- 
 Stephen
Johnson
 Mary
E Peters
 Julie
MacDonald
 Jack
Abramoff
 Italia
Federici
 J
Steven Griles
 Earth_Day
Environment ARCHIVES
~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
  
 
 
"Rewriting
The Science." ... [NASA climate scientist Dr.James
E. Hansen] "... tells correspondent Scott Pelley that the
Bush administration is restricting who he can talk to and editing what
he can say. Politicians, he says, are rewriting the science." ... "Hansen
says his research shows that man has just 10 years to reduce greenhouse
gases before global warming reaches what he calls a tipping point and becomes
unstoppable. He says the White House is blocking that message.""
-60
Minutes -CBSNews
 
"Judge
Blasts EPA Ground Zero Appraisal." ... ""No reasonable
person would have thought that telling thousands of people that it was
safe to return to lower Manhattan, while knowing that such return could
pose long-term health risks and other dire consequences, was conduct sanctioned
by our laws," U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts wrote, calling Whitman's
actions "conscience- shocking."" -AP
via -CBSNews
|
|
ENVIRONMENT News:
20080829
 Sarah
Palin - Science
- Politics
-  Global
- Climate
- Atmosphere
- 2008
Election -  John
McCain -  Alaska
-  Arizona
"Palin
Not Convinced on Global Warming." ... "Some scientists
believe Alaska will be among the first to feel the impact of global warming,
but [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin
told voters there she wasn't sure climate change wasn't simply part of
a natural warming cycle." ... ""I will not pretend to have all the answers,"
Palin said about global warming, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
Her spokesman clarified at the time that "she's not totally convinced one
way or the other. Science will tell us . . . She thinks the jury's still
out."" ... "Palin shared her views in the run-up to the 2006 governor's
race, at an Alaska Federation of Natives convention, where delegates passed
a resolution calling for a mandatory reduction in pollution affecting the
atmosphere." ... "Answering a question from the Daily News, Palin cautioned
against "overreaction."" ... "Those were among the comments that brought
condemnation today from Greenpeace to her selection as [2008 Election Republican
Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's running
mate on the Republican ticket. The environmental group's Alaska Global
Warming Campaigner, Melanie Duchin, described Palin as "one of the most
anti-environment records of any governor in the United States." -By
Matthew Mosk and Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost
Sarah
Palin - Alaska
-  Lawmakers
-  Investigation
- Global
- Climate
- Ice
- Environment
-  Species
- 2008
Election
"Palin
candidacy raises eyebrows in Alaska." ... "State
lawmakers have launched a $100,000 investigation to determine if [2008
Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah]
Palin dismissed Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan last month because
Monegan wouldn't fire a state trooper involved in a messy custody battle
with her sister." ... "She also is under fire from environmentalists for
opposing the [Republican President] Bush administration's decision in May
to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species
Act because global warming is melting the polar ice cap." ... "Dermot Cole,
a longtime columnist for Alaska's second-largest newspaper, the Fairbanks
Daily News-Miner, called McCain's choice of Palin reckless and questioned
her credentials." ... ""Sarah Palin's chief qualification for being elected
governor was that she was not Frank Murkowski," Cole said of her enormously
unpopular predecessor, who lost favor with Alaskans in part because of
unpopular budget cuts. "She was not elected because she was a conservative.
She was not elected because of her grasp of issues or because of her track
record as the mayor of Wasilla [Alaska]."" -By Dan
Joling with contributions by Sharon Theimer and H. Josef Hebert
-AP via -Chron
John
McCain - Sarah
Palin - Science
- Politics
- Oil
-  Money
- Wildlife
-  History
- Global
- Climate
- Ice
- Law
- Alaska
- Arizona
- 2008
Election -  US
-  Canada
"McCain
VP Pick No Friend to Polar Bears." ... "Alaska [Republican]
Governor Sarah Palin has ignored research showing that polar bear populations
are declining in the quest to plumb new sources of energy, according to
scientists, and environmental groups who fought to put the bears on the
endangered species list." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate
and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain tapped Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
to be his vice presidential candidate Friday. Palin is only the second
woman to be on a major party's ticket as VP -- the first was Geraldine
Ferraro, who ran with Democrati Walter Mondale in 1984." ... "The 44-year-old
Palin, a beauty pageant winner and former mayor of a small town in Alaska,
is an advocate of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
She has infuriated environmentalists for her support of the aerial
shooting of wolves as a way to build up herds of moose and caribou. She's
also sued the Interior Department for putting
polar bears on the endangered species list." ... "In the lawsuit, filed
this month in federal district court in the District of Columbia, Palin
argues that the government's move to list polar bears as endangered is
not based on sound science, and restricts oil and natural gas development.
