The Ecologist articles from February 2001

The Ecologist archives from February 2001

STUNG BY THE EXPERTS.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... There once was a scorpion, so went one of the great fables of Aesop. It found itself on the edge of a gushing river, one that no scorpion could ever hope to cross. As it was pondering the situation a frog appeared, and with it, an idea....

LETTERS.
February 1, 2001... AN ILL WIND? When I read (Vol 30 No 9) that 'in 1998, Hurricane Georges caused $3.3 billion damage in the United States,' a number of questions occurred to me that always go through my head when I come across statistics of this sort....

THE SPOILS OF OIL.(British Petroleum)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... BP is 'creating jobs' -- and climate change -- by opening up new oil fields. There are many things a company can do to gain good PR, and one of the favourite stand-bys is apparent job creation, which is precisely what BP has embarked...

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN.(European ban on using animal remains as feed for farm animals means importing genetically modified crops)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Banning the feeding of animal remains to farm animals is forcing farmers to feed them on imported soya -- much of which is genetically modified. The good news: from 1 January 2001, for six months at least, is that 'the feeding of...

BANNED AIDS.(Africans can't affords AIDS drugs)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Who cares about Africa's AIDS epidemic? Not the drugs companies -- there's no money in it. Twenty-five million African people are infected with AIDS. Fewer than 25,000 -- one-tenth of 1 per cent -- receive therapy that could avert or...

FISHY FACTS.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... What's killing Scotland's rivers and lochs? The Scottish Executive debated a bill aimed at tackling the crisis in Scotland's wild salmon stocks, whose number has declined by 40 per cent since 1998. Accepting that the link between sea lice...

CLINTON COPS OUT.(Bill Clinton)(Columbia and Snake river damsn)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The outgoing US president has sidestepped his chance to be a dam-buster. The Clinton administration has announced a $352-million-a-year plan to balance energy demands with the notorious Columbia and Snake river dams' deadly effects on...

A STICK IN THE SPOKES.(trade accords)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Is the world fragmenting into regional trade blocs? Ever since the opening of a new world trade round flopped in Seattle, efforts to get new negotiations under way have failed. Meanwhile, medium-sized and small European countries are...

WARM WISHES.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... On Christmas Eve, a fire in Sellafield's Windscale Vitrification Plant (WVP) led to evacuation of all workers. The history of WVP, built at a cost of [pound]240m, is littered with contamination and safety accidents. According to BNFL, no...

HERE COME THE LITMUS FISH.(indicator fish to turn color in response to pollutants)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Using gene technology, scientists are developing a 'rainbow' range of fluorescent fish that could be used to detect waterborne pollution. Zhiyuan Gong, biology professor at the National University of Singapore has, according to The Financial...

AND IF YOU THINK THAT'S MAD.(experiment on growth of algae around Antarctica)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Researchers from the Plymouth Environmental Research Centre (PERC) and Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) have reported on a clever scientific experiment to investigate what controls the growth of algae in waters around the Antarctica. The...

LISTEN TO THIS!(transgenic chickens as bioreactors)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... From www.avigenics.com: 'AviGenics Inc. is poised to be the first company to create and commercialise recombinant biopharmaceuticals using transgenic chickens as bioreactors, and to develop lines of poultry with improved agronomic traits...

UPDATE: MORE NUCLEAR MADNESS.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Just a week prior to the closure of Chernobyl, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) gave its support to the completion of two nuclear reactors in the Ukraine -- project [K.sub.2]/[R.sub.4] (see The Ecologist, Vol 30 No...

UPDATE: SAFETY MATTERS.(environmental impact assessment of nuclear power plant at Temelin, Czech Republic)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The controversial nuclear power plant at Temelin, Czech Republic, (see The Ecologist, Vol 30 No 9) will undergo a full environmental impact assessment after Austria and Germany claimed that it was not built to Western standards. Originally...

UPDATE: OGDEN WITHDRAWS FROM MAHESHWAR DAM.(Ogden Corporation)
February 1, 2001... The New-York-based Ogden Corporation has given in to protests and ended its involvement in the controversial Maheshwar Dam on India's Narmada river (see The Ecologist, Vol 30 No 6). According to Kent Burton, Ogden's vice president for policy...

GOOD ORGANIC NEWS 1.(only organic food to be served in Italian schools)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Public concern about food safety has led Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, the Italian Agriculture Minister, to declare that only organic food will be served in Italy's schools. What's more, Monsanto, AgroEvo GmbH and Novartis have failed to win...

GOOD ORGANIC NEWS 2.(US Department of Agriculture standards for labelling and processing of organic foods)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... In late December, the US Department of Agriculture announced final adoption of the first standards the Federal government has ever imposed for the labelling and processing of organic foods. The new standards ban the use of irradiation,...

TURKEY FOR CHRISTMAS?(food poisoning caused by Cargill Inc.' deli meat)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... An outbreak of listeria in Cargill corporation's 'turkey deli' meat in late December is suspected of causing 28 cases, four food-poisoning deaths and three miscarriages in the US. The outbreak materialised just as the Clinton administration...

