Environmental Articles
Donald L Ferrt
Headline:
March 26, 2002 Talk about it E-mail story Print
THE STATE
Regional Forest Service Jobs, Research May Get Budget Ax
Environment: The station serving California and Hawaii may lose 40
positions, two labs and scientific studies of birds, weather and land
management.
By BETTINA BOXALL, TIMES STAFF WRITER
Next year's proposed federal budget would cut U.S. Forest Service
research in California in a number of controversial areas, force the
closing of two labs in the state and eliminate 40 positions in the
Pacific Southwest Research Station.
"These changes will have significant impacts," station Director
Hilda-Diaz Soltero said in a newsletter outlining the budget proposal.
The reductions reflect a national shift in Forest Service research
that calls for cuts in some ongoing programs to fund a handful of new
initiatives favored by the Bush Administration. Forest Service
research on wildlife, aquatic species, fire-weather forecasting and
forest growth would be eliminated or reduced in California. In their
place, the research station would embark on projects involving
computer modeling, the use of woody materials to produce energy, and
research on Sudden Oak Death, a lethal tree disease. Soltero could not
be reached for comment, and Matt Mathes, a U.S. Forest Service
spokesman in California, emphasized that the proposal was "the first
step in an always lengthy budget process." What is being discussed now
"may not hold true later," he added. ... (cont)
==========================
Headline:
Revolutionary recycling team running out of uses for itself
03/26/02
MICHELLE COLE
No one can quite explain why less stuff is being dropped off at the
Portland Recycling Team's three centers in Portland and Lake Oswego,
but if the trend continues the collection centers will be closed for
good.
An end of an organization and the end of an era.
"Maybe it's time for us to go away. I don't know," said Barbara
Johnston, a member of the Portland Recycling Team's board of
directors. "We always knew there would come a time when it might be
over."
Started in 1970, the Portland Recycling Team predates the Oregon
Bottle Bill and curbside recycling collection.
Jerry Powell, who founded the nonprofit while attending graduate
school at Portland State University, said the Portland Recycling Team
helped prove to state and local policy-makers that the public was
willing to recycle. In the early days, the truly dedicated loaded
their newspapers, plastics and cans into their cars and drove to a
Portland Recycling Team drop-off site.
Today the three recycling centers, in North and Northwest Portland and
in Lake Oswego, still take paper, cans and plastics. They also accept
items that are too big to be put out on the curb, such as broken-down
appliances and water heaters. And they take in items not accepted at
the curb, such as plastic yogurt and margarine tubs.
The Portland Recycling Team sells the materials to processors and
manufacturers, which means its fortunes have always been dependent on
fickle markets. ... (cont)
==================================================
http://www.msnbc.com/news/727929.asp
Headline:
Report criticizes nuclear scrap policy
No health threat found, but experts urge policy changes
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, March 22 — The federal government inconsistently decides
whether slightly radioactive materials should be recycled, put in a
landfill or securely stored, according to a new National Academy of
Sciences report. ... (cont)
==================
http://www.canoe.com/AllAboutCanoesNews/mar08_birds-cp.html
Headline:
Friday March 8, 2002
N.S. fishermen catch dying oiled birds
By ALISON AULD-- The Canadian Press
HALIFAX (CP) -- Fishermen off the coast of Nova Scotia have been
plucking a pitiful catch from their nets -- tiny oiled birds,
struggling to get aboard their boats and out of contaminated waters.
Boats plying the waters near the Emerald Basin off Sambro, N.S., came
across dozens of oil-soaked murres and dovekies as crews pulled up
their nets Friday.
"We hauled a bag of fish up and they jumped on top to get in the warm
and out of the water," Harold Henneberry said from his boat The Silent
Provider.
"The humane thing to do would be to kill them because they were
suffering, the poor devils. If you seen them in the water you'd know
they were suffering.
"They were freezing to death."
Henneberry said several other boats in the area reported pulling in
birds on their nets, many of them drenched in a thick oily substance.
Environment Canada suspects bulk carriers passing through Canadian
waters are dumping their waste material out at sea to avoid paying to
have their tanks cleaned properly.
