Alternatives Journal articles from March 2003

Alternatives Journal archives from March 2003

Water is life. .(United Nations declares 2003 the Year of Freshwater)(Editorial)
March 22, 2003... THE United Nations has declared 2003 the Year of Freshwater, with a number of major international conferences planned to discuss this important resource. One of the slogans emerging from these events is "Water is life." I'm not normally partial...

Cleaner cars. (Canadian News).(new federal regulations for vehicle emissions)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... New federal regulations for vehicle emissions will take effect January 4, 2004. The new regulations reduce the acceptable level of smogforming emissions from new road vehicles by an average of 90 percent relative to current limits and target...

Misleading ad. (Canadian News).(Ontario Power Generation retracts air quality advertisement)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Ontario Power Generation has retracted an air quality advertisement following an investigation and complaint by the federal Commissioner of Competition. The ad claimed that the Crown corporation had reduced air emissions by 60 percent since...

GE wheat. (Canadian News).(groups launch public education campaign about the dangers of genetically engineered wheat)
March 22, 2003... Canada would be the first nation to approve genetically engineered (GE) wheat if an application by Monsanto Canada currently before the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is successful. A public education campaign about the dangers GE wheat poses...

Iqaluit Recycles. (Canadian News).(Iqaluit Recycling Society receives federal grant to promote practice of recycling)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Residential recycling is now available in the Nunavut capital. The local non-profit Iqaluit Recycling Society has just received an $80,000 federal grant to promote the practice to northerners who have little experience with the blue box. The...

A picket a day. (Canadian News).(taking part in protests can be good for your health)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... TAKING PART IN PROTESTS can be good for your health, a new British study suggests. Psychologists at the University of Sussex found that people who get involved in campaigns, strikes and political demonstrations experience an improvement in...

Direct action 101. (Canadian News).(business students buy up pollution permits)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... WHO KNEW that business students might be the next monkey-wrenchers? An environmental management class in the business department at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, is purchasing air pollution permits, thereby making them...

Hold the fries.(McDonald's gets on green bandwagon)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... FOLLOWING TWO YEARS of declining sales, embattled fast-food chain McDonald's is getting on the green bandwagon in a last-ditch effort to retain its market share. McDonald's Denmark opened an HFC- and freon-free restaurant as a pilot project in...

Reefer madness.(Protectors of the Planet dolls marketed by Wildlife Artists Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... COMPLETE WITH SCUBA equipment, accessories and, of course, several outfit changes, a new coral reef protecting doll named Gali is on sale at gift shops in aquariums, zoos and museums across the US. Her long hair is likely to be a nuisance when...

Predator cull. (Canadian News).(steps taken to protect Vancouver Island marmot)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The elimination and relocation of cougars and wolves is necessary to protect the Vancouver Island marmot (Marmota vancouverensis), the BC Ministry of Land, Water and Air Protection has decided. Researchers found fewer than 30 marmots in the...

Cambodia cuts forest monitors. (Global News).(Global Witness fired for being hostile and untruthful)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The Cambodian government has fired a British group contracted to monitor its forestry industry, accusing the watchdog of being hostile and untruthful in its reports about illegal logging. Global Witness began working in Cambodia in 1995 to help...

Land rights activist killed. (Global News).(Marcos Veron, leader of the Guarani-Kaiowa people, beaten to death)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Marcos Veron, one of the most important leaders of the Guarani-Kaiowa people in Brazil, has been killed. The elder toured Europe in 2000 to raise international awareness about the efforts of the Guarani-Kaiowa to recover their traditional land...

Rooftop windmills. (Global News).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... New windmill technology will soon have rooftop windmills appearing in urban centres across The Netherlands. The new windmills are lighter, quieter and often more efficient than their lumbering rural counterparts. They are designed to capitalize...

Aquaculture boycott. (Campaigns).(by Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs are calling for a boycott of farmed BC salmon. Using the slogan, "Farmed and dangerous," the campaign is targeting restaurants, grocery stores and consumers in hopes...

Paying farmers back. (Campaigns).(Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario proposes tariff)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario is asking the Ontario government to consider adding a small surcharge to grocery bills that could be directed to environmentally responsible farms in the province. The proposed tariff is part of the...

Plastic peril. (Science Desk).(bisphenol A causes reproductive disorders in mice)(Excerpt)
March 22, 2003... A LABORATORY accident has led researchers to conclusive links between a common food-packaging agent known as BPA (bisphenol A) and reproductive disorders in mice. Even traces of the compound--20 parts per billion in drinking water -- altered...

Dry spell in monsoon country. (Science Desk).(reseach on global climate change)(Brief Article)(Excerpt)
March 22, 2003... THE EFFECTS of climate change on the yearly rains provided by the annual Asian monsoon could have "scary implications", say climatologists Anil K. Gupta, Jonathan Overpeck and David M. Anderson. The monsoon is one of the most dramatic climate...

