The Ecologist articles from April 2000

The Ecologist archives from April 2000

BEWARE POLITICIANS BEARING GIFTS.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... We live in a flash world. A billion pounds lavished on a disposable plastic carbuncle (to borrow an over-used term), and tens of millions spent on cloning, let's face it, a fairly ordinary sheep. But even more flash, or so it seems, was the...

Letters.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE Having read some of the November issue of your magazine, (The Madness of Nuclear Energy), I think that you have been watching too many X-Files and UFO programmes. The idea that all the people in the nuclear...

GM backlash goes global.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... The amount of land planted with GM crops is expected to fall massively this year. And a new international agreement allows countries to restrict GM imports. Public mistrust of GM food has given the biotechnology industry a serious kick...

Hail hydrogen.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... A new discovery could kickstart the 'Hydrogen Economy.' Scientists have discovered a 'metabolic switch' which makes algae convert water and sunlight into hydrogen. Hydrogen has been widely touted as the 'fuel of the future' because it...

US to put 'guns in space'.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... THE MILITARISATION OF SPACE IS SET TO GO AHEAD, DESPITE INTERNATIONAL PROMISES. In November last year, the UN placed a serious question before its member nations: Should space be militarised? The answer from 138 nations was a resounding...

Blair U-turns on pesticide tax.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Under pressure from the agrochemical lobby, the British government has dropped plans to tax agricultural pesticide use. The decision, announced by Tony Blair in a speech to the National Farmers Union in February, has delighted...

Cyanide poisons Europe's rivers.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Europe's worst industrial disaster since Chernobyl raises corporate accountability issues. The cyanide contamination of Europe's River Tisza has raised the issue of corporate accountability. For the gold mine at the centre of the...

NGOs: more powerful than ever.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2000... Non-governmental organisations are exercising an unprecedented influence on the world, reveals a new study. A new report, published by the Worldwatch Institute, shows that in the last three decades the number of international NGOs has...

ICE CAPS SHRINKING FASTER THAN EVER.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... The Earth's ice cover is melting faster than at any time in recorded history, reveals a new report. Worldwatch reported in March that global ice meting accelerated rapidly in the 1990s, which was also the warmest decade since records began....

NUCLEAR? NOT MIE.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Japan's nuclear power industry suffered a historic defeat this month, when its plans to build two new reactors were scuppered by a local governor. The power station, which was to be erected along Japan's scenic Mie coast line, has been the...

GM INSULIN ALERT.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Genetically modified insulin, long the darling of the biotechnology industry, is being linked to adverse health effects. The insulin, which uses e-coli bacteria to create a synthetic 'human' insulin, is taken by thousands of diabetics every...

WHEN IN ROME [ldots].(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... In Italy, Sundays are no longer just a day of rest, they are also car-free, under a new scheme set up by city authorities. In an attempt to cut back on air-pollution levels in busy cities, drivers in Rome's city centre and 150 other Italian...

BANKING ON DISASTER.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2000... The World Bank is up to no good again, says Kate Hampton. Take the Western Poverty Reduction Project in China. This 'nefarious' plan to resettle 58,000 Chinese farmers on to Tibetan and Mongolian nomadic pastures is certain to upset the...

BIG IS MESSY.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Globalisation has had its day, says William Pfaff. 'Reasonable people' no longer support the continued spread of a globalised economy. People have lost faith in an economic system that encourages the consolidation of huge industries into the...

DON'T TOUCH THAT KETTLE.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... There's a cruel logic to global warming: the people whose lives will be most sorely affected are those who use the least fossil fuel, says George Monbiot. Already East Africa is witnessing droughts every four or five years of the kind they...

BEAT YOUR GREENS.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... It's time to save the Earth from environmentalists, says James Freeman. 'The smartest guy [he] knows' has just written a book. Its called Hard Green by Peter Huber, and it 'explains with clear logic what so many of us have felt in our guts'....

GUERILLAS OF GROZNY.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... The war in Chechnya isn't just costing lives, says Vladmir Emelyanenko, it's causing an ecological catastrophe as well. For years, Chechnya's capital Grozny has been used as a storage depot for hazardous chemicals like 24-D; an Agent...

Indian markets levered open.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... A secretive trade agreement has opened India's markets to American imports. The bilateral trade treaty, which came into effect on December 28th last year, was secured through an exchange of letters between Susan Esserman of the US Commerce...

