A Drop in the Barrel

Well, I'm all for baby steps when in comes to progress, but anything less than that and I think it's time to re-think the strategies. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, one of the few holdovers from the Clinton Administration, announced that sweeping new efficiency standards for SUVs and light trucks (and whats the difference there, btw?) would "save gas and headaches for American drivers at the pump." Hmm...what drivers is Norman talking about? Surely not the 13 mpg Lincoln Navigators or 10 mpg H2 Hummers (Ooo...unless you have the new H3 in which case you get 15 mpg)?

The new plan would mandate that vehicles under manufacture between 2008 and 2011 would have to, on average, get 1.8 mpg more than they do now, which puts the overall average around 24 mpg. The Post's editorial for today says the rest:

The administration estimates that this change will save 10 billion gallons of gasoline over about 15 years. This amounts to a total of about 25 days of consumption under current trends -- a disappointing drop in the barrel.

When automotive fuel efficiency standards were introduced in 1975, the looser rules for so-called non-passenger vehicles -- a category that, believe it or not, has been interpreted to include minivans, SUVs and even some cars -- weren't all that important: These vehicles accounted for less than 20 percent of the market. Now SUVs and other gas-guzzling behemoths make up more than half of automotive sales.

So much for baby steps. This feels like we're on the treadmill to denial. Neil Armstrong, a man famous for his steps, would be appalled.

European Nature

You know, I really have to love the Washington Times. For one of the more conservative-leaning papers out there they really do try to cover "liberal" issues in a more moderate manner. So, they've posted a UPI story covering the recent natural disasters that have hit parts of Europe (fires in Portugal, flooding in Germany and an region-wide heat wave that marks as one of the highest in decades.

The piece goes on to quote scientists who say that, "The tendency is that in Europe, the temperatures will rise on average, which could mean more heat waves and heavy rainfalls."
Followed by, "I don't think we can stop that trend anytime soon."

I think my favorite part about this little article is that no where do they mention global warming. Why is no one even mentioning this as an "outlandish" reason for the ridiculous weather patterns we're seeing in Europe? Has no one learned?

Whats more, the article is written as if to say the weather in Europe doesn't affect the weather in the United States. Unfortunately it does and a to a great degree. Its not like the U.S. has been having a cooler than normal summer. Parts of the east coast are actually having periodic droughts! For only the third time in 55 years (the two other times were both after 2001) New York State was close to being "overtapped" because no rain fell. Chicago would look like the Sahara if it wasn't for the flood of water that fell from the sky two weeks ago and many of the agricultural lands of the central midwest are struggling to keep crops alive. And how about those hurricanes? To me, it doesn't sound like Europe is the only continent experiencing odd weather. Whaddya say we ALL start talking about global warming a little more seriously.

India Bans Plastic Bags

Well, it's official: India is starting to ban plastic bags. The government of western Maharashtra State banned the manufacture, sale and use of plastic bags due to the massive clogging of any and all drainage systems during monsoon flooding. Bombay (Mumbai) residents were the first to chastize the government for its slow response after record rains hit the city this year, paralyzing the country's financial and entertainment capital. The choked drainage systems were unable to flush out the majority of water that fell in the state and helped cause debilitating landslides that killed over 1,000 people. To think that plastic bags could be responsible for so much damage.

Use of plastic bags world wide is growing. Each year between 500 - 1 billion plastic bags are used and thrown away. Thats fine if you have systems that are in place to gather them up (well, most of them anyway...I'm sure we've all seen our fair share of plastic bags dancing seductively through our city streets, backyards and favorite state parks). But most non-western countries don't have a system in place to pickup after themselves, much less the ability to recycle them. Many, like India, do not have standardized garbage pickup and thus, people just chuck the plastic onto the ground and that is that.