The Interior Department had put the bears on the list in response to a
lawsuit filed by environmental groups, who argued that the bears are being
threatened by global warming." ... "In an interview on the conservative
CNN talk show hosted by Glenn Beck earlier this year, Palin said that she
was worried that environmentalists are using the Endangered Species Act
to block the extraction of oil and gas." ... ""In fact, the number of polar
bears has risen dramatically over the past 30 years," she said. "Our fear
(is) that extreme environmentalists will use this tool, the ESA, to eventually
curtail or halt the North Slope production of very rich resources that
America needs."" ... "But biologists who have studied polar bear populations
counter that the facts simply do not support Palin's assertion that polar
bear populations are on the rise." ... ""Polar bear populations have not
been increasing for the past 30 years, and that's a well-known fact," said
Ian Stirling, an emeritus scientist with Canada's Department of the Environment
and an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta in an interview.
Stirling has studied polar bears for 37 years -- the longest of anyone."
... "In fact, the polar bear population has actually declined by 20 percent
in Alaska's Southern Beaufort Sea since the mid-1980s, he says, referring
to peer-reviewed research that he's conducted with other scientists for
the US Geological Survey. The reason: Loss of their habitat in the form
of melting ice." -By Sarah Lai Stirland
-Wired
20080828
Global
- Climate
- Ice
- Science
- History
"Arctic
ice shrinks to second-lowest level ever." ... "Arctic
sea ice, which melts partly during each polar summer, has shrunk more this
year than in any on record except for 2007, the National Snow and Ice Data
Center has found." ... "Scientists said the data provided more ominous
indications that a global warming "tipping point" in the Arctic seems to
be happening before their eyes: Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is now at its
second lowest level in about 30 years." ... "With several weeks left of
the melting season, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported yesterday
that sea ice in the Arctic now covers about 2.03 million square miles.
The lowest point since satellite measurements began in 1979 was 1.65 million
square miles, measured on Sept. [September] 16, 2007." ... "Declining ice
as a result of warmer temperatures in the air and ocean threatens to amplify
global warming because the sea is darker than ice and absorbs more sunlight."
-Newsday.com
20080825
 WATCH
- 2008
Election - Politics
- Noteworthy
- US
-  Iraq
-  Military
- Global
- Climate
- Environment
- Fiscal
- History
-  Iowa
"Full
Text: Former U.S. Rep. Jim Leach Speech to Democratic National Convention."
... [Speech by Iowa Republican Representative Jim Leach:] "In troubled
times, it was understood that country comes before party, that in perilous
moments mutual concern for the national interest must be the only factor
in political judgments. This does not mean that debate within and between
the political parties should not be vibrant. Yet what frustrates so many
citizens is the lack of bipartisanship in Washington and the way today’s
Republican Party has broken with its conservative heritage." ... "The party
that once emphasized individual rights has gravitated in recent years toward
regulating values. The party of military responsibility has taken us to
war with a country that did not attack us. The party that formerly led
the world in arms control has moved to undercut treaties crucial to the
defense of the earth. The party that prides itself on conservation has
abdicated its responsibilities in the face of global warming. And the party
historically anchored in fiscal restraint has nearly doubled the national
debt, squandering our precious resources in an undisciplined and unprecedented
effort to finance a war with tax cuts." ... "America has seldom faced more
critical choices: whether we should maintain an occupational force for
decades in a country and region that resents western intervention or elect
a leader who, in a carefully structured way, will bring our troops home
from Iraq as the heroes they are. Whether it is wise to continue to project
power largely alone with flickering support around the world or elect a
leader who will follow the model of General Eisenhower and this president’s
father and lead in concert with allies." ... "Whether it is prudent to
borrow from future generations to pay for today’s reckless fiscal policies
or elect a leader who will shore up our budgets and return to a strong
dollar. Whether it is preferable to continue the policies that have weakened
our position in the world, deepened our debt and widened social divisions
or elect a leader who will emulate John F. Kennedy and relight a lamp of
fairness at home and reassert an energizing mix of realism and idealism
abroad." ... "The portfolio of challenges passed on to the next president
will be as daunting as any since the Great Depression and World War II.
