[Mb-civic] enviroheadlines this week

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

NUKONOMICS 101
Efficiency much cheaper than nuke power as way to curb carbon emissions

The market economics of nuclear power don't add up to a climate-change
solution, particularly when compared to simple, proven energy-efficiency
techniques, argues Mark Hertsgaard in the San Francisco Chronicle. But you
wouldn't know it from listening to the current public debate. "Collapse"
author Jared Diamond is the latest prominent eco-advocate to join the
fission pushers in promoting nuclear power for its alleged ability to curb
carbon emissions. But when you factor in the $2 billion-plus cost of
building each plant, nuclear electricity turns out to be a lot more
expensive than juice from fossil fuels, wind, or simple conservation.
Studies from the Rocky Mountain Institute suggest that investing those
billions in easy, cheap, available conservation methods would be seven
times more economically effective at curbing carbon emissions. Sadly for
taxpayers and the warming planet (but happily for the nuclear industry),
the energy bill that President Bush is signing today devotes billions in
subsidies, tax breaks, and loan guarantees to the nuclear-power industry. 

straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Mark Hertsgaard, 07 Aug
2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=5524>


WE HEAR HELSINKI IS BEAUTIFUL THIS TIME OF YEAR
The desertification of southern Europe may be under way

With 2003's deadly European heat wave still lingering in memory, this
summer's spiking temperatures, rampant forest fires, and record droughts
along the Mediterranean are increasingly being seen not as freaky
aberrations, but signs of global warming. Dozens of fires have burned from
Greece to Portugal. Some Spanish water reservoirs are 80 percent below
capacity, and provincial governments are sparring over alleged water theft
and illegal wells. The whole of Portugal is gripped by a major drought. In
France, this year's extreme aridity spawned an invasion of rapacious
locusts in the southern Aveyron region. The European Space Agency's Desert
Watch project estimates that about 116,000 square miles of Europe's
historically verdant Mediterranean coast, home to 16.5 million people, is
threatened by desertification -- becoming so hot and dry that it could be
useless for agriculture and, needless to say, less appealing to tourists.
Says a U.N. sustainable development expert, "Everything is linked to the
changing climate." 

straight to the source: Newsweek, Eric Pape, 08 Aug 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=5497>

HUSTLE AND FLOW
Montana and mining companies to fund massive river cleanup, restoration

An historic financial settlement between the state of Montana and two
mining firms has opened the door to a project of ecological scope
virtually unprecedented in the U.S.: the removal of Montana's Milltown
dam, located at the confluence of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers, and
the restoration of those rivers to their natural, free-flowing states. The
$100 million deal resulted from three years of closed-door negotiations;
the consent decree will now be available for public comment. Work could
begin this fall and be completed by late 2009. Tons of contaminated mud, a
toxic legacy of the region's mining industry, will need to be dredged from
behind the dam, which is located in the center of one of the nation's
largest Superfund sites. Pressure from the public was key to getting all
the parties to negotiate and create a big-picture solution, said local
rivers advocate Tracy Stone-Manning. 

straight to the source: The Missoulian, Perry Backus, 03 Aug 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=5498>

straight to the source: The Mercury News, Associated Press, Susan
Gallagher, 03 Aug 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=5500>


 ORGANIC WINS IN THE LONG TERM 

A 22-year comparison of organic and conventional farming has 
concluded that "organic farming produces the same yields of corn 
and soybeans as does conventional farming, but uses 30 percent 
less energy, less water and no pesticides." David Pimentel of 
Cornell University reviewed the results of the Rodale Institute 
Farming Systems Trial, the longest running comparison of organic 
vs.  conventional farming in the United States.  In the early years of the
trial, organic corn yields were about one-third lower than conventional
yields, but this effect disappeared over time, because "wind and water
erosion degraded the soil on the conventional farm while the soil on the
organic farms steadily improved in organic matter, moisture, microbial
activity and other soil quality indicators." The results of the study are
published in the July issue of the journal Bioscience.