Is paper better? Not much. According to the American Forest and Paper Association, the U.S. used more than 10 billion paper grocery bags in 1999 requiring more than 14 million trees to be chopped down. Thats just for grocery bags. Factor in the hundreds of thousands daily newspapers, weekly magazines, computer paper and suddenly we've got quite a number of "non-vertical timber."

For a good intro into the background of paper vs. plastic checkout the Institute for Lifecycle Environmental Assesment. Who knew that it takes almost twice the amount of energy to make 1 plastic bag versus 2 paper?

Sheehan Returns

Cindy Sheehan returned to Crawford, TX this afternoon after spending a week caring for her mother who suffered a stroke last week in Los Angeles. Many folks say her presence is vital to keep the emotion behind it all intact. I could not disagree more.

After spending a week there and meeting the other families at Camp Casey it became apparent that there was much more to this than Cindy Sheehan. The media glommed onto Cindy because the media needs a hero, an individual, a person to attach to. What they don't know is that there area heroes all around them whether they be Vietnam Veterans, Iraq War Veterans or any of the other veterans groups that are there simply asking the President for an explanation. What they don' t know is that there are thousands of mothers like Cindy who have lost a son or daughter in this war. And most of America wants an explanation. And no matter how many times the Prez goes around the country throwing Band-Aids on his Iraq war policy, his approval ratings continue to plummet.

So you see, its not about Cindy Sheehan. Its about the truth. Its about integrity. Bush says he knows what these words mean, but he hasn't shown us he knows how to express them.

Niger Food Crisis

Kofi Annan and his wife Nane went to Niger as a show of solidarity with a country that is going through the one of the worst food shortages in over 35 years. Crops were devastated a year ago after drought and locusts provided two knock out blows to the entire Niger harvest. The next harvest is expected to be in late September. Until then nearly 2 million people must survive on aide from outside.

Ok, so whats the holdup? Yesterday, the international humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) berated the United Nations for acting too slowly to help stem the desperate need of food and nourishment. Annan called the claim, "unfortunate." Well, I gotta say now is not the time to be playing "he said, she said." Annan then urged other humanitarian organizations to join together to help the starving people of Niger. Seems the U.N. is getting too slow for its own good. Or maybe its just politics.

Regardless, a couple million women and children are waiting on a bite to eat and the most powerful coalition of nations is dragging its feet. It's not like this is a war...these people just need food.

Crawford and Back

So as soon as I had posted the previous story on Cindy Sheehan, I was recruited to head down there and begin establishing an online presence for the quickly forming community that sprung up around her. For the first day I was posting to Joe Trippi's blog and then quickly started Crawford Update. The overall website established for Cindy (Meet With Cindy was receiving over 3 million hits a day for the first 4 days. Traffic has died down a bit now but still the blog gets thousands every day checking out the material being posted. To the left, one of my fave pics from the 40,000 vigils America put on for Cindy last Wednesday.

I had to leave on Wednesday morning to come back home and get plugging away on my work with Rainforest Action Network. It was a week of activism and excitement. Cindy is a pretty amazing woman. She is standing up and demanding answers. Something I wish more people would do. Also see my diary on the Kos for some great personal stories on who all is gathering in Crawford.

UPDATE: My last-minute interview with EchoRadio on Tuesday evening is up now as well.

Take a listen.

Cindy Sheehan Brings the Fight to Crawford

Developing story out of Crawford Texas. Cindy Sheehan, the mother of fallen soldier Casey Sheehan continues to challenge Whore-Hay Bush Jr. only this time she's bravely brought the fight to the President's vacation home. Sitting outside "the ranch" while Whore-Hay enjoys a few weeks off from being the most powerful man in the world, Sheehan is grabbing press attention as her compelling story spreads across news desks around the country. It doesn't get much more American than this. A woman, disagreeing with the President's explanation and justification for the war in Iraq and the needless death of thousands of American GI's, has brought the fight to the President and is peaceably staging a sit-in protest outside his ranch. The Washington Post and LA Times both ran stories on Cindy today.

