[Mb-civic] Environews to shake your brain....

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

Highlights worth knowing about.....

Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE
<http://grist.org>

CUTS LIKE A KNIFE, BUT IT FEELS SO WRONG
Details of environmental cuts in Bush's budget emerge

Now that the nation's water is all cleaned up, the Bush 
administration has proposed sharply cutting a federal assistance 
program designed to help modernize aging sewer systems and prevent 
toxic runoff into streams and rivers -- from $1.35 billion in 2004 to $730
million.  And now that the nation is no longer dependent on foreign oil,
the Bush budget proposes a roughly 4 percent cut in Department of Energy
funding for efficiency and renewable energy. With the oceans spic and
span, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration faces 
proposed
cuts of around 8.3 percent, hitting heaviest in those parts of the agency
that work on ocean preservation and overfishing.  The budget "limits and
tames the spending appetite of the federal government," said President
Bush, who has never vetoed a spending bill, and whose Medicare
prescription drug benefit is now set to cost more than twice his
projection of $534 billion over 10 years, a difference that could restore
all the aforementioned cuts and leave several hundred billion dollars left
over.

straight to the source:  Los Angeles Times, Miguel Bustillo and 
Kenneth R. Weiss, 09 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4271>

straight to the source:  Los Angeles Times, Janet Hook and Warren 
Vieth, 09 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4273>

straight to the source:  The Washington Post, Ceci Connolly and Mike
Allen, 09 Feb 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4274>


IMAGINARY NUMBERS
Bush's new budget relies on imaginary Arctic Refuge revenue

You're the president, you've promised to cut the country's enormous 
deficit in half by the end of your term, and you're required to 
produce a budget showing how you're going to do it.  You've got a 
Congress that hasn't consented to drilling in the Arctic National 
Wildlife Refuge, enormously expensive wars going in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, and a plan to privatize Social Security set to cost over a
trillion dollars.  What to do?  Pretend!  In Bush's budget plan unveiled
yesterday, no expenditures for the wars or Social Security privatization
are accounted for, but projected revenues include $1.2 billion in two
years from leases to drill in the Arctic Refuge.  Even if the drilling
gets approval -- despite staunch opposition from Democrats and some
moderate Republicans, and threats by Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) to
filibuster it -- realistic projections put actual drilling revenue at
least three years out and full production some eight years out.  In
related news, Grist projects 2006 revenues of $1 kajillion.

straight to the source:  Anchorage Daily News, Richard Mauer, 08 Feb 
2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4255>

straight to the source:  The New York Times, Edmund L. Andrews and 
David E. Rosenbaum, 08 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4256>

straight to the source:  San Francisco Chronicle, Zachary Coile, 07 Feb
2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4257>

straight to the source:  Reuters, 07 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4258>

SEEING IS BELIEVING
Dramatic weather convinces many Westerners of global warming

As the Western U.S. increasingly suffers from what many scientists 
believe are the effects of climate change -- reduced snowpack, 
massive forest fires, alternating drought and torrential rain -- more and
more residents are accepting the reality of the phenomenon.  "Do I believe
in global warming?  Absolutely," said Reese Woodling, who last year
abandoned his ranch along the New Mexico-Arizona border because of
crippling drought.  A decade-long drought has Arizona's economy drying 
up
as well, costing cattle-related industries $2.8 billion in 2002.  But
current conditions are just a taste of what's to come, says researcher C.
Mark Eakin of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  
"When
you've got an increased tendency toward drought in a region that's already
stressed, then you're just looking for trouble," he said.  "Weather is
like rolling the dice, and climate change is like loading the dice."

straight to the source:  The Washington Post, Juliet Eilperin, 06 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4247>



FAITH-BASED INITIATIVE
Religious leaders make the environment a "values issue"

