Environment

Poor Lil' Polar Bears

Today the Bush administration officially designated polar bears "threatened with extinction." The decision marks the first time that the Endangered Species Act has been used to protect a species from climate change. Right now, polar bears aren't "endangered" according to the traditional sense of the law, with the arctic bear's population hovering between 20,000 and 25,000 globally. But, their habitat is literally melting. Arctic sea ice is disappearing as the region warms more rapidly than anywhere else in the world.

Boxer, Whitehouse Want Answers on Gade

Our story today on Dow Chemical's new image was sparked by the controversial firing of EPA Midwest head Mary Gade, who claims she was forced out for cracking down on the chemical company. Today, members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee sent a letter (pdf) to the EPA calling on the agency to fork over documents related to Gade's firing and her work at EPA. Committee chair Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) also want answers to a specific list of 19 questions.

Scientists Speak About Political Pressures

Federal whistleblowers met yesterday to publicly discuss issues of suppression of science, dissemination of inaccurate information and manipulation of scientific advice under the Bush administration.

"[We] usually talk about federal employees exposing waste, fraud and abuse of authority," said the whistleblower panel's host Celia Wexler of the Union of Concerned Scientists, which sponsored the event held in Washington. "But those terms don't really cover what scientists tend to experience," she said. Wexler went on to say that scientists worry about findings being altered and the inability to publish their work, speak at conferences and talk to the media because of political pressures.

Dow Cleans Up Image, Not Practices

The former head of EPA's Midwest office claims her attempts to get Dow Chemical to stop dumping toxins in Michigan drinking water triggered her ouster.

Nagris and Katrina

United Nations relief workers are slowly gaining access to victims of Myanmar's catastrophic cyclone, as the ruling junta took a small step in accepting foreign aid today. Cyclone Nargis killed at least 22,980 people in Myanmar over the weekend, although some are putting the death toll as high as 100,000. Around a million people have been displaced from their homes.

What's Fueling the Food Crisis?

Our story today on biofuels discusses the argument that some food-based biofuels are contributing to the world food crisis. The U.N. World Food Program emphasizes that biofuels are just one of the many factors causing food prices to rise in the last few months, and over the last several years.

"It's a confluence of so many different variables," said Jennifer Parmelee, spokeswoman for the World Food Program. Those other variables, she said, include an increase in oil prices, rising demand from a growing middle classes in countries like China and India and climate change. Those factors work together to make food more expensive to produce, reduce supply and increase demand -- with the end result of higher food prices across the globe.

An Appetizing, and Inedible, Option

Scouting for biofuel alternatives, scientists point to crops like switchgrass that won't drive up the price of food.

Last Straw for EPA Administrator?

The EPA's coziness with industry and the White House -- at the expense of science -- is hardly new. But firing the EPA's Midwest Regulator for telling Dow Chemical to clean up a Michigan river could be so absurd that it signals the end for EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.

Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) compared Johnson on the Senate floor today with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Whitehouse said that like the U.S. Attorneys dismissed by Alberto Gonzales, Midwest regulator Mary Gade was let go because she wasn't "a loyal Bushie."

EPA Official Ousted to Protect Industry?

Over at Michigan Messenger, Earth Melzer catches some interesting news from the Chicago Tribune:

From Snowmobiles to Firearms

For those who thought that snowmobiles in Yellowstone were a bad idea, watch out! The Bush administration proposed new rules today that would allow people to carry concealed firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. The change would scrap a 25-year-old law banning loaded weapons on national parkland, instead aligning federal rules with those of the state where the park is located.

In a statement, Interior Dept. Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said that states have the right to develop their own gun laws, "and [we] believe that our management of parks and refuges should defer to those state laws." He added that:

Sucking Out That CO2

Physicist Klaus Lackner, of Columbia University, has worked for ten years to complete a prototype that vacuums carbon dioxide out of the air. The contraption has an opening that pulls air in. Then, absorbent compounds in the filter catch the CO2. The goal of such technology is to curb global warming.

Skulduggery in Burger King's War With Farm Workers?

A peculiar little news item today gives a sense of how petty and ugly Burger King and its allies have gotten in their drive to keep immigrant farm workers from earning a living wage. According to the News Press, which publishes in southwest Florida, Burger King vice president Stephen Grover used his daughter's email address to write insulting comments on online articles about the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. The source of this news: Grover's daughter. It wasn't her, she told the reporter--it was dad.

Activists to Protest Coal Plant

Friday morning the Indigenous Environmental Network plans to protest environmental racism outside the headquarters of Sithe Global Power in New York. You may remember Sithe Global from a story we did a couple months back about the Desert Rock project, a proposed coal plant on the Navajo Nation that's been met with hostility from locals. Sithe, in collaboration with the Navajo Nation's government, is planning to build Desert Rock within a 15-mile radius of two other massive coal plants, Four Corners Power Plant and San Juan Generating Station. The Navajo government says a new energy project could pull a lot of money into the local economy. But Navajo residents say they are not likely to see much of that money. Many residents fear another power plant could endanger the local health and environment.
 

Survey: Local Health Officials Worry About Climate Change

Local health directors throughout the country say they are unprepared to deal with public health problems associated with climate change, according to a survey conducted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials, George Mason University and the Environmental Defense Fund.

And They're Really Not That Good for The Environment Either!

Mary Kane has a piece today on the rise of food prices and its devastating effects on the developing world. Many experts blame biofuels for the food shortage. Leaders in Peru and Bolivia, for example, have told the U.N. that biofuels are starving their people.

Until recently we've been told that biofuels hold the promise of curbing global warming and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. But given the amount of energy it takes to produce biofuels, and the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere by burning those fuels, some are rethinking jumping on the biofuel bandwagon.

Two scientific studies released in February said that biofuels are actually worse for the environment than gasoline.

Scientists: EPA 'Under Siege'

More than half of the scientists surveyed by the Union of Concerned Scientists say they've experienced at least one incident of political interference in the last five years.

Oooh, Pretty!

Here's some more fun Earth Day blogging. Today the Environmental Protection Agency announced the winners of its 2008 photo contest. The agency  looked for photography that best demonstrates the mission to protect human health and the environment. Winners were chosen for each of three categories: "Enjoying the Environment," "Protecting the Environment" and "Nature and Wildlife." The photos appear in an online photo gallery at the EPA website. You can also view photos taken by the other finalists in each category.

Comics Celebrate Earth Day

Forty-six popular comic strips printed today revolve around protecting Mother Nature in commemoration of Earth Day. The syndicated cartoonists collaborating on the project were recruited by Hearst Corp.'s King Features, the largest distributor of comic strips. Some of today's Earth Day comics can be viewed here.

"Lo Que Tú Hagas Cuenta"

It means "What you do matters," and it's a campaign by National Geographic to spread awareness about global warming in Latin America. This is the first year Latin America is recognizing  Earth Day, according to Treehugger. As part of this week's festivities, National Geo has launched a TV campaign in collaboration with some of the region's biggest musicians, actors and performers. In televised public service announcements, the celebrities give advice on how to save energy and water, how to cut down on waste and how to offset climate change in simple ways.

Committee Probes Industry Influence on EPA Panels

Recent EPA decisions that weaken child safety standards put the chemical industry's chief lobby under the microscope.