JoeTrippi.com and EchoRadio both have the podcast of a conference call with Sheehan and a corps group of bloggers. Apparently Cindy has been told that she "might get hit by a car" by the Secret Service multiple times which has begun to feel more like a "threat" than a "warning." Let's hope the SS isn't just trying to pressure Cindy to leave Crawford. See the Post's coverage of the call...

Many people and press are on their way down to Crawford to join the sit-in with the goal of getting Cindy into a meeting with President Whore-Hay.

Oil Hits $66 a barrel

Black gold continues to hit record highs...
Refinery strains, concerns over Iran and recent forecasts.

Gambling for Water

Building off the previous post concerning water usage in the southwest, a great article in the BBC this morning chirped yet another warning to the country's fastest growing region: You're drying up. Fast.

As Mark Twain said, "Whiskey is for drinking, and water is fighting." Seems the desert southwest could be the Cesar's Main Event for some heavy blows in the coming years as California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico duke it out. Whats frightening in all of this is the fact that Las Vegas is one of the nation's fastest growing cities (6,000 people per month). But to the typical American tourist it's become commonplace to see 50 foot fountains of water and pools in every backyard amidst one of the world's driest climates. Talk about a man-made faux-paradise. I mean c'mon...its a freakin desert.

LV consumes over 190 gallons of water per person, per day. 30% of that is used outside, watering lawns and other shrubbery that otherwise wouldn't be there. To compare, Los Angeles uses approx. 162 gallons per person per day. New York City, after a 12 year plan to conserve water in the region has shrunk to 155 gallons. Austin, Texas, also dropped from 221 gallons to a respectable 116 gallons after a 15 year focus on water conservation.

I remember flying over Scottsdale, AZ a few years ago and seeing miles of dry brown desert and then all of the sudden, like a line drawn in the sand, neighborhoods of blue swimming pools and green backyards. The bottom line is water is a finite resource and we're treating it like it's infinite. Whats more, water wars between farmers (the ones growing the food for Las Vegas and many other southwest cities) and urbanites have been brewing for decades and are getting close to boiling over. They are vociferously fighting a bill that would bring a $5 billion pipeline from central Nevada directly to LV leaving little, if any, water for agriculture. So whats more important to you? Food or the casino fountains and pools that dot the desert landscape?

Remembering Hetch Hetchy

The SF Chronicle reports on the rebirth of a century-old issue: draining Hetch Hetchy Valley and bringing back one of America's most striking natural wonders. The fight that started over 100 years ago in 1903 revolves around a continuing debate between conservation and development and preserving our wilderness areas. Heralded by American naturalist John Muir as, "one of Nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples," Hetchy Hetchy was largely unknown to the American public (as the idea of conservation and National Parks in general were just beginning to evolve in the national conscience)until many years after the valley had been inundated. This prompted the NY Times to write, "The American people have been whipped in the Hetch Hetchy fight," upon authorization of the O'Shaunessey Dam by the U.S. Congress on December 6, 1913.

Gov. Schwarzenegger has asked for a report from the California Department of Water Resources on the possibility of draining the Hetch Hetchy Valley and re-establishing one of the wonders within Yosemite National Park. According to the CDWR doing so would not limit the supply of water to San Francisco and the Bay Area and wouldn't cause any significant loss of electric power. The downside: depending more on fossil fuels for power (like coal and oil), loss of quality water (h20 from the High Sierras is some of the cleanest in the country), and no more gurantee when severe water shortages hit one of the driest regions in North America.

Once again the discussion comes back to the question, "How much is wilderness worth to us?" Seems to me a simple answer is putting forward some serious conservation measures. Maybe its time for California and the rest of the semi-arid desert west to come to grips with the fact that living in such an environment will require some sacrifices on their part and in the end those sacrifices will enable natural wonders like Hetch Hetchy to remain.