This is not a time for politics as usual or for run-of-the-mill politicians.
Little is riskier to the national interest than more of the same. America
needs new ideas, new energy and a new generation of leadership." ... "Hence,
I stand before you proud of my party’s contributions to American history
but, as a citizen, proud as well of the good judgment of good people in
this good party, in nominating a transcending candidate, an individual
whom I am convinced will recapture the American dream and be a truly great
president: the senator from Abraham Lincoln’s state—Barack Obama. Thank
you." -By Jim Leach via
-Clips&Comment
WATCH:
Jim Leach, Republican of Iowa at the Democratic National Convention
20080805
John
McCain - Oil
- Money
- Politics
- 2008
Election - New
York -  Texas
- Ocean
- Environment
"Oilman
greases skids for McCain campaign: Among the donors
from John B. Hess' company are an office manager and her husband, who pony
up $57,000." ... "On June 10, John B. Hess, a top executive at the oil
company with his family name, summoned friends to the 21 Club, a former
speakeasy in Manhattan [New York], and delivered $285,000 to [2008 Election
Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain and the Republican National
Committee." ... "A week later, McCain traveled to Texas and announced his
support for offshore oil drilling." ... "Hess Corp. is an East Coast gasoline
retailer with major refining and exploration operations, some of which
happen to be offshore in the Gulf of Mexico." ... "Hess was one of half
a dozen hosts who tapped friends for the maximum $28,500 donation to the
GOP. Others included investor Henry Kravis and hedge fund mogul Paul E.
Singer." -By Dan Morain-LAtimes
20080619
Disaster
- Environment
- Human
-  Agriculture
-  Land
- Science
- Iowa
- History
- Weather
"Iowa
Flooding Could Be An Act of Man, Experts Say." ...
"[Cedar Falls, Iowa college professor and City Council member Kamyar] Enshayan,
director of an environmental center at the University of Northern Iowa,
suspects that this natural disaster wasn't really all that natural. He
points out that the heavy rains fell on a landscape radically reengineered
by humans. Plowed fields have replaced tallgrass prairies. Fields have
been meticulously drained with underground pipes. Streams and creeks have
been straightened. Most of the wetlands are gone. Flood plains have been
filled and developed." ... ""We've done numerous things to the landscape
that took away these water-absorbing functions," he said. "Agriculture
must respect the limits of nature."" ... "Officials are still trying to
understand all the factors that contributed to Iowa's flooding, and not
everyone has the same suspicions as Enshayan. For them, the cause was obvious:
It rained buckets and buckets for days on end. They say the changes in
land use were lesser factors in what was really just a case of meteorological
bad luck." ... "But some Iowans who study the environment suspect that
changes in the land, both recently and over the past century or so, have
made Iowa's terrain not only highly profitable but also highly vulnerable
to flooding." ... "" (1, 2)
-By Joel Achenbach with contributions by Kari Lydersen
-WashingtonPost
20080612
Health
- Science
- Environmental
-  Safety
- Laws
-  Manufacturing
- Industries
-  EU
- US
- Global
- Consumers
- Government
- Politics
-  Computer
-  Privacy
-  Newborns
"Chemical
Law Has Global Impact: [European Union's] E.U.'s
New Rules Forcing Changes By [United States] U.S. Firms." ... "Europe this
month rolled out new restrictions on makers of chemicals linked to cancer
and other health problems, changes that are forcing U.S. industries to
find new ways to produce a wide range of everyday products." ... "The new
laws in the European Union require companies to demonstrate that a chemical
is safe before it enters commerce -- the opposite of policies in the United
States, where regulators must prove that a chemical is harmful before it
can be restricted or removed from the market. Manufacturers say that complying
with the European laws will add billions to their costs, possibly driving
up prices of some products." ... "The changes come at a time when consumers
are increasingly worried about the long-term consequences of chemical exposure
and are agitating for more aggressive regulation. In the United States,
these pressures have spurred efforts in Congress and some state legislatures
to pass laws that would circumvent the laborious federal regulatory process."