Diamonds, pipelines and Timbits. (Letter From Yellowknife).(land-use planning in the Northwest Territories)(Column)
March 22, 2003... WHEN I first visited Yellowknife in 1987 as a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed research assistant, hope was in the air. I became smitten by the aurora borealis, sweat-lodges on the shores of ice-cold lakes and the sound of Dene drums. Aboriginal...

Tribal Survival. (Campaigns).(protests against resettlement of Gana and Gwi Bushmen people)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... An international campaign protesting the Botswana government-led resettlement of the Gana and Gwi "Bushmen" people, also known as San or Basarwa, from their traditional lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve is growing. Intimidation tactics...

Great Lakes stable. (Research Findings).(task force research, International Joint Commission)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... A task force created by the International Joint Commission has concluded that water is not being extracted from the Great Lakes basin as rapidly as had been projected. Rates of consumptive use appear to be stabilizing, not increasing. Although...

More houses. (Research Findings).(dispersed, single family housing developments strain biodiversity)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Dispersed, single family housing developments are straining biodiversity more than population growth, say ecologists at Michigan State University. Looking at 26 hot spot countries that are rich in biodiversity, including Australia, Brazil,...

Brownfields. (Research Findings).(redevelop contaminated properties and earn public benefits says National Round Table on the Environment and Economy)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Canada could earn up to seven billion dollars a year in public benefits by redeveloping its contaminated properties, says the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy. There are more than 30,000 urban brownfield sites across the...

Mercury rising. (Research Findings).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Excessive mercury is still being released into the global environment, say UN researchers. The United Nations Environment Program reports that the threat to humans and wildlife from mercury is not receding and may even be expanding. Mercury is...

Shark alert. (Research Findings).(Atlantic sharks at risk )(Brief Article)(Excerpt)
March 22, 2003... Atlantic sharks could soon disappear if not protected, according to a study of fishing logs by biologists at Dalhousie University. They found coastal and oceanic shark populations in the northwest Atlantic have declined by more than 50 percent...

Emissions test: Canada ratified the Kyoto Protocol in December 2002, committing us to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 240 megatonnes annually. Test your climate change savvy! (Alternatives Quiz).
March 22, 2003... 1. The Kyoto Protocol requires Canadian industries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next ten years. Which industry does the federal government plan to exempt from regulation under this protocol? a) petroleum processing b)...

Water privateers.(the privatization of public water systems around the world)(related article: Water privatization glossary)
March 22, 2003... International trade agreements and loan conditions are pushing the privatization of public water systems around the world. THREE YEARS AGO, the people of Cochabamba, Bolivia, a city of half a million people, took to the streets by the tens...

Public water: the Canadian Union of Public Employees has been leading the fight against the privatization of municipal water services in Canada.
March 22, 2003... When the Greater Vancouver Regional District announced in 2001 that it was going to have a new water filtration plant built, few people realized that the plan called for the private sector to design, build and operate the facilities under a...

Liquid assets: how we provide water depends on whether we view water as a commodity or as a public good.
March 22, 2003... THE QUESTION of whether to privatize is more than merely technical; it is a political debate about how we see water -- and ourselves. Residents of Wales know this well. In little more than a decade, the Welsh water supply system has passed from...

Trusting the tap: one key lesson from the Walkerton and North Battleford tainted water tragedies is the need to protect our drinking water at the source.(inquiries recommend multibarrier approach to water safety)
March 22, 2003... The investigations into the tragedies exposed flaws in systems with fragmented responsibility, unenforceable guidelines, downloaded infrastructure costs, and deregulated and/or privatized monitoring programs. May 2000: In Walkerton,...

Chlorine conflict: residents of Erickson, BC, treasure their clean water and do not want it chlorinated.
March 22, 2003... THE small town of Erickson, BC, located in the Arrow Creek watershed of the Kootenay Mountains, has been the locus for one of the most dramatic water use conflicts in Canada, featuring a 55-day blockade of a chlorination plant, the dissolution...

Watershed canaries: aquatic insects, crustaceans, worms and molluscs are excellent indicators of early water quality changes.
March 22, 2003... SCIENTISTS and citizens across Canada help to safeguard the ecological health of our waterways by participating in ecological monitoring programs. By taking samples of aquatic invertebrates such as insects, crustaceans, worms and molluscs, they...

Myth of abundance: the common claim that Canada boasts the world's largest supply of fresh water is false.
March 22, 2003... Most Canadians believe that we enjoy a super-abundance of fresh water -- anywhere from "one-fifth of world supply" to "roughly 40 percent of the Earth's store," as reported two years ago in The Globe and Mail. The big numbers support a...

Walkerton Water Stories Project.(Bruce Grey Environmental Resource Centre's community services)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The Walkerton Water Stories Project began as a humanitarian initiative that invited residents to reflect on their lifelong experiences with water and to explore the region's rich natural history through traditional rural arts. Now the Stories...

Against the flow: a better response to the coming world water crisis is not expansion of supply but less waste and fairer allocation.
March 22, 2003... A RECENT POLL of 200 leading scientists from 50 countries identified lack of fresh water as an environmental issue second in importance only to global climate change. (1) One-third of the world's population already experiences severe water...

