Environmental Update, B&E Review, 51:3

Consumers

:“Green Eye for the Conventional Guy,” a listing of innovative ways a person can become “green,” can be found in the January/February 2005 issue of Sierra magazine. The article compares the consumer choices of yesterday with the range of choices today. For example, high-tech, energy-efficient cars of today are in, and the SUV is a dinosaur. The article offers other tips: for information on the latest technology for product recycling, check out the National Technology Recycling Project (www.ntrp.org); visit www.Greenbiz.com to learn how entrepreneurs can improve their environmental performance as well as their bottom line; and check out www.OrganicWeddings.com if you or someone you know is planning a wedding in the future. (Sierra, pages 44-45)

:Speaking of consumer purchases, look at the “Ten Dumbest Consumer Goods” on page 15 of the January/February 2005 issue of Sierra. You might be surprised at what many consumers buy without any thought about the consequences of the purchase.

:When you travel, do you think about how you might affect the country’s environment if you carry a piece of fruit, a plant, an insect, or an animal with you upon returning home? With almost 700 million people crossing international borders each year, introducing alien species to another country’s environment has the potential for disaster. To find out more, go to the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP) at http://www.gisp.org/, one of many Web sites listed in the article, “Strangers in Our Mist: The Problem with Invasive Alien Species,” Environment, July/August 2004, pages 17-29.

:In late December 2004, a study published by British researchers suggested that “frequent use of cleaning products and other household chemicals can cause wheezing asthma in children.” So, beware using those chemicals for cleaning and other household chores. (Environmental Daily at: http://www.environment
daily.com/articles/index.cfm
?action=article&ref=16841)

Dr. Phillip E. Barnes is Research Professor in the School of the Environment at the University of South Carolina. You can reach him at (803) 777-1373, or via e-mail at pbarnes@environ.sc.edu

Business

:A survey by BEYOND Communications shows more CEOs reported on social responsibility recently than in previous years. The New York-based investor relations firm analyzed the letters to shareholders in annual reports published from 1999 to 2004 to see how CEOs described corporate social responsibilities to the larger world. BEYOND President L. J. Rittenhouse said, "This year-to-year increase was the most significant we've seen in our annual surveys of 100 of the S&P 500 companies. In 2004, 42 percent of CEOs reported on corporate social responsibilities, up from 28
percent in 2003." Researchers also found that CEOs mentioning
specific problems—such as health, human rights, hunger, the wealth gap, and education—increased 300 percent during this time.( http://www.wbcsd.org/
includesgetTarget.asp?type=
DocDet&id=12449)

:Think the new Clean Air Act is doing all it should to protect you from breathing dirty air? During the recent presidential campaign, President Bush claimed his administration had initiated a strong policy against hazardous air pollutants. But last year, 37 Texas and Louisiana refineries, chemical plants, natural gas processors, and other facilities emitted 63 million pounds of air pollution—by accident. These companies were never penalized in any manner by government regulators. How is this possible? The additional accidental emissions have been written into the Clean Air Act and are allowed in a company’s operating permit. Says an executive with the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP): “The Clean Air Act emergency provisions are being used as a loophole, allowing companies to avoid fines and sanctions for exceeding permit emissions caps and to continue poor process management” (Jeff Johnson, “Small Mistakes: Big Pollution,” Chemical & Engineering News, Sept. 6, 2004).

Government

:James Watts, President Reagan's first Secretary of the Interior, told the U.S. Congress that protecting natural resources was unimportant in light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. In public testimony Watts said, "After the last tree is felled, Christ will come back." Many environmentalists fear that the hold the Christian right seems to have on U.S. public policy today does not bode well for the environment. (According to journalist Bill Moyers, “Nearly half the U.S. Congress before the recent election—231 legislators in total, more since the election—are backed by the religious right. Forty-five senators and 186 members of the 108th Congress earned 80 to 100 percent approval ratings from the three most influential Christian-right advocacy groups.”) For his second term, President Bush and his agencies are proposing to:

relax pollution limits for ozone;
eliminate vehicle tailpipe inspections and ease pollution standards for cars, sport utility vehicles, and diesel-powered big trucks and heavy equipment;
create a new international audit law to allow corporations to keep certain information about environmental problems secret from the public;
drop all its new-source review suits against polluting and coal-fired power plants, and weaken consent decrees reached earlier with coal companies;
open the Arctic Wildlife Refuge to drilling and increase drilling in Padre Island National Seashore, the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world and the last great coastal wild land in America.

(From a presentation by Bill Moyers upon receiving the Harvard Med's Global Environment Citizen Award, December 1, 2004). o