... "Adamantly opposed by the U.S. chemical industry and the [Republican
President] Bush administration, the E.U. laws will be phased in over the
next decade. It is difficult to know exactly how the changes will affect
products sold in the United States. But American manufacturers are already
searching for safer alternatives to chemicals used to make thousands of
consumer goods, from bike helmets to shower curtains." ... "The European
Union's tough stance on chemical regulation is the latest area in which
the Europeans are reshaping business practices with demands that American
companies either comply or lose access to a market of 27 countries and
nearly 500 million people." ... "From its crackdown on antitrust practices
in the computer industry to its rigorous protection of consumer privacy,
the European Union has adopted a regulatory philosophy that emphasizes
the consumer. Its approach to managing chemical risks, which started with
a trickle of individual bans and has swelled into a wave, is part of a
European focus on caution when it comes to health and the environment."
... "A study by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group found an average
of 200 industrial chemicals in the cord blood of newborns." (1, 2)
-By Lyndsey Layton -WashingtonPost
20080605
 Mitch
McConnell -  James
Inhofe - Gas
- Emissions
- Global
-Climate
- Environment
-  Nevada
-  Kentucky
-  Oklahoma
- US
- Law
"Republicans
stall climate change bill to punish Reid." ... "When
[Nevada Democratic Senator] Sen. Harry Reid rose to become the majority
leader in 2007, many believed he had met his match in the Republicans’
new Senate leader, [Kentucky Republican Senator] Mitch McConnell of Kentucky."
... "Shrewd parliamentarians both, they brought the prospect of each trying
to outsmart the other on the Senate floor, promising good viewing." ...
"Those skills were on display Wednesday when McConnell brought the Senate
to a standstill." ... "Just as the chamber was about to begin a feisty
debate on the most sweeping effort yet to address climate change, McConnell
shut down the Senate by forcing full reading of the 491-page bill." ...
"Rather than hearing a spirited battle over carbon emissions, gas prices
and new fees for polluters, one lonely clerk after another read page after
page of minutia to a nearly empty chamber." ... "In his own statement,
Reid said: “Republicans are yet again doing everything in their power to
slow, stop and stall. These petty, partisan tactics waste the American
people’s time, and ignoring the crisis of global warming endangers all
of us.”" ... "By early evening, with a few remaining tourists in the gallery
watching the nearly empty floor, Republican [Oklahoma Senator] Sen. James
Inhofe of Oklahoma, the chamber’s leading global warming skeptic, sat in
waiting, prepared to object should Democrats ask for the hours-long reading
to end." -LasVegasSun.com
20080603
 Brazil
-  Satellite
- Photographs
- Global
-Climate
- Gases
-  Food
- Animals
- Farming
- Illegal
- Business
"New
satellite photos show Amazon deforestation exploding."
... "New satellite photographs show that the destruction of Brazil's fragile
Amazon rainforest has exploded this year, fueling fears that the government's
efforts to stop deforestation have been fruitless." ... "Brazil's DETER
real-time monitoring system found that more than 430 square miles of forest,
an area a bit smaller than the city of Los Angeles, vanished in the month
of April, while about 2,300 square miles, larger than the state of Delaware,
were destroyed between last August and April." ... "That nine-month total
surpassed the entire acreage in the Amazon that was destroyed over the
previous 12 months, according to DETER data. What's worse, the satellites
couldn't see about half of the forest in April due to cloud cover, suggesting
that actual deforestation likely was much greater." ... "That's raised
red flags among environmentalists, who say that soybean farming, cattle
production and illegal logging are destroying the world's largest rainforest
despite the government's attempts to halt the deforestation." ... "Chopping
down and burning the rainforest releases tons of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to global climate change.
Brazil is the world's fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, largely
because of deforestation, according to the U.S.-based World Resources Institute."
... "Worse is yet to come, environmentalists said." ... "The Amazon's dry
season, when farmers do most of their burning and clearing, starts this
month." -By Jack
Chang -McClatchyDC.com
20080523
-
Oceans
- Global
- Climate
- Science
- Environmental
- Atmospheric
- Industrial
- Factories
-
 Cars
- History
- Animals
- Seattle
-  Washington
-  California
-  Oregon
- US
- Canada
-  Mexico
- "Acidified
seawater showing up along coast ahead of schedule."