More than 1,000 Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish religious leaders 
from some 35 states have signed and begun circulating a statement 
opposing President Bush's environmental policies.  And evangelicals 
aren't far behind, having drawn up an "Evangelical Call to Civic 
Responsibility" that emphasizes Christians' duty to care for the 
environment, potentially putting signatories -- including 
heavy-hitters like James Dobson of Focus on the Family -- at odds 
with the candidate many of them supported.  "The environment is a 
values issue," said Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the 30 million 
member National Association of Evangelicals.  Some evangelicals are 
lobbying against Bush's Clear Skies Act, arguing that it doesn't do 
enough to rein in mercury pollution, which harms fetuses.  Many 
religious activists prefer to speak of "creation care" rather than 
"environmentalism," as the latter term, according to political 
scientist John C. Green of the University of Akron, brings to the 
evangelist mind "druids who worship trees."  Welcome to the club, 
folks.

straight to the source:  The Washington Post, Blaine Harden, 06 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4225>

straight to the source:  The Washington Post, Blaine Harden, 06 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4226>

straight to the source:  The Boston Globe, Michael Paulson, 05 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4227>

ON THE RIGHT TRACK
New GOP leaders emerging in battle against climate change

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), a leader in the Senate fight against Kyoto in
1997, has now got legislation in the works to address the global-warming
problem.  Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) also plans to introduce a 
number of
climate-related bills.  Other senators, from Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) to
Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), are joining the growing consensus that something 
must
be done to stop the planet from overheating.  You may have noticed the R's
after all those names. How long can the top R hold out?  Get the full
story in Muckraker -- today on the Grist Magazine website.

today in Grist:  The congressional climate is changing -- in Muckraker
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4221>

sign up:  Receive word by email each time a new Muckraker column hits 
the
scene <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/signmeup.pl?source=daily>

SHOCKED, SHOCKED TO FIND POLITICIZATION IN THIS 
ESTABLISHMENT
EPA inspector general finds proposed mercury rule biased for industry

Brace yourself -- your entire worldview is about to be shaken.  Turns out,
in coming up with its new rules on power-plant mercury emissions, the 
U.S.
EPA violated agency protocol and ignored scientific evidence in order to
stay in line with a predetermined goal that favors industry.  Such is the
conclusion of a new report from EPA Inspector General Nikki Tinsley.  
Said
one EPA staff member present at meetings between administrators and 
staff,
"Everything about this rule was decided at a political level. ... The
political level made the decisions, and the staff did what they were
told." The rules ended up exactly in line with those proposed in Bush's
Clear Skies legislation, which would institute a cap-and-trade system and
give power plants until 2018 to reach targets on emissions reductions. 
The report was promptly attacked by industry groups, Senate Environment
Committee Chair James Inhofe (R-Okla.), and EPA Assistant 
Administrator
(and former industry lobbyist) Jeffrey Holmstead, who said the rule-
making
process isn't even over and accused Tinsley of being politically biased.

straight to the source:  The Washington Post, Shankar Vedantam, 04 Feb
2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4218>

straight to the source:  The New York Times, Felicity Barringer, 04 Feb
2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4219>

straight to the source:  Los Angeles Times, Alan C. Miller and Tom 
Hamburger, 04 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4220>

THE APPLE DUMPING GANG
Enviros say Apple's iPod isn't green

New legislation introduced in the House of Representatives last week 
would
establish a consumer fee on computer and television purchases to fund a
national electronics recycling program.  But activists say the real answer
to the "e-waste" problem is increased responsibility from manufacturers,
and many are focusing their ire on Apple, maker of the absurdly popular
and now culturally ubiquitous iPod music player.  The 4.5 million iPods
purchased in late 2004 may be little more than electronic junk by 2007, as
their batteries last only two to three years and are hard to replace. 
Green activists who protested at the Macworld Conference & Expo last 
month
say Apple's lack of attention to safe disposal of its products poses a big
problem, namely hazardous waste dumped in landfills in the U.S. or, more
frequently, in developing countries.  "We know that when brand
manufacturers have to deal with the end product they are going to make a
cleaner product in the first place," says Silicon Valley Toxics
Coalition's Gopal Dayaneni, who wants Apple to improve its take-back
policies.  "There's economic incentive for green design."

straight to the source:  Christian Science Monitor, Samar Farah, 09 Feb
2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4269>

straight to the source:  San Francisco Chronicle, Birgitta Forsberg, 12
Jan 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4270>


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"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
   ---   George Orwell


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