to a new study in
today's issue of the journal Nature. Previous
estimates of the cost of complying with the Kyoto
climate change treaty have focused almost exclusively
on reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, the main
greenhouse gas. But when researchers examined the
cost of cutting all six greenhouse gases covered by the
Kyoto Protocol in the least expensive ways possible, as
compared to investing solely in CO2 reductions, they
found that the cost of treaty compliance could drop by
as much as 60 percent. Daniel Lashof of the Natural
Resources Defense Council, a global warming expert who
did not participate in the study, said the costs
could drop even further if one considered future
developments in pollution control technology and the
possibility that greenhouse gas emissions reductions
could be achieved relatively cheaply overseas.
straight to the source: Philadelphia Inquirer,
Associated Press, Chris Tomlinson, 10.07.99
http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/99/Oct/07/international/WARM07.htm
FOREST GUMPTION
Ever eager to leave a green legacy, Pres. Clinton is annouincing
an initiative today to protect up to 40 million acres of national
forest land in 35 states from commercial development. The
directive will ask the U.S. Forest Service to analyze how best
to protect forest land that is still undeveloped and roadless,
much of it in the West, particularly the Rocky Mountain states
and California. The scale of the proposal is dramatic: It
would protect an area equal in size to Virginia and West
Virginia combined, encompassing more than 20 percent of the
national forest system. The administration believes the
undertaking can be accomplished without congressional approval,
but a number of Western lawmakers will surely try to undermine
the effort. Enviros are mostly optimistic about the plan, though
they are concerned that the nation's biggest national forest,
the Tongass in Alaska, might not be included in it.
straight to the source: Washington Post, Tom Kenworthy, 10.08.99
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/oct99/forest8.htm
straight to the source: New York Times, David Stout, 10.08.99
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/washpol/national-forests.html
Editor's Note: Watch for Congressional leaders to squeal and
claim Clinton is exceeding his authority. These kinds of
actions (like not even ratifying the test ban treaty) flies
in the face of American public opinion. More than
75% of Americans support ratifying the treaty and
protecting national treasures.
Vice Pres. Al Gore accused GOP presidential frontrunner
Gov. George W. Bush yesterday of letting Texas become
the most polluted state in the nation, number one in toxic
releases into the air, water, and soil, according to EPA numbers,
and home to Houston, the city with the worst smog in the country.
A Bush spokesperson dismissed Gore as having a "long history of
weird and extreme environmental ideas," including support for
the Kyoto climate change treaty. Gore made his remarks at a
fundraising lunch thrown for him by leading New York enviros,
including Lawrence Rockefeller, who crossed party lines to endorse
Gore, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The event was held in part to
counter the endorsement that Friends of the Earth recently gave to
Gore's Democratic rival Bill Bradley.
straight to the source: New York Times, Katherine Q. Seelye, 10.08.99
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/100899wh-dem-gore.html
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner,
Associated Press, Beth J. Harpaz, 10.08.99
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/1999/10/08/politics0223EDT0450.DTL
SOMETHING'S ROCKIN' IN DENMARK
Denmark, the world's wind-power powerhouse, has embarked
on a 10-year government project to run an entire community,
the island of Samso, solely on renewable energy. The country
already gets 7 percent of its electricity from wind, and by
2030 that percentage should rise to 50, according to the Danish
Ministry of Environment and Energy. Denmark's eco-conscious
populace is supportive of the shift to clean energy: Eighty
percent of the country's windmills are owned by individuals or
cooperatives. Wind power has also become big business for
Denmark, which manufactures more than 50 percent of the
world's wind turbines and exports them to 35 countries.
straight to the source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
New York Times, Warren Hoge, 10.12.99
http://www.seattle-pi.com/national/dane12.shtml
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>From tidepool.org:
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High Court Urged to Uphold Citizen Pollution Lawsuit
When Congress passed the Clean Water Act 27 years ago, it
included a "citizen suit" provision authorizing private
individuals to sue polluters and collect fines that would
go not to the successful plaintiffs but directly to the
Federal treasury. In the face of growing judicial hostility
to such suits, a case argued today before the Supreme Court
could determine whether that provision, and similar clauses
in other Federal environmental laws, would continue to be of
much use.
(10.13.99) From the New York Times
(10.13.99) From ABCNEWS.com
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