... "Climate models predicted it wouldn't happen until the end of the century."
... "So a team led by Seattle [Washington] researchers was stunned to discover
that vast swaths of acidified seawater already are showing up along the
Pacific Coast as greenhouse-gas emissions upset the oceans' chemical balance."
... "In surveys from Vancouver Island [British Columbia, Canada] to the
tip of Baja California [Mexico], reported Thursday in the online journal
Science Express, the scientists found the first evidence that large amounts
of corrosive water are reaching the continental shelf — the shallow sea
margin where most marine creatures live." ... "Off Northern California,
the acidified water was only four miles from shore." ... ""What we found
... was truly astonishing," said oceanographer Richard Feely, of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental
Laboratory in Seattle. "This means ocean acidification may be seriously
impacting marine life on the continental shelf right now."" ... "All along
the coast, the scientists found regions where the water was acidic enough
to dissolve the shells and skeletons of clams, corals and many of the tiny
creatures at the base of the marine food chain. Acidified water also can
kill fish eggs and a wide range of marine larvae." ... ""Entire marine
ecosystems are likely to be affected," said co-author Debby Ianson, an
oceanographer at Fisheries and Oceans Canada." ... "Though it hasn't received
as much attention as global warming, ocean acidification is a flip side
of the same phenomenon. The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide from
power plants, factories and cars that is raising temperatures worldwide
also is to blame for the increasing acidity of the world's oceans." ...
"Normally, seawater is slightly alkaline. When carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere dissolves into the water, it forms carbonic acid — the weak
acid that helps give soda pop its tang. The process also robs the water
of carbonate, a key ingredient in the formation of calcium carbonate shells."
... "Since the Industrial Revolution, when humans began pumping massive
amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, Feely estimates the oceans
have absorbed 525 billion tons of the man-made greenhouse gas — about one-third
of the total released during that period." ... "By keeping some of the
carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, the oceans have blunted the temperature
rise due to global warming. But they've suffered for that service, with
a more than 30-percent increase in acidity." ... "The acidified water upwelling
along the coast today was last exposed to the atmosphere about 50 years
ago, when carbon-dioxide levels were much lower than they are now. That
means the water that will rise from the depths over the coming decades
will have absorbed more carbon dioxide and will be even more acidic." -By
Sandi Doughton -SeattleTimes
20080513
-
Corporate
- Environmental
- Health
- Politics
- Investigation
- Manufacturing
- Water
-
 Michigan
-  Illinois
-  Indiana
-  Minnesota
-  Ohio
-  Wisconsin
- "U.S.
Senators Probe Departure of EPA Midwest Administrator."
... "The circumstances surrounding the resignation of Mary Gade, formerly
the U.S. [United States] EPA's [Environmental Protection Agency's]
regional administrator for the Midwest, are under investigation by an environmental
committee of the U.S. Senate." ... "On May 2, the "Chicago Tribune" reported
that two top aides to Johnson demanded that Gade resign or be fired by
June 1, 2008. She has since submitted her resignation and is currently
on administrative leave." ... "According to the Tribune's story, Gade believed
her forced resignation was due to her efforts to push Dow Chemical Company
to clean up dioxin contamination in Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron stemming
from its Midland, Michigan chemical manufacturing plant. Dioxin is a known
carcinogen." ... "The paper also reported that officials from Dow Chemical
had met with EPA officials in Washington in January 2008 because they were
unhappy with Gade's approach, and that Gade's handling of this issue became
the subject of criticism from her superiors in Washington." ... "On January
4, 2008, Gade terminated negotiations with Dow Chemical aimed at a settlement
to conduct a study and interim cleanup actions for dioxin contamination
along the Tittabawassee River system, the Saginaw River and the Saginaw
Bay. The negotiations under the Superfund Act began in October 2007 with
the participation of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality."
... ""I am extremely disappointed with this outcome," said Gade on January
4. "EPA approached negotiations with high hopes and realistic expectations.
Our team put in many long hours of good faith efforts that came to an unfortunate
end today. EPA is now reviewing its options for ensuring that dioxin contamination
in the river system and the Midland area can be fully addressed."" ...
"An environmental attorney, Gade was appointed regional administrator of
EPA Region 5 in October 2006 to oversee federal environmental programs
in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin."