The Un-Hybrid

Matthew Wald of the NY Times writes about how today's new hybrid vehicles aren't as green as they seem. Car companies like Honda have started "hybridizing for performance," meaning that the new hybrids get about the same gas mileage as their non-hybrid sisters in exchange for slightly faster acceleration and pickup. What might be questionable in all of this (besides the fact that the companies are selling the cars as "green turbochargers") is that the buyers of the new Hybrid V6 Accord (or the Lexus RX400h, Toyota Highlander, and Honda Civic)still get the $600-$1300 tax rebate at the end of the year, even though they are burning just as much gas as their neighbor driving the standard Honda Accord or Civic. Not sure Joe Merica will be excited about the fact that vehicles targeting upper-middle class motorists is giving out questionable tax rebates for a car that chews through just as much gas as anything else on the market but happens to get off the line a few seconds quicker. The EPA ranks the vehicles as getting a mile per gallon more than the standard models but these rankings are always considered inaccurate because they don't reflect the way in which cars are actually driven.

One line from Wald's article sums it up nicely:
"Hybrid technology seems to be heading the way of earlier technologies, which got more work out of a gallon of gasoline, like four valves per cylinder and variable valve timing, that have been used in the end to make cars accelerate faster, rather than to hold them steady in performance and to cut fuel consumption."

Anyone else worried our hybrid euphoria could crash before it actually takes off?

Republicans Bad for Business?

In a strange twist of events, the Chinese government is criticizing the U.S. Congress for "erecting barriers" in the monumental deal between China's energy firm CNOOC and the American oil company Unocal. Congress has urged the White House to block the deal under the banner of "national security." Odd that the GOP is now hankering to control business. What happened to free-trade and beauty of private enterprise? Apparently, those ideals are only applicable for certain situations.

The truth of the matter is, in the forum of small business vs. the federal government, the Feds usually win. But not in a competitive, "I have more money than you" sense. It is inherently impossible for all small businesses to work easily and in accord with the federal government. To help this relationship, Congress has always passed special rules and procedures to help these businesses navigate the federal marketplace. Yet, we are now witnessing Congress urging a sitting president to effectively control the outcome of a international business deal? Not sure i understand the national security threat either...unless they're talking about global warming which will increase dramatically if China becomes the American dream of two SUVs per family.

Hitting the Highways --- What? Me Worry?

Memorial Day has consistently provided American families the time to hit the road and enjoy a three-day weekend in the wilderness, a national park, at the beach or visiting family on the Jersey shore. With gas prices where they are (arm or a leg a gallon) the question is, will Americans take to the road this holiday weekend in the midst of the highest nominal gas prices ever recorded during a national holiday? The CS Monitor says "Yes." A record 37 million will get behind the wheel and many will opt to rent a car rather than take to the air with Delta, USAir or Southwest. Even more impressive is the recent predicted rise in driving by 2.2% nationwide. Why are Americans still paying such inordinate costs for fuel? Cato Institute's Jerry Taylor says its because over the last few decades average salary in the US has risen right along with gas prices. Others say its because they are willing to skimp on other expenses like eating out, accomadations and in-between costs like taxis and airport limos. Whatever the reason, it seems Americans will never be able to let go of the car society. Lets hope we memorialize our fallen heroes with more than a drive to the beach in the future.

Norton Goes Solar

Finally, a star who is using his star power to create sustainable power (ooof..that was a mouthful). Edward Norton appears in an fantastic interview with Grist Magazine spelling out his solar project for low-income families in LA. His organization (that he actively runs on his own) Solar Neighbors is helping to outfit hundreds of families in the LA region with solar rooftops that will save families hundreds of dollars per year in electric bills. Norton has a strong environmental history. His father worked as the public policy head for the Wilderness Society and now is managing the Yunnan Great Rivers project in China for the Nature Conservancy. His brother is a river guide in Idaho and serves on the board of Idaho Rivers United working to save salmon habitat and help the species recover in Idaho. And his sister got her grad degree from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in environmental policy.