For more information, see: 
http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/norm071805.cfm 


DON'T IT MAKE MY BLUE EARTH BROWN
Astronauts see widespread ecological destruction from space

Environmental damage on Earth is clearly visible from space, reports the
crew of the shuttle Discovery. Chatting from an orbit of 220 miles up with
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and other Japanese officials, Commander
Eileen Collins said on Thursday that the astronauts could see widespread
erosion and deforestation below. She described the Earth's atmosphere as
"an eggshell on an egg, it's so very thin," and suggested folks could
maybe get a little more serious about saving the planet. "We would like to
see, from the astronauts' point of view, people take good care of the
Earth and replace the resources that have been used," she said. Koizumi,
said to be distracted by a fierce political battle over privatizing
Japan's postal system, asked Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi about ...
space noodles. Specifically, noodles prepared in a jellified soup
especially for slurping in zero gravity. Reports indicate that the
astro-pasta was delicious -- even if the view left a disturbing
aftertaste.

straight to the source: Reuters, Jeff Franks, 04 Aug 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=5517>

straight to the source: Reuters, 04 Aug 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=5518>

NEIN LIVES
Germany says auf Wiedersehen to nuclear power, guten Tag to renewables

When fans of nuclear energy in the U.S. get all het up about the promise
of atomics, they tend to point to Europe. "Hey," they say, "look how well
it works over there!" But across the sea, Germany has decided it's time to
shut its entire nuclear-power industry down. As nuke plants begin going
off-line, the government is spurring a massive effort to boost renewable
energy and efficientize the whole darn country. Will it work? Michael
Levitin investigates.

new in Main Dish: Nein Lives
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=5571>

DOUBTER DARKNESS
Another climate-skeptic argument bites the dust

Another argument treasured by climate-change skeptics may be headed the
way of the dinosaurs. For years, doubters have made much of the fact that
the troposphere (the lower part of the earth's atmosphere) didn't seem to
be warming as fast as the earth's surface, as climate models had predicted
it would. But three new studies in the journal Science -- on
weather-satellite data, weather-balloon data, and climate models --
together call into question the calculations by which past temperature
measurements of the troposphere were produced, and show that accurate
calculations reveal a warming trend. Of particular chagrin to the naysayer
community is the new study debunking work on satellite data done by John
Christy and Roy Spencer, which has a venerable place in the dwindling
skeptical arsenal; Christy and Spencer now acknowledge their errors.
Perhaps it's time for skeptics to start advocating for "Intelligent
Warming Theory" to be taught side-by-side with global warming in science
classrooms.

straight to the source: The New York Times, Andrew C. Revkin, 12 Aug 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=5569>

straight to the source: Nature.com, Jenny Hogan, 11 Aug 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=5570>

BALKED ALASKA
House GOPers oppose legislative maneuver to open Arctic Refuge

Two dozen House Republicans have publicly criticized the GOP leadership's
plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling by attaching
language to a filibuster-proof budget measure. In a letter to Speaker
Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and other House leaders, the rebel GOPers --
including three committee chairs -- wrote that the budget process "is an
inappropriate venue to be debating this important environmental issue."
While the House has repeatedly approved plans to drill in the Arctic
Refuge in recent years, the threat of a filibuster in the Senate has
always stymied such efforts. Drilling proponents believe that attaching
refuge-drilling language to budget-reconciliation legislation that can't
be filibustered would give them their best chance yet. That move, expected
in mid-September, is generating feverish activity among drilling
opponents. "We're organizing like we have never before," said Athan
Emanuel of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. 

straight to the source: CNN.com, Associated Press, 10 Aug 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=5564>

straight to the source: CNN.com, Associated Press, 08 Aug 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=5565> 


PRIUS-TORIC
Team achieves 110 mpg in Toyota Prius

If you thought fuel efficiency was cool, wait 'til you meet ... Xtreme
fuel efficiency! Rawk! Ahem. A team of five oddly obsessive middle-aged
American men, seeking to break the unofficial mileage record set in Japan,
recently drove a factory Toyota Prius 1,397 miles on one tank of gas,
spending two days circling around one 15-mile stretch of highway near
Pittsburgh, Penn. By the end they were tired and sweaty but exultant at
achieving a mind-boggling 110 miles per gallon. The key was expert
application of the "pulse and glide" hybrid-driving technique -- "like
playing a video game," said Dave Bassage, the group's avowed tree-hugger.
Hey, it's not the size of the car -- it's how far you can drive it.

straight to the source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jacqueline Shoyeb and
Moustafa Ayad, 08 Aug 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=5538>


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