-ENS
20080512
-
John
McCain -
 Barack
Obama -  Hillary
Clinton - Environmental
- History
- 2008
Election - "Environmental
Stances Are Balancing Act For McCain." ... "[2008
Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's lifetime League
of Conservation Voters score is 24 percent, compared with 86 for [2008
Election Democratic Presidential Candidates Barack] Obama and 86 for [Hillary]
Clinton; Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund's conservation report card gave
him 38 percent in the 108th Congress and 40 in the 109th. (McCain has missed
every major environmental vote this Congress, giving him a zero rating.)"
... "When [League of Conservation Voters President Gene] Karpinski tells
audiences about McCain's environmental scorecard rating, he said, "jaws
drop. . . . I tell them, 'He's not as green as you think he is.'"" (1,
2)
-By Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost
20080509
-
John
McCain - Money
- Politics
- 2008
Election - Environment
- History
- Arizona
- Nevada
- Federal
-
 Real
Estate - Land
- "McCain
Pushed Land Swap That Benefits Backer." ... "[2008
Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John
McCain championed legislation that will let an Arizona rancher trade remote
grassland and ponderosa pine forest here for acres of valuable federally
owned property that is ready for development, a land swap that now stands
to directly benefit one of his top presidential campaign fundraisers]."
... "Initially reluctant to support the swap, the Arizona Republican became
a key figure in pushing the deal through Congress after the rancher and
his partners hired lobbyists that included McCain's 1992 Senate campaign
manager, two of his former Senate staff members (one of whom has returned
as his chief of staff), and an Arizona insider who was a major McCain donor
and is now bundling campaign checks." ... "When McCain's legislation passed
in November 2005, the ranch owner gave the job of building as many as 12,000
homes to SunCor Development, a firm in Tempe, Ariz. [Arizona], run by Steven
A. Betts, a longtime McCain supporter who has raised more than $100,000
for the presumptive Republican nominee. Betts said he and McCain never
discussed the deal." ... "The Audubon Society described the exchange as
the largest in Arizona history. The swap involved more than 55,000 acres
of land in all, including rare expanses of desert woodland and pronghorn
antelope habitat. The deal had support from many local officials and the
Arizona Republic newspaper for its expansion of the Prescott National Forest.
But it brought an outcry from some Arizona environmentalists when it was
proposed in 2002, partly because it went through Congress rather than a
process that allowed more citizen input." ... "Although the bill called
for the two parcels to be of equal value, a federal forestry official told
a congressional committee that he was concerned that "the public would
not receive fair value" for its land. A formal appraisal has not yet begun.
A town official opposed to the swap said other Yavapai Ranch land sold
nine years ago for about $2,000 per acre, while some of the prime commercial
land near a parcel that the developers will get has brought as much as
$120,000 per acre." ... "In an interview, Betts said there is "absolutely
no" connection between his contributions to McCain's presidential bids
and the deal involving rancher Fred Ruskin and the Yavapai Ranch Limited
Partnership." ... "Betts is among a string of donors who have benefited
from McCain-engineered land swaps. In 1994, the senator helped a lobbyist
for land developer Del Webb Corp. pursue an exchange in the Las Vegas [Nevada]
area, according to the Center for Public Integrity. McCain sponsored two
bills, in 1991 and 1994, sought by donor Donald R. Diamond that yielded
the developer thousands of acres in trade for national parkland." ... "In
the late 1990s, McCain promoted a deal in Arizona's Tonto National Forest
involving property part-owned by Great American Life Insurance, a company
run by billionaire Carl H. Lindner Jr., a prolific contributor to national
political parties and presidential candidates." ... "In Arizona, SunCor
is a subsidiary of Pinnacle West, the state's largest power company. Betts,
as Ruskin described him, "politically is a very powerful guy in the state.""