Norton also hosted a 4-part series on PBS called "Strange Days on Planet Earth" that I caught. Check it out if you can.

One of my fave quotes from the interview...

"It confounds me to see [the Bush administration] put forth completely bankrupt policies, even as Republican national-security analysts are stepping forward and saying energy conservation has got to be a part of our national security plan. Even as a fellow Republican, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is proposing the most aggressive solar development and incentive program in the history of the United States. Even as the United States is getting its ass kicked by the Japanese and the Germans, who are beginning to dominate clean-technology industries. Even as billions of dollars and many thousands of lives are being spent to fight oil regimes in the Middle East. It's truly a national tragedy."

Prius Envy

Toyota has remained at the head of the class when it comes to pushing the technology envelope in the "Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicles," as coined by our own EPA. Wired reports on the culture behind the Prius craze and why Toyota is keeping a strangle-hold on the market consistently driving for cleaner more fuel efficient vehicles.

"It may seem odd that the company poised to overtake General Motors in the next few years as the world's biggest automaker is out to render the traditional internal combustion engine obsolete. But the early success of the Prius is making believers out of Toyota suppliers. Toshiba, for example, recently committed $95 million to build a facility to manufacture hybrid control system microchips. Likewise, Sanyo announced that it will double output of its rechargeable hybrid batteries."

Wired takes a skeptical look at the future of hybrids but uncovers some real gems about Toyota and the market they have created and continue to control.

"In phase two, Toyota is doubling production to sell 100,000 new Priuses in the US this year. This spring, the company will introduce the Lexus RX 400h, billed as the world's first luxury hybrid, followed by the Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV. And it's considering opening a US manufacturing facility. Toyota has also begun advertising the Prius to the mass market."

Right now there are several campaigns targeting the worst fuel economist among automakers, Ford Motor Co., and pushing Detroit to get on board the hybrid train before they are bought out by the likes of Honda (also coming out with several hybrids) and Toyota. Checkout www.jumpstartford.com for more info on that campaign. Lets hope Detroit gets its head out off the sand on this before America loses the car market for good.

Well Known Alaska Alpha Wolf Shot

The leader of the famous Toklat family wolf pack has been shot and killed by a tour-guided hunter just outside of Denali National Park in Alaska. The wolf was 7 years old and was identified by the radio collar he wore attached by researchers who have been studying the famous pack for over 5 decades. According to one of those researchers the "Toklat lineage has suffered virtually a complete social breakdown," as a result of the recent deaths of the alpha male, two females and the alpha male's mate, all killed in wolf traps outside the park boundary. Meanwhile Fish and Game spokeswoman Cathie Harms says that the wolves in Denali will not be affected by this death. (Thats a tough last name for someone in the Fish and Game department).

Since the state government declared open season on Alaskan wolves, there has been a large uptick in trophy hunters headed to Alaska to get their mantle piece. What I find so pathetic is that the majority of these hunters are being led by guides who virtually put the hunter within 20 meters of the usually fleeing wolves, or even more ridiculous, guide the helicopter close enough for the hunter to shoot from the air. These "hunters" are shadows of the American hunters of the past who actually earned their kill with days of tracking and hours of stalking. Davie Crockett is rolling over his grave. Hey guys, go play a video game if you're so desparate to kill. Hell, we have a war on why not join the military.

NOW Runs with Earth Day Message

As many of you know (and I'm sure many of you forgot) tomorrow is Earth Day! What can you do? Well at the least, learn something. Find a new fact and pass it around for all to munch on. Or maybe give a small donation to a non-profit enviro group of your choosing (I know they've asked you because I work at one).
The best resource to learn something? How about PBS? No, its not a liberal hippie network. NOW, founded by Bill Moyers (a conservative Christian in some books) and now hosted by NPR veteran David Brancaccio, airs soon in your neighborhood featuring the now suddenly hot topic of global warming. Get the in depth on the NOW site and see when it airs in your neck of the woods.

