[Mb-civic] Important environews

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

BUSTING THEIR ASSETS
Analysts Warn Automakers of Coming Climate-Change Risks

If one thing catches the attention of a large corporation -- 
actually, strike the "if" -- it is the risk of declining profits.  So it
may be that U.S. automakers will have to take global warming seriously
after all.  A recent report from financial analysts at the investment
group Sustainable Asset Management and the enviro-policy shop World
Resources Institute claims that automakers in general, and Ford and
General Motors in particular, are at risk from the "carbon intensity" of
their operations.  The analysts noted two trends: First is the growing
worldwide pressure to cut carbon-dioxide emissions by raising fuel-economy
standards, with regulations already underway in Europe, China, and
California.  The second is pressure inside the U.S. to reduce dependence
on foreign energy sources (read: oil).  While Honda and Toyota are
well-placed to weather the storm, Ford and GM, with their market reliance
on gas-guzzling light trucks, are not.  Ford welcomed the report and
pledged to put eco-friendliness top on their list of priorities; GM mostly
kvetched.

straight to the source:  The New York Times, Danny Hakim, 25 Jul 2004
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2740>


TRAIN HAS LEFT THE STATION
Republican Ex-EPA Chief Criticizes Bush

"It's almost as if the motto of the administration in power today in
Washington is not environmental protection, but polluter protection." Why,
what sort of pinko environmental extremist would say such a thing?  Meet
Russell Train, a Republican, chief of the U.S. EPA under Nixon and Ford,
co-chair of Conservationists for Bush during the 1988 presidential
campaign, and one fed-up dude.  Claiming Bush II has betrayed a legacy of
eco-friendly conservatives that stretched from Theodore Roosevelt to
George H.W. Bush, Train yesterday vowed to vote for John Kerry in
November.  He was joined at a news conference -- organized by
Environment2004, a group campaigning to oust Bush -- by two New Hampshire
Republicans, state Rep. Jim Pilliod and former state Sen. Rick Russman,
who stopped short of endorsing Kerry but stressed the importance of
environmental issues.

straight to the source:  The Boston Globe, Associated Press, Erik 
Stetson, 19 Jul 2004
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2714>

straight to the source:  ABC News, Associated Press, Liz Sidoti and 
Aparna H. Kumar, 19 Jul 2004
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2715>

see also, in Grist:  The Environmental Protection Agency just isn't 
like it was in the good old (Nixon) days -- by Russell Train
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/soapbox/train092203.asp?source=daily>



SCIENTISTS OBJECT TO BAD ESA BILLS: 
Over 420 scientists from across the
country have signed a letter to Members of Congress expressing strong
reservations about legislation that would undermine habitat protection and
change the way science is used in Endangered Species Act decisions.  “Some
people who are critical of the way the Endangered Species Act has been
employed think that perhaps too much attention and reliance has been given
to models as opposed to empirical data.  This, I think, reflects a serious
misunderstanding about how science works,” says Gordon Orians, professor
emeritus, department of biology, University of Washington.  As the
Ecological Society of America stated in its 1996 report, Strengthening the
Use of Science in Achieving the Goals of the Endangered Species Act,
“Biologists in the agencies responsible for implementing the Endangered
Species Act generally try to use the best scientific information and
methods available. Failure to use the best availabl!
 e information and methods is generally due to inadequate budgets and
 overworked staff.”   For more information on the bills and what you can
 do, go to: http://www.stopextinction.org/Issues/IssuesList.cfm?c=31 


SCIENTIST FIRED AFTER BEING CRITICAL OF PANTHER SCIENCE: A 
Florida scientist who publicly criticized his supervisors at the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service has been notified they intend to fire him, reports
TCPalm.com (The newspapers of the Treasure Coast of Florida.) The written
notice came a week after Fish and Wildlife denied a formal complaint filed
by Andrew Eller Jr., who claimed flawed science had led officials to
approve eight development projects in land needed for the survival of the
endangered Florida panther.  "There is no doubt in my mind that the Vero
Beach office makes a lot of its decisions based on politics," said Andrew
Eller Jr., the fired biologist.