... "Officials from the company and its subsidiaries have accounted for
$100,000 in contributions to McCain's political campaigns over the years,
records show." (1, 2)
-By Matthew Mosk with contributions by Alice Crites
-WashingtonPost
20080508
-
Oil
- Corporations
- Air
- Environment
- Ground
- Water
- Safety
- Health
- Science
- Politics
- "Chevron,
11 Oil Companies to Pay $423 Million in MTBE Lawsuits."
... "Water suppliers in 17 states will collect $423 million from Chevron
Corp. [Corporation], BP Plc [Public limited company] and 10 other oil companies
as part of a settlement of contamination claims involving the gasoline
additive MTBE." ... "The suits claim the oil companies contaminated wells
and underground aquifers across the country by adding methyl tertiary butyl
ether, or MTBE, to gasoline as a way to reduce air pollution. They claim
the oil companies hid information showing MTBE would cause ``massive''
contamination." ... "The settlement was filed yesterday with U.S. District
Judge Shira Scheindlin in New York, who is presiding over the 59 settled
lawsuits brought by 153 municipalities. The six oil companies and refineries
that didn't settle include Exxon Mobil Corp. [Corporation], the world's
biggest publicly traded oil company, according to Robert Gordon, a lawyer
for the plaintiffs." ... "The municipalities ``will use the money to continue
to treat water so that it is safe and pure,'' Gordon said in a phone interview."
... "MTBE reduces air pollution by making gasoline burn more completely
in a car's engine. MTBE discharged into the air contaminates groundwater
through rainfall. The additive has been banned in many states." ... "Estimates
of the cost to treat contaminated water in the U.S. have reached $30 billion."
... "Scheindlin denied a request by the oil companies to dismiss the suits
in 2005." ... "``Innocent water providers -- and ultimately innocent water
users -- should not be denied relief from the contamination of their water
supply if defendants breached a duty to avoid an unreasonable risk of harm
from their products,'' Scheindlin said at the time." ... "The case is In
Re: MTBE, 00-cv-1898, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
(Manhattan). " -By David Glovin
-Bloomberg
20080507
-
Water-
 Infrastructure
- Human
- Health
- Safety
- Enforcement
- Environment
- Underground
- Money
- History
- Weather
- Animals
-  Plants
- "Aging
systems releasing sewage into rivers, streams." ...
"America's aging sewer systems continue to dump human waste into rivers
and streams, despite years of fines and penalties targeting publicly owned
agencies responsible for sewage overflows, a Gannett News Service analysis
shows." ... "The analysis of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data
found that since 2003, hundreds of municipal sewer authorities have been
fined for violations, including spills that make people sick, threaten
local drinking water and kill aquatic animals and plants." ... "DATABASE:
Sewer
treatment plant reports by state[.]" ... "Local governments across
the USA plan to spend billions modernizing failing wastewater systems —
some of which are more than 100 years old — over the next 10 to 20 years,
EPA, state and local sewer authority officials said." ... "Those improvement
efforts face a huge challenge mitigating problems in what the EPA estimates
to be 1.2 million miles of sewers snaking underground across the USA."
... "Waste gurgles from manholes and gushes down streams and rivers somewhere
in the USA almost every day, the EPA estimates." ... "Gannett News Service
analyzed enforcement and compliance records compiled by the EPA and state
regulators from January 2003 to February 2008." ... "The analysis found
that at least one-third of the nation's large, publicly owned sewage treatment
systems were the subject of formal enforcement actions by the EPA or state
regulators for sewage spills or other violations. Those enforcement actions
included fines as well as orders to fix problems or expand treatment capacity.
Fines totaling $35 million were assessed against 494 of the nation's 4,200
municipal facilities that treat at least 1 million gallons of sewage daily,
the analysis shows." ... "An EPA 2004 report to Congress estimated that
850 billion gallons of storm water mixed with raw sewage pour into U.S.
waters every year from older, combined sewer systems that were designed
to overflow in wet weather. These combined systems, built by cities in
the 19th and early 20th centuries, are now considered antiquated and a
threat to public health and the environment, according to the EPA and environmental
groups." ... "The EPA's 2002 Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure
Gap Analysis reported the nation's municipal sewer authorities' capital
needs to meet clean water requirements from 2000 to 2019 ranged from $331
billion to $450 billion. Based on that data, the National Association of
Clean Water Agencies now puts that range at $350 billion to $500 billion
for the next 20 years, association spokeswoman Susan Bruninga said." -By
Larry Wheeler and Grant Smith with contributions by Robert Benincasa and
Dan Klepal -USATODAY
20080503
-
People
- Health
- Environment
- Trees
- Global
- Earth
- Science
- Politics
-
 Book
-  North
Carolina - "Caring
for planet increasingly tied to faith groups." ...