THE WORMS TURN.(cattle to be kept indoors to avoid tapeworms)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... To limit the spread of parasites like tapeworm eggs, EU vets say cows might need to be kept indoors throughout their lives. Tapeworms live in both the human and animal intestine, then spread their eggs through excrement and, apparently, by...

DON'T GO SWIMMING.(PCBs in Hudson River)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... In early December, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) presented its long-awaited $1.2 billion dollar plan to remedy the Hudson River's troubles with toxic PCBs. The General Electric Company (GE), which dumped the chemical into the...

EXXON MOBIL FINED $3.5 BILLION FOR DEFRAUDING ALABAMA.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Exxon Mobil has been ordered to pay $3.5 billion in punitive damages for defrauding the state of Alabama. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources sued the oil company for deducting 'expenses' from the natural gas...

EAT UP YOUR GUNS.(money for pipeline used by Chad's military)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Last June, the World Bank endorsed a deal to built a giant pipeline from Chad to Cameroon, operated by an Exxon-Mobil-led consortium. For 10 years the project had been opposed by both human rights and environmental groups (see The Ecologist,...

THE FOURTH BATTLE OF NEWBURY.(housing developments planned for Civil War battlefield)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... With 42,500 new homes scheduled to be built across Berkshire between 2006 and 2016, all four sides of Newbury are facing the prospect of being hemmed in by large-scale housing developments. In late November, Sutton Estates, which owns large...

SAVE SIBERUT.(logging starting on island of Indonesia)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The island of Siberut is the largest of the seventy Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra, in Indonesia. Approximately 23,000 Mentawai tribal people live there. Many have been resettled into government villages and 'assimilated'...

WHO SAID GM WAS SAFE?(genetically modified food)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... In the United States, farmers buying GM seeds from Monsanto will from this year have to sign a 'Technology Agreement' which states that, 'in no event shall Monsanto or any seller be liable for any incidental, consequential, special or...

World-Wise Web: The five best bookmarks.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/sustainable_development/publications/trade/Do wnload 'Towards Sustainable Economies: challenging neoliberal economic globalisation', a briefing challenging several assumptions upon which 'free trade' is based. ...

SMASH OCCIDENTAL'S STOCKHOLDERS.(Occidental Petroleum Corp.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Last September Italian Green Party Senator Stephano Boco announced that the Green Party of Europe is prepared to bring the case of the U'wa, the Colombian Indians who have threatened to commit suicide if their land is drilled for oil, to the...

World-Wise Web: The five best campaigns.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... www.ran.arg/info_center/aa/aa151_montiel.html Sign an open letter to Mexican president Vincente Fox urging him to immediately and unconditionally release Rodolfo Montiel Flores and Teodoro Cadrera Garcia, the two campesino ecologists (see...

STOP FAST TRACK FAST!(Summit of the Americas)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Just three months into his first term, new US President Bush will travel to Quebec City in Canada to attend the third Summit of the Americas (17-21 April). The summit, which was begun as an informal gathering by President Clinton in 1994, has...

DIAMOND IS FOREVER?(pollution, Narco, Louisiana)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Diamond is a neighbourhood of four streets in the town of Narco, Louisiana. It also happens to be the heart of the region's infamous 'cancer alley'. This historic neighbourhood is occupied by a Shell chemical facility, which, say many...

SPITTING ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY.(landfill Panama Bay)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... With the help of a $70 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's private sector lending arm, the Corredor Sur toll road project in Panama was completed last February. The road is a 19.5 km toll highway,...

CAN SMALL FARMS FEED THE WORLD?(letters)
February 1, 2001... SEAN RICKARD AND STEVEN GORELICK TACKLE ONE OF TODAY'S MAJOR ISSUES. Dear Steven A popular myth peddled by the ecologist movement is that larger scale farm enterprises do more harm than good and as a civilisation we would all be...

THE GOOD.(European Commission, Paul van Buitenen)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... This month's heroes and villains: the contrasting European styles of Paul van Huitenen and Pascal Lamy. Today was one of the most difficult days of the last year,' reads the diary entry for B October. '[They] used all [their] persuasive...

THE BAD.(Pascal Lamy)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The European Commission? What exactly is that, then? One of those collections of faceless Brussels bureaucrats, isn't it? Pushing paper around and having expensive lunches -- that sort of thing? A paper tiger, I've heard. Doesn't actually do...

MR NADER GOES TO WASHINGTON.(Ralph Nader)
February 1, 2001... Ralph Nader has been accused of costing AI Gore the White House. He has been called a crusader, an egotist, a hero and a fool. Zac Goldsmith lets him speak for himself. Wednesday 7 November 2000 was the day American politics changed. As...

ORGANICISED CRIME.(anti-organic farming analysis)(Column)
February 1, 2001... The backlash against organic food has begun. But who is behind it? Andy Rowell uncovers a global network of naysayers putting the boot into healthy food -- and profiting from it. The organic food movement is a modern success story....

THE LAST FRONTIER.(General Agreement on Trade in Services)(Column)
February 1, 2001... A global agreement currently being negotiated will allow corporations to take over the world's public services -- whether people want it or not. If implemented, it will spell the end of the public sector. Maude Barlow explains why it must be...