Officials say more than 400 oiled birds have been spotted out at sea
or have washed up on beaches along the entire coast in the last three
weeks.
Most have had to be killed because the oil contaminates their organs
or weakens them to the point they can't survive.
"All we know is that everywhere we look we're seeing more," Tony Lock,
an expert with Environment Canada, said after meeting with fishermen
who hauled up some birds.
"We've seen several hundred which undoubtedly means several thousand
have died. But we get particularly alarmed when we hear that birds are
clambering aboard boats to get out of the water."
For weeks, Lock and other marine wildlife scientists have been combing
beaches from Cape Breton to the southern tip of the province, scooping
up dead or dying birds. ... (cont)
=================
Headline:
Energy secretary got an earful from industry, met no
environmentalists, documents show
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
The Associated Press
3/26/02 2:23 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham held at least
eight private meetings with industry leaders but none with
environmentalists as the administration crafted its energy plan, newly
released documents show.
The meetings between Abraham and the energy industry executives were
disclosed in thousands of papers made public Monday related to agency
participation in Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force in
early 2001.
Critics of the administration's energy policies have long argued that
industry had an open door to top-level administration policy makers,
while those advocating conservation, energy efficiency improvements
and renewable energy sources were given largely lip service.
Abraham said in a statement that the 11,000 pages of documents --
everything from daily schedules to congressional testimony -- "will
further confirm" that the administration sought out a wide range of
views, including that of environmentalists.
But the papers document no top-level meetings with advocates of energy
efficiency or renewable energy sources such as wind or solar power.
The department took pains to note that the documents also catalogue 23
requests that were denied for meetings mostly with industry
representatives to discuss the energy plan. Among those turned down
were Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skillings of Enron Corp.
While documents included reams of energy policy statements including
some from environmental groups such as the Wilderness Society, it was
the industry executives who had the access to Abraham, a key member of
Cheney's task force.
In all, three dozen energy executives and lobbyists participated in
eight meeting with Abraham from mid-February to late April of 2001.
The Cheney energy report was released in May.
He met with a top executive of the American Coal Co.; officials of the
Independent Petroleum Association of America; the chairman of
Utilicorp, a major power company to discuss electricity deregulation;
and with a half dozen utility executives and other oil and gas
industry leaders.
A "drop-by" session to "discuss nuclear energy's role" in the Bush
energy plan lasted 30 minutes on March 20 and included the head of the
Nuclear Energy Institute, chairman of Westinghouse and the chief
executives of a half dozen major nuclear power utilities.
Industry's access was shown in other papers among the 3,000 Energy
Department documents and 4,000 documents also released Monday by the
Environmental Protection Agency.
In one e-mail to Joe Kelliher, the DOE's point man on the Cheney task
force, an official of Southern Company, the Atlanta-based power
conglomerate, offers reasons why the administration should revamp a
clean air regulation known as "New Source Review" which is at the
heart of a series of ongoing lawsuits against Southern and several
other utilities.
"I hope this is helpful," the utility official, Michael Riith, wrote
Kelliher, adding, "I look forward to lunch on Tuesday."
The Cheney task force called for the EPA to review the clean air
regulation -- a review expected to lead to an easing of the
regulation.
Among the papers also were EPA documents revealing an oil industry
push to ease state regulation of so-called "boutique" gasoline blends
and auto industry pressure to ease federal fuel economy rules.
One of the oil companies, Citco, urged the administration "to exercise
federal authority to prevent states" from establishing separate fuel
standards. The Cheney task force urged EPA to deal with the boutique
fuels issue.
Also among the Energy Department and EPA papers was a three-page memo
from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers declaring that the
federal auto fuel economy rule, known as CAFE, "is an ineffective
energy policy." ... (cont)
=======================
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0322/p02s01-usgn.html
Headline:
Jaws it's not, but new US resident is no pal
By Jennifer LeClaire | Special to The Christian Science Monitor
MIAMI BEACH, FLA. – It hasn't exactly reached Spielbergian infamy, but
a new invader – carnivorous and packing nasty venom in its spines – is
prowling the waters off the East Coast, causing scientists to scratch
their heads and divers and fishermen to think twice.