Activist in Iraq

Marla Ruzicka, activist and head of the NGO CIVIC (Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict), was killed yesterday in Iraq when her vehicle was caught between a suicide bomber and an American convoy. Ruzicka worked with Global Exchange and Rainforest Action Network for several years here in San Francisco. Her loss hits home especially among so many of her peers and coworkers around the world.

She organized door-to-door survey teams fanning out across Iraq to get first-hand accounts of civilian casualities of dead, injured, homeless, displaced and abused. In 2002 she worked with USAID and the Senate Appropriations Committee to allocate money to rebuild homes for families that suffered losses as a result of U.S. military actions.

The Real Deal on Clear Skies

Clear Skies vs. Clean Air Act. This should be a no-brainer but for those of you who are skeptical, I digress.

First of all, get the comparison chart here in case things get confusing. They did for me and it helped to have a simple visual. The problem with this plan (besides allowing more pollution for industry) is that the Clear Skies initiative is a 2-step program that has an OPTIONAL second step. So its like asking a professional athlete if he wouldn't mind a $1.5 million dollar signing bonus. Do we think industry will take advantage of this? Of course!

The Clean Air Act(CAA) requires the nation to cut emissions, specifically with 3 incredibly toxic substances: sulfur-dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury. The Clear Skies (CS) program does as well, just not as much. CAA states that national mercury emissions must drop by 5 tons per year through 2008. Thus far, we've managed to that. This means that between 2004 and 2008 we will have cut mercury emissions by 20 tons (5 tons x 4 years). The CS program sets the high bar at 26 tons by 2012, which is only 6 tons more but in a span of 8 years, not 4. If we stuck with the current CAA we could cut mercury emissions by 40 tons by 2012, much more than the 26 GWB is gunning for.

Sulfur dioxide has a similar issue. The CAA sets the SO2 cap at 2 mil. tons of by 2012. The CS program requests the cap to be raised to 4 mil. tons of SO2 by 2010. So we're DOUBLING our SO2 caps in almost half the time.

Nitrogen oxides: CAA sets the cap at 1.25 mil tons by 2010. GWB's Clear Skies Initiative sets it at 2.7 mil tons by 2018. Ok, so now we're giving industry the ok to put MORE pollution in our air AND making sure they have another 12 years to do it in. Huh? This is ridiculous.

To actually sell this as a "Clear Skies Plan" is truly amazing. I really hope it doesn't take a global-warming-triggered tsunmai or earthquake that hits LA or DC to wake these idiots up.

Johnson Gets Grilled By Dems

Looks like Stephen L. Johnson, GWB's nominee for head of the EPA, ran into a few hagglers in his confirmation hearings yesterday. Actually, he ran into Barbara Boxer (D-California) and Jim Jeffords (I-Vermont) among others who questioned him on specific points around his 24-year tenure within the EPA. It wasn't so much the disturbing government pesticide program that Boxer uncovered, or Jeffords' warning "not to become a rubber stamp for the administration," but it was rather his response to a probing question from Thomas Carper (D-Deleware). After promising the Environment and Public Works Committee (currently chaired by my favorite flat-earth member James Inhofe) that he would only make decisions on the "best available scientific information," Carper asked him why the agency provided the committee with detailed analyses of the administration's pollution-reduction bill, known as Clear Skies, but not two competing bills. Whoops. Carper had no real comment.

What the public didn't know was that there were 3 bills competing for the eyes of congress and only 1, the one favored by EPA, was backed up with a full analysis. Regardless, Johnson is a weak candidate for EPA head, a man who will continually put business and the bottom line ahead of the environment and the health of our biosphere. It doesn't help that he has no background in biology, ecology, sustainability or any other of the vital pieces needed to run the EPA in this day and age.