Mandatory co-operation: because water knows no political boundaries, water-sharing nations must work together.
March 22, 2003... RESOURCE scarcity breeds conflict -- or so the news seems to tell us. In October 2002, Israel and Lebanon came close to exchanging gunfire over a Lebanese plan to divert water from the Wazzani River, one of the head-waters of the Jordan River...

Water services programs.
March 22, 2003... The Region of Waterloo has been recognized both nationally and internationally for its outstanding programs, and commitment to providing our community with fresh, clean water. By making the most efficient use of our water supplies, and...

Full blast monty. (Commentary).(causes of our noise epidemic)
March 22, 2003... Noise invades our common spaces, to the detriment of our health and civic culture. WE usually associate environmental noise -- the hum of traffic or the screech of ambulance sirens -- with downtown living. But on a recent vacation in...

Bottom line hooks salmon science. (Political Science).(is salmon farming environmentally sound?)
March 22, 2003... The coastal alliance for aquaculture has adapted the slogan "farmed and dangerous" in a campaign to encourage US consumers to boycott farmed salmon. A NEW era of BC salmon farming is off to a wild start. Since the provincial government...

Mapping the money. (Reality Cheque).(major research initiative by the Canadian Environmental Grant-maker's Network (CEGN))
March 22, 2003... How much money is granted each year in support of the Canadian environment? Where do these dollars go geographically? What environmental issues and activities do the grants support? The Canadian Environmental Grant-makers' Network (CEGN)...

In poor health. .(Infections and Inequalities)(Dying for Growth: Global Inequality and the Health of the Poor)(Book Review)
March 22, 2003... Infections and Inequalities, Paul Farmer, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. Dying for Growth: Global Inequality and the Health of the Poor, Jim Yong Kim, et al., eds., Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 2000. Throughout...

Making the desert bloom. .(Pollution in a Promised Land: An Environmental History of Israel)(Book Review)
March 22, 2003... Pollution in a Promised Land: An Environmental History of Israel, Alon Tal, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. My sabbatical window in Jerusalem looks over the city's Peace Forest and one of East Jerusalem's Arab villages. The...

Jewish ecologies. .(Judaism and Environmental Ethics: A Reader)(Book Review)
March 22, 2003... Judaism and Environmental Ethics: A Reader, Martin D. Yaffe, ed., Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2001. Religion has often been blamed for sanctioning systemic disregard for nature, and encouraging indifference to environmental damage in...

Culture clash. .(Anatomy of a Conflict: Identity, Knowledge, and Emotion in Old-Growth Forests)(Book Review)
March 22, 2003... Anatomy of a Conflict: Identity, Knowledge, and Emotion in Old-Growth Forests, Terre Satterfield, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2002. Cultural anthropologist Terre Satterfield's stimulating new book about the fight over...

Mismanaging Water. (Reviews).(Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America's Fresh Waters)(Book Review)
March 22, 2003... Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America's Fresh Waters, Robert Glennon, Washington, DC: Island Press, 2002. Professor Robert Glennon is Professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Arizona. He combines both...

Web Reviews.
March 22, 2003... The following reviews were published on the Alternatives Web site in Spring 2003: Coffee with Pleasure: Just Java and World Trade, Laure Waridel, with photos by Eric St-Pierre, Montreal: Black Rose Books, 2002. Reviewed by Shown Thompson...

Hot Green Web Sites.
March 22, 2003... TRYING TO FIND A JOB Can be hard enough, but what about socially and environmentally helpful work? Check out these Web sites for green job and career opportunities. Canadian Council for Human Resources in the Environment Industry (CCHREI)...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
March 22, 2003... Peachy Delights I would like to thank everyone at Alternatives for publishing an interesting, high-quality journal that is a pleasure to read. Specifically, I would like to commend Ryan Kennedy for his superb article "Peachy Ethics" in the...

Editorial correction.(related to Living with the Forest by Cindy Hubbard)(Correction Notice)
March 22, 2003... Two errors appeared in "Living with the Forest" by Cindy Hubbard (Winter 2003). Chrouk San's income was incorrectly stated to be 4000 rather than 80,000 Riels. The Canadian dollar equivalent of $30 remains accurate. Also, the name of the...

A modest proposal.(related to SUVs)
March 22, 2003... EVERYONE should have a Sub Urban Vanity -- or rather a Selfish Upscale Van. Or is it a Simply Unnecessary Vehicle? Forget the name. The ads all say we need one. SUVs are ideal for city driving. They are safer, particularly in a collision...

Water hot spot: Canadians can no longer take water supplies for granted.(related article: L'eau: les points chauds: Les Canadiennes et les Canadiens peuvent plus compter sur des reserves d'eau illimitees)
March 22, 2003... Water contamination The recent water tragedies in Walkerton, Ontario, and North Battleford, Saskatchewan, show that Canadians cannot take the safety of their drinking water for granted. Water treatment systems can fail to protect the...