Mining sacred Sri Lankan region.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... US mining giant Freeport McMoran plans to build an enormous opencast phosphate mine in Sri Lanka. The mine, say objectors, would sprawl across one of the country's most sacred regions, pollute the river and lead to the re-location of 12,000...

Mexico's bean pirates.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... An American seed firm has patented the rights to a strain of yellow bean that has been growing in Mexico for millennia. The US-based corporation, POD-NERS is now suing Mexicans who try to export their beans. Larry Proctor, director of...

Mobile phones.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Mobile phones are a serious waste problem. In affluent nations, discarded phones are forming mobile mountains'. But the Australians have a solution: a voluntary recycling scheme. Over 600 retail outlets are to act as recycling points. The...

The Forest Stewardship Council.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... The Forest Stewardship Council, which provides internationally recognised eco-labelling for forest products, is to relax its standards. Woodchip products that qualify for the FSC label now only need to contain 30% sustainably-harvested...

Suntan lotion.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Suntan lotion could give you skin cancer, say Irish scientists. Researchers at Queen's University in Belfast found that an active ingredient in sunscreens, 2-phenylbenzimidazole-5 (PBSA), which is supposed to protect skin from ultraviolet B...

British Vegetarianism Society.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... After much dithering the British Vegetarianism Society has decided to ban its Vegetarian' stamp from genetically modified food.

Heritage Seed Library.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... For an ethical vegetable patch, plant seeds from the Heritage Seed Library. None of the seeds on the list are grown commercially, so growing Heritage seeds protects rare seed types from going extinct.

filter coffee.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... New research reveals that filter coffee doesn't just taste better, it also extracts heavy metals from tap water. A study by a team of international scientists found that coffee beans have a remarkable capacity to absorb heavy metals like lead...

Last ditch for Britain's small farms.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Britain's small farms are in a desperate state. High production costs and a flood of cheap imports have devastated all but the largest farms. This year, over 22,000 farm workers deserted the industry. And the recent merger between the UK's...

Legal help for activists.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Two veteran British protesters are setting up a legal support group for activists. The Activists' Legal Project will advise peaceful protesters whose direct actions find them on the wrong side of the law. The ALP is being set up by...

BP moves in on the Arctic.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Greenpeace activists have set up an 'Arctic ice camp' to protest against BP Amoco's Arctic oil drilling. The camp is one mile from the construction site of the petroleum group's Northstar, the first offshore oil project in the Alaskan Arctic....

THE PROJECT.
April 1, 2000... Who is Tony Blair? What are his ambitions for his country? Is he anything more than a vote-winning machine? We sent award-winning investigative journalist Gregory Palast to ferret out the answers. He found in Blair a principled, even...

IS 'DEVELOPMENT' GOOD FOR THE THIRD WORLD?(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... IN THE FIRST OF A REGULAR NEW SERIES, IN WHICH KEY PLAYERS DEBATE THE CRUCIAL ISSUES OF OUR TIME, ECONOMIST EDITOR BILL EMMOTT AND INDIAN ENVIRONMENTALIST VANDANA SHIVA LOCK HORNS OVER THE FATE OF THE 'DEVELOPING' WORLD. NO Dear...

ACADEMIC FREEDOM: IS IT DYING OUT?
April 1, 2000... Arpad Pusztai became a household name in 1990 when his GM potato research angered the biotechnology industry and lost him his job. Here he explains for the first time what happened and why he believes academic freedom in science is in danger...

AFTER SEATTLE WHERE NEXT FOR THE WTO?
April 1, 2000... Simon Retallack explores what really happened at the Seattle meeting of the World Trade Organisation last December, and asks where the WTO -- and its opponents -- should go from here. Late last year, on the streets and in the conference...

'IF THE PEOPLE PIE, THE LEADERS WILL SWALLOW'.
April 1, 2000... Over the last two years, members of the Biotic Baking Brigade have flung lovingly-baked organic pies into the faces of some of the world's most powerful people, from Bill Gates to Milton Friedman. They call it 'pie-rect action'. Paul...

HEALTH Ltd.
April 1, 2000... Organic, natural health-care is under attack. If the current trend continues, say Helen Fullerton and Martin Walker, the world's health may soon he entirely in the pockets of the mighty pharmaceutical corporations. Health and its...

THE MEME MACHINE.
April 1, 2000... KALLE LASN THINKS WE ARE ON THE VERGE OF A GREAT GLOBAL MINDSHIFT. WHEN I SHOWED up in Seattle last November to watch the WTO circus unfold, I wasn't expecting much from the protesters. I thought they would be the usual rabble-rousing...

WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... PAUL KINGSNORTH BELIEVES THE LACK OF A CLEAR ALTERNATIVE TO THE GLOBAL ECONOMY TO BE A STRENGTH, NOT A WEAKNESS. SOMETHING IS IN the air. You can smell it in the clouds of tear gas wafting over from Seattle, and through the smoke of...

POWER TO THE PEOPLE.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... IF MPS DON'T HOLD AN INCREASINGLY PRESIDENTIAL GOVERNMENT TO ACCOUNT, WARNS TONY BENN MP, DEMOCRACY COULD SUFFER I WAS ELECTED 50 years ago and have fought 17, and won 16 contested elections, a record equalled, I am told, only by two...

FIDDLING WHILE THE CLIMATE BURNS.(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2000... PETER BUNYARD EXAMINES THE LATEST EVIDENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE. A REPORT FROM the UK Met Office, which largely vindicates what some called an 'alarmist' issue of The Ecologist on climate change, warns of severe weather effects to come. But...

AND THE DANGERS PYLON.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... CHRIS BUSBY INVESTIGATES THE LATEST INDUSTRY COVER-UP OF THE CANCER DANGER POSED BY OVERHEAD POWER LINES. TWO RECENT STUDIES on the potential health effects of overhead pylons reached two very different conclusions. Thanks to the efforts...

GM THROUGH THE BACK DOOR.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... NICK ATKINSON AND MARK LYNAS ON THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY'S NEW TRICK-SLIPPING GM PRODUCTS INTO THE HUMAN FOOD CHAIN VIA ANIMAL FEED. DESPITE FALLING CONSUMER demand for GM crops worldwide, GM foods are still making their way into human diets,...

THE SPACE RACE DISGRACE.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... PETER BUNYARD EXPLAINS HOW HUMAN ACTIVITIES IN SPACE ARE DAMAGING THE EARTH'S FRAGILE ATMOSPHERE. SPACE EXPLORATION, SATELLITE launches and the use of telecommunications could be having a devastating effect on the vital, protective...

THE LUGANO REPORT: ON PRESERVING CAPITALISM IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY.(Review)
April 1, 2000... with appendix and afterword by SUSAN GEORGE Pluto Press/[pounds]9.99 or $14.99 ISBN 0-7453-1532-1 Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983), the US inventor, architect and writer, once noted, 'We are not going to be able to operate our...

ADBUSTERS TV SLOTS.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Adbusters Media Foundation, 1999. Tel:1 (604) 736 9401. Email: adbusters@adbusters.org For readers who believe that too much TV is bad for your health, this may be the tonic, Adbusters TV Slots is probably the world's shortest video....

PIP PIP: A SIDEWAYS LOOK AT TIME.(Review)
April 1, 2000... JAY GRIFFITHS Flamingo Books'[pounds]12.99 ISBN 0-00-257077-7 A revolutionary text is rarely readable. It might be worthy, it might make you angry, it might be a source of sound insight -- but rarely will it make you giggle. Jay...

THE CARBON WAR: DISPATCHES FROM THE END OF THE OIL CENTURY.(Review)
April 1, 2000... by JEREMY LEGGETT ISBN 0-71-399360-X Penguin Books, 1999/[pounds]20.00 In January 1991, almost seven years before the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change set an overall target for industrialised countries to cut greenhouse...

ETHICS INTO ACTION: HENRY SPIRA AND THE ANIMAL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.(Review)
April 1, 2000... PETER SINGER Rowan & Littlefield Publishers, Inc/$22.95 ISBN 0-8476-9073-3 One of the most beautiful scenes from the protests against the WTO in Seattle last year was the breadth of the opposition. It was in their diversity...

5 OF THE BEST.(books on genetic engineering)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... HELENA PAUL OF THE GAIA FOUNDATION RECOMMENDS FIVE BOOKS THAT GIVE THE LOWDOWN ON GENETIC ENGINEERING. Genetic Engineering -- Dream or Nightmare?: The brave new world of bad science and big business by Dr Mae-Wan Ho; Gateway Books. ...

WEBB OF EVIL.(Sidney and Beatrice Webb, London School of Economics)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... The hell that bedevils society, believes THE GROW, can be traced to a single source: the academic teaching of institutions like the London School of Economics Surely it is no accident that the LSE was founded very largely by Sidney and...