CyberCats

Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 13:49:43 -0700
To: daily-grist@lists.gristmagazine.com
From: Grist Magazine
Subject: DAILY GRIST, 20 May 2004

DAILY GRIST
20 May 2004
Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE

LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD GEEKS: Grist seeks an IT systems specialist and a production coordinator.

1.
JUSTICE OF THE GREENPEACE
Federal Case Against Greenpeace Thrown Out of Court

The U.S. government's unusual criminal suit against Greenpeace USA was rather unceremoniously booted from federal court yesterday by U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan. In a rare "directed verdict," the judge found the group not guilty midway through the trial, after the prosecution had presented its case but before the group's lawyers presented any defense. The case revolved around two members of Greenpeace who boarded a ship near the Port of Miami-Dade to protest its load of Amazonian mahogany. In a highly atypical move, government prosecutors sought to indict not just the individual protesters but the group itself under an obscure 1872 law -- not enforced in over a century -- that prohibits "sailor mongering," or boarding ships in an attempt to lure sailors ashore to brothels and bars. Because the decision did not go to jury, the government cannot appeal. The case, said Greenpeace Executive Director John Passacantando, "showed the extent to which the government will go to criminalize free speech.'"

straight to the source: The Miami Herald, Jay Weaver, 20 May 2004

straight to the source: MSNBC.com, 19 May 2004

2.
SURVIVAL OF THE WEAKEST
Humans Affecting Evolution of Other Species

Lay scientists tend to think of evolution as a glacially slow process, with changes measured in hundreds of thousands of years, not decades. However, growing collaboration between ecologists and evolutionary biologists is highlighting a phenomenon called "contemporary evolution" -- and it ain't pretty. Turns out, by culling the largest, healthiest, and most robust specimens from a species, human beings can precipitate a sort of rapid devolution, an evolutionary trend toward smaller, weaker populations that works over generations, not centuries. The phenomenon can be observed across the animal world -- for example, hunters have left mountain sheep in Alberta, Canada, shrinking, along with their horns -- but it is particularly perspicuous in the world's fisheries. Some scientists trace the precipitous decline of the cod population to fishing practices that value the largest fish; the result has been a population of fish that mature earlier and smaller, are unable to produce robust offspring, and lack the genetic diversity to breed their way out of trouble. Researchers recommend a broad rethinking of practices for protecting endangered species and managing wildlife habitats, fisheries, and hunting ranges.

straight to the source: The Christian Science Monitor, Peter N. Spotts, 20 May 2004

3.
SECURITY BLANKET
Environmental Security Starting to Get Attention

On the list of security threats facing the world's nations -- nuclear proliferation, terrorism, neoconservatives -- the environment deserves a place near the top, say a growing number of experts. Climate change, deforestation, soil erosion, and the like can lead to conflict over scarce resources and to massive waves of migration. Geoffrey Dabelko -- director of the Environmental Change and Security Project and an all-around brainy guy -- attended the recent Hague Conference on Environment, Security, and Sustainable Development, where a group of folks mainly from wealthy nations discussed troubled transatlantic relations and possibilities for environmental rapprochement. And for another perspective, he followed it up with a meeting at the U.N. Environment Program in Nairobi, Kenya, where developing countries stressed that many of their environmental-security problems were the result of deleterious Western industrial and trade policies. Dabelko wrote some thought-provoking reports on the proceedings in Dispatches -- today on the Grist Magazine website.

today in Grist: Geoffrey Dabelko journals on environmental security -- in Dispatches

4.
404 ERROR: FAILURE TO RECYCLE
Computer Manufacturers Get Low Grades on Recycling

Computer makers' environmental programs generally stink, though U.S. companies -- particularly Dell and Hewlett-Packard -- are better than most, says an annual report released yesterday by the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, an enviro group based in San Jose, Calif. No company is recycling more than 2 percent of its products -- products chock-full of lead, polyvinyl chloride, mercury, and other hazardous materials -- a statistic which coalition director Ted Smith called "pathetic." Coalition researchers singled out Dell for particular praise. The company, which received terrible scores on last year's report, has stopped using prison labor to recycle products and launched a new recycling campaign. A number of states are considering bills that would make manufacturers responsible, to some extent at least, for electronics recycling.

straight to the source: MSNBC, Associated Press, 20 May 2004

straight to the source: The New York Times, Laurie J. Flynn, 19 May 2004

see also, in Grist: Control-Alt-Recycle -- tips on greener computing -- in Earthly Possessions

5.
THE LAWN AND SHORT OF IT
Organic Lawn Care Taking Off

With the U.S. adding some 2 million acres of residential property a year, lawns are becoming a significant environmental issue. In addition to sucking up water -- the average lawn drinks about 10,000 gallons of water over and above rainfall, says the U.S. EPA -- lawns are frequently doused with fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides that pollute groundwater, kill worms and other small creatures, and can slowly poison kids and pets. Add in gas-guzzling, pollutant-spewing mowers and those lawns aren't looking so green after all. Thankfully, organic lawn care is growing in popularity. Recently, a group of lawn-care and pesticide-industry groups joined enviros and the EPA to create the "Lawn and Environment Coalition," which in March unveiled the first-ever guidelines for eco-friendly lawn care. Although there are no federally established and enforced standards for what counts as organic -- a situation enviros lament -- many companies are coming out with lines of lawn-care products labeled as such. "Hybrid mowers, water-conserving sprinklers, and organic fertilizers are all potential gold mines for industry players," wrote industry analyst Don Montuori.

straight to the source: The Christian Science Monitor, Mark Clayton, 20 May 2004

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Also in GRIST MAGAZINE:

Fowl play -- factory farms get sweetheart deal on air pollution from EPA -- in Muckraker

All bottled up -- bottled water flies off the shelves, but smart money is on filter systems -- by P.W. McRandle in Earthly Possessions

A tale of two mayors -- the improbable story of how Bogota, Colombia, became somewhere you might actually want to live -- in Main Dish

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CyberCats

Thursday, May 20, 2004

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