East Coast sightings of the lionfish – pterois volitans – have been
reported by divers since the early 1990s. But confirmation came last
month when a commercial fisherman off St. Augustine, Fla. hauled in a
6.75-inch lionfish and state scientists issued a warning to divers and
anglers. Since then there have been numerous sightings, from south
Florida up to North Carolina and Long Island.
How this species made the 10,000-mile swim to the Atlantic from its
native waters of the western Pacific off southeast Asia and Australia
is a riddle that leaves marine biologists scratching their heads – and
the rest of the swimming public just wondering how to avoid the
creature.
The lionfish thus joins the ranks of invasive species whose
better-known and widely despised members include the European green
crab, Asian eels, and zebra mussel. Although it's too early to measure
just how many waves the lionfish will make on the Atlantic Coast,
other unwelcome creatures already have a record of causing serious
problems for local ecosystems.
"When a new species is introduced into an area, it can take over the
niche, or job, of a native species, sometimes thriving to such a
degree as to squeeze the native out of house and home," says Thane
Maynard, of the Conservation Foundation in Cincinnati... (cont)
===================================
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0321/p11s02-sten.html
Headline:
What's in the water?
Better detection tools reveal possible ecological 'villains' – from
hormones to fire retardants – in US streams and rivers
By Peter N. Spotts | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
From its headwaters at Echo Lake in Hopkinton, Mass., the Charles
River glides past yards, saturates wetlands, and slips under highways
before emptying into Boston Harbor.
Over the years, this 80-mile odyssey through 23 cities and towns has
left what seemed to be a faint imprint on the Charles's tea-colored
water. But advances in the ability to detect pollutants are giving
scientists a clearer idea of the nature of that imprint – and is also
triggering interest in research on whether these pose a threat to the
environment and to humans.
The chemicals range from fire retardants and detergent byproducts to
prescription drugs, antibiotics, and hormones.
Known as organic-waste contaminants, these compounds pass through
sewage-treatment plants virtually untreated. They represent the
vanguard of what researchers have dubbed emerging contaminants:
chemicals whose presence in US rivers, streams, and lakes has gone
undetected for years and whose effects – singly and in combination –
on fish, aquatic plants, and humans often are poorly understood.
Last week, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) released its
first survey of organic-waste contaminants in US surface waters, and
the Charles River has plenty of company. Researchers found
organic-waste contaminants in 80 percent of the 139 streams and rivers
that were tested in 30 states.
During the course of the survey, which ran from 1999 through 2000, the
researchers found 82 compounds out of the 95 they sought.
The researchers acknowledge that the sites were selected because they
presented a high likelihood that the contaminants would be found. The
survey was as much a test of new sampling technologies as it was an
exercise in environmental monitoring. But the target compounds also
were selected because several are beginning to appear in scientific
journals as potential ecological villains.
According to Herbert Buxton, a USGS scientist who took part in the
survey, "Thirty-three compounds are known or suspected to be
hormonally active." These chemicals, which include steroids, can
affect the growth and development of aquatic life.
Assessing the risk earlier ... (cont)
Harold
[deleted]
>
> http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?f0011_BC_Cheney-Energy&&news&newsflash-financial
>
> Headline:
>
> Energy secretary got an earful from industry, met no
> environmentalists, documents show
>
>
> By H. JOSEF HEBERT
> The Associated Press
> 3/26/02 2:23 AM
>
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) -- Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham held at least
> eight private meetings with industry leaders but none with
> environmentalists as the administration crafted its energy plan, newly
> released documents show.
>
> The meetings between Abraham and the energy industry executives were
> disclosed in thousands of papers made public Monday related to agency
> participation in Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force in
> early 2001.
I wonder why the AP did not mention this:
http://www.washtimes.com./business/20020327-71573628.htm
The Bush administration sought the advice of environmental groups in
drafting its energy plan, but several declined to participate or
suggested that Bush officials check their Web sites for information,
just-released documents show.
A month and a half before President Bush's energy plan was announced,
the Energy Department contacted Greenpeace, the Sierra Club,
Environmental Defense, the World Resources Institute, Resources for
the Future and four other groups to discuss conservation and energy
efficiency.
However, an unstated number of other environmental groups rebuffed
administration overtures.