"Abraham sits at the oaks. Deborah holds court under a palm tree. Moses
speaks to a bush." ... ""I would say connecting this to the Bible is important
for some people," said Dr. Matthew Sleeth, a former hospital chief of staff
who couldn't shake the faces of patients with seemingly increasing environment-related
illnesses. So he quit his job, gave away half his belongings and began
spreading the word on the urgency of people paying more attention to the
environment." ... "Pointing out the symbolism of trees in Scripture has
helped Sleeth link faith with personal responsibility. His book, "Serve
God and Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action," is in its seventh
printing. Sleeth also has a prominent role in the publication of an upcoming
"green Bible."" ... ""The change has come when people who are strong in
their faith, who might be against it," Sleeth says of the deterioration
of the Earth, "then go look at the Bible with this in mind and they see
a different story."" ... "The statewide faith and environment conference
that Sleeth will co-headline at Catawba College in Salisbury [North Carolina]
this month grew out of a meeting among Greensboro [North Carolina] houses
of worship at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. Participants tried to broaden
the conversation between the scientific and faith-based communities." ...
""When people realize that there is this direct tie between our own faith
and being good stewards of this Earth," said John Wear, founding director
of Catawba's Center for the Environment, "then it gives them a purpose
that didn't exist before."" -By Nancy McLaughlin
-News-Record.com
CenterForTheEnvironment.org
20080502
-
Stephen
Johnson - Corporate
- Government
- Politics
- Fetal
- Human
- Health
- Science
- Environmental
- Safety
- Enforcement
- Emergency
- Wildlife
- Soil
- Water
- Law
- Manufacturing
- History
- Michigan
- Illinois
- "EPA's
top Midwest regulator forced out: Mary Gade, based
in Chicago [Illinois], says [Republican President] Bush administration
made her quit over Dow Chemical case." ... "The Bush administration forced
its top environmental regulator in the Midwest to quit Thursday after months
of internal bickering about dioxin contamination downstream from Dow Chemical's
world headquarters in Michigan." ... "In an interview with the [Chicago]
Tribune, Mary Gade said two top officials at the U.S. [United States] Environmental
Protection Agency headquarters in Washington stripped her of her powers
as regional administrator and told her to quit or be fired by June 1."
... "Gade said she had told the agency she would resign her position, based
in Chicago [Illinois]." ... "For the past year, Gade has been locked in
a heated dispute with Dow about long-delayed plans to clean up dioxin-saturated
soil and sediment that extends 50 miles beyond its Midland, Mich. [Michigan],
plant into Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron." ... "Gade, a former corporate attorney
appointed by Bush in September 2006, invoked emergency powers last year
to force Dow to clean up four hot spots of dioxin, including the largest
amount of the cancer-causing chemical ever recorded in the United States."
... "In January, Dow urged officials at the EPA's [Environmental Protection
Agency's] headquarters to intervene after Gade broke off negotiations intended
to renew the terms for a more comprehensive cleanup. Neither side would
reveal details, citing confidentiality agreements, but Gade said Dow resisted
taking steps needed to protect human health and wildlife." ... "Though
regional EPA administrators typically have wide latitude to enforce environmental
laws, Gade drew fire from officials in Washington last month after she
sent contractors to test soil in a Saginaw [Michigan] neighborhood where
Dow had found high dioxin levels." ... "She said top lieutenants to Stephen
Johnson, the national EPA administrator, repeatedly questioned her aggressive
action against Dow, which long ago acknowledged it is responsible for the
dioxin contamination but has resisted federal and state involvement in
cleanup plans." ... "Dow dumped dioxin-contaminated waste into the waterways
for most of the last century. The chemical, which is so toxic that it is
measured in trillionths of a gram, was a manufacturing byproduct of the
Vietnam-era herbicide Agent Orange and other chlorinated herbicides." ...
"Company documents show Dow knew by the mid-1960s that it could make people
sick or even kill them." ... "Citing years of independent studies, the
EPA says dioxin can cause cancer, disrupt the immune system and alter fetal
development." ... ""We have a responsibility to make sure people are living
in a healthy and safe environment," Gade said. "This problem has been out
there for more than 30 years, and it's unconscionable that action hasn't
been taken."" (1, 2)
-By Michael Hawthorne
-ChicagoTribune
20080430
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