(c) ESC 2004 

--

http://www.bushgreenwatch.org
REPORT REVEALS BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAS BLOCKED COURT-
APPROVED PAYMENTS TO BLACK FARMERS 

Aggressive legal tactics by the Bush administration have
deliberately undermined a landmark 1997 civil rights settlement
with African-American farmers, turning the claims process into
another chapter in a long history of discriminatory treatment by
the US Department of Agriculture. 

A report released today by Environmental Working Group (EWG) and
the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA) finds that almost
nine out of 10 black farmers have been denied compensation for
discrimination over USDA crop loans, even though U.S. District
Court for the District Columbia -- in approving the settlement
-- had described compensation payment as "automatic." Instead
the USDA, under the leadership of President Bush's Secretary of
Agriculture Ann Veneman, has withheld three-quarters of the
$2.3 billion agreed to in the settlement. 

"The USDA aggressively fought black farmers," said EWG's Ariane
Callendar, a lead author of the report. The investigation found
that USDA paid $12 million dollars to US Department of Justice
lawyers for 56,000 hours spent contesting the claims of 129
black farmers. 

"That means the Department of Justice spent on average 460 hours
attacking each farmer," says Callendar. And these figures, she
says, represent only a small portion of the time and energy
expended to avoid paying the aggrieved farmers. USDA managed to
deny payment to 82,000 of the 94,000 African-American farmers
who sought restitution. 

African-American farmers brought suit against USDA in 1997 in an
historic civil rights case known as Pigford V. Glickman (now
titled Pigford V. Veneman), claiming that USDA systematically
discriminated against African-Americans by denying them crop
loans readily made available to comparable white farmers. 

The Reagan administration eliminated the USDA's Office of Civil
Rights in 1982, leaving African-American farmers no avenue for
appealing loan denials they believed to be discriminatory. 

In 1996, the Clinton administration re-established USDA's office
of Civil Rights, and in 1997 made an admission of discrimination
in its own study of USDA operations. Finalized under Agriculture
Secretary Dan Glickman, the settlement was based on USDA's 1997
civil rights study, coupled with the absence of any recourse for
black farmers to discriminatory practices from 1982 to 1996. 

Over the past 20 years, the number of farms operated by
African-Americans has plummeted from 54,367 in 1982 to 29,090 in
2002 (the suit included 94,000 farmers because many farms have
more than one farmer). This dramatic decline, the report
concludes, has been due in part to lack of equal access to USDA
loans. 

The report details "the willful obstruction of justice by USDA"
and demands immediate action by Congress. "Only Congress can
make whole the 82,000 farmers who were denied restitution
arbitrarily, after USDA had agreed, in settling the case, that
their discrimination claims were valid." [1] 

### 

SOURCES: 
[1] EWG report, Jul. 20, 2004.


THE GREAT THRALL OF CHINA
China Is Chasing Down More Energy -- Lots of It

We've said it before and we'll say it again:  One of the biggest and most
underreported environmental stories today is the rapid, massive industrial
development taking place in China.  The nation is expected to have
double-digit GDP growth in coming years.  Already, widespread power
brownouts have slowed that growth slightly, and the need for more power is
accelerating.  Currently, the country's 1.3 billion residents are using
the equivalent of one 100-watt light bulb per person, per year.  Now
imagine, instead of one light bulb, 20 bulbs, two TVs, two cars, a washing
machine, and a dishwasher.  Add to that the growing demand for power
presented by China's steel, aluminum, and plastics industries.  Where will
all the power come from?  Coal. It's cheap and abundant in China and is
expected to provide 75 percent of the country's energy through 2020, with
90 percent of new power plants being coal-fired.  This will exacerbate
what is already a growing environmental catastrophe in a country where
conservation and green technologies are catching on, but far too slowly to
keep up with exploding demand.

straight to the source:  Sunday Herald, Kenny Kemp, 25 Jul 2004
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2741>

straight to the source:  The Straits Times, Tschang Chi-chu, 26 Jul 2004
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2742>

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Action is the antidote to despair.  ----Joan Baez
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