[deleted]
Regards, Harold
-----
"The environmental movement ...had to adopt ever more extreme
positions
because all the reasonable ones were being accepted."
- Patrick Moore, Ph.D., founder of GreenPeace, New
Scientist, Dec 25, 1999
Ian St. John
"Harold" <haroldb...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:94684428.02032...@posting.google.com...
The energy industry met with the energy sectretary. Someone involved in
drafting the energy policy. The environmental groups met with EPA officials.
People with no say in the administration. Of course, it did keep them quiet
while the real negotiations continued..
Donald L Ferrt
Well let us continue that article you referenced for further
enlightenment:
....
"Not all organizations were responsive. Several did not return
phone calls and messages," including the Natural Resources Defense
Council, the Energy Department said in an August 2001 letter to the
General Accounting Office, which was released Monday night.
The NRDC is one of the groups that has accused the Bush
administration of leaving environmentalists out of the drafting
process and sued to obtain copies of internal documents showing whom
Bush officials consulted in drafting the energy plan. The NRDC
submitted a Freedom of Information Act request in April 2001, a month
before the energy plan was released.
NRDC spokesman Elliott Negin said yesterday that after receiving
a call from "low-level" Energy Department staff, the group referred
them to a previously written report, "A Responsible Energy Policy for
the 21st Century," because it was given only 24 hours to provide its
recommendations.
He said the Energy Department contacted environmental groups well
after it sought the advice of industry groups and only because it was
"getting hammered" in the press for excluding conservation from its
energy strategy.
The NRDC, Sierra Club and about a dozen other groups tried to
arrange a meeting with Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham by letter on
Feb. 20 but were told that he was "too busy," Mr. Negin said.
Fifteen leading environmentalists finally did get a meeting on
April 4 with Andrew D. Lundquist, the director of the energy task
force. But "nothing substantive" was discussed, and the meeting was
only "a sop" to environmentalists, Mr. Negin said.
Included among the 11,000 pages of documents released late Monday
by the department were stacks of papers from the Wilderness Society,
AARP, Sierra Club, NRDC and other consumer and environmental groups,
which the department said were carefully studied by staff.
Also included were position papers and memos provided by industry
groups such as the American Gas Association, American Petroleum
Institute and Nuclear Energy Institute. The documents show extensive
exchanges of e-mails with some industry representatives, though most
of the substance of that correspondence and the correspondence within
the administration was whited out.
The schedules of Mr. Abraham and his top staff show that they met
primarily with industry officials, executives, members of Congress and
other government officials, and had no meetings with environmentalists
or consumer groups.
Not provided in Monday's release from the administration were the
schedules of Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christie
Whitman, the administration's main liaison with environmentalists and
an important member of the task force.
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said the environmental
agencies met "routinely" with the advocacy groups. "It's no surprise
to anybody that the secretary of energy meets with energy-related
groups," he said.
The department said it denied 23 requests for meetings from
industry representatives, including Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling
of Enron Corp. Much of the litigation aimed at forcing the release of
the documents has been justified as serving the investigation into
abuses at Enron, which in December filed for the largest bankruptcy in
U.S. history.
The documents show that the administration sought the advice of
industry groups on such issues as how to increase the output of
gasoline at refineries, how to increase the efficiency of the nation's
electrical grid and where geological stores of natural gas are most
likely to be found in the continental United States.
The administration also considered touting industry
accomplishments, such as an innovative Texaco coal-gasification plant
and a Reliant clean-coal power plant as examples of future energy
technologies.
However, the wish lists that industry groups presented to the
administration rarely appeared to be incorporated in full into the
plan. Rather, the administration appeared to adopt selected federal
subsidies, legislative proposals and regulatory rollbacks proposed by
the businesses.
The administration says, for example, that it included only four
out of 25 recommendations from the American Petroleum Institute and
two out of 20 recommendations from the National Mining Association.
By contrast, it says it adopted nearly half of the 17
recommendations in the NRDC's report. But Mr. Negin said that that
"probably is the biggest lie since the Nixon administration" and that
the administration is using "Enron accounting."
===================
HMMM Looks a bit differenct now Harold!