DOCTOR'S HANDWRITING.(Brussels Commission of European Union to create standardised market for dietary supplements)(Brief Article)(Column)
February 1, 2001... A monthly column that helps you decipher the medical truth. In a White Paper on Food Safety, adopted a year ago, the Brussels Commission of the EU announced that it intended to create a standardised market for vitamin and mineral...

DOWN ON THE FARM.(author comments on organic farming and sustainable development)
February 1, 2001... HAVE THE CRITICS OF ORGANIC FARMING REALLY CONSIDERED ALL THE IMPLICATIONS? JONATHAN DIMBLEBY EXPLAINS HIS OWN PATH OF DISCOVERY. A FEW YEARS ago, few bothered about the organic movement except to mock the Prince of Wales for his...

THE UNWORKABLE TRINITY: TRUTH, MARKET FORCES AND THE MEDIA.(the shaping of mainstream media)
February 1, 2001... IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE INADEQUACIES OF THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA, SAYS DAVID CROMWELL, ASK ITS JOURNALISTS. IN SURVEYS OF British public opinion, journalists typically rank below politicians, lawyers and used-car salesmen as...

RIGHT THE WRONG.(critique of globalization)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... CRITICS OF GLOBALISATION, SAYS JEREMY SEABROOK, SHOULD FOCUS ON REBUTTING IT, NOT FINDING ALTERNATIVE THEORIES. THE ULTIMATE RESPONSE of the apologists for globalisation to their critics is: 'You always say what you are against, but what...

HANDS UP IF YOU VOTED FOR EUROPE.(democracy and the jurisdiction of the European Union)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... THE UNDEMOCRATIC NATURE OF THE EU, SAYS PETER SHORE, SHOULD CONCERN ALL ITS CITIZENS -- WHATEVER THEIR POLITICS BACK IN DECEMBER, the British media turned its spotlight on the Nice Summit. Despite an increasingly 'Euro-sceptic' media, the...

DAMMED IF YOU DO.(dams and the environment)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2001... A RECENT WORLDWIDE LANDMARK REPORT HAS CONDEMNED THE BUILDING OF BIG DAMS FROM ALMOST EVERY SIDE. LORI POTTINGER EXPLAINS WHY IT COULD BE THE NAIL IN THEIR COFFIN. SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO The Ecologist released The Social and Environmental...

WHERE'S THE DEMOCRACY NOW?(Pacifica radio and its alternative news station Democracy Now!)
February 1, 2001... EDWARD HERMAN REPORTS ON THE ATTEMPT TO DESTROY THE BEST-KNOWN DISSENTING RADIO STATION IN THE US. NEW MANAGEMENT AT Pacifia radio is attempting to shut down its premier dissenting news programme, Democracy Now! But it will not go...

WHERE NOW FOR THE WORLD'S CLIMATE?(effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol loopholes and all)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2001... OVER THE NEXT FIVE PAGES, ECOLOGIST WRITERS EXAMINE KEY CLIMATE ISSUES. FIRST, PETER BUNYARD REPORTS ON RECENT GLOBAL NEGOTIATIONS. THE FAILURE OF the climate meeting in The Hague last November was a disaster for the Kyoto Protocol - the...

RENEWED HOPE.
February 1, 2001... BRITAIN HAS ONE OF THE WORST RECORDS IN EUROPE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY USE, BUT THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRANSFORM EXISTS. A FRIEND OF mine was cycling in Ireland. She was pedalling straight into a heavy wind, and it was tough going. A passing...

CORAL DECLINE.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... THE WORLD'S CORAL REEFS FACE EXTINCTION IF RADICAL ACTION ISN'T TAKEN. SHORTLY BEFORE LAST year's highly-publicised Climate Conference in the Hague, a panel of the world's most eminent coral reef scientists issued a stark warning that...

HOLIDAY ILLS.(health effects of chemicals from fire retardants to sun screens and insect repellants)
February 1, 2001... WITH TOURISM ON THE INCREASE, MARGARET REICHLIN MAKES A PLEA FOR MORE RESEARCH INTO THE EFFECTS OF HOLIDAY CHEMICALS. 'WHERE ARE YOU going on holiday this year?... Oh, how gorgeous. All that lovely sun... Got your flight booked? Had all...

ELIMINATING WORLD POVERTY.
February 1, 2001... MAKING GLOBALISATION WORK FOR THE WORLD'S POOR Department for International Development White Paper DECEMBER 2000 The Government's second White Paper on International Development, published last December, is most notable - as its...

HOMAGE TO GAIA.(Review)
February 1, 2001... James Lovelock OUP 2000 [pound]19.99 There aren't many books that show what it's like to grow up in Dickensian squalor; to see all the rivets on Dr Strangelove's first creation, the V1 bomb, as it flies past; to bring nearly frozen...

WORTH SEEING.(William Blake exhibition at Tate Britain)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Art and the environment don't have an easy relationship these days. Nature, once a primary inspiration, has fallen out of favour. Think of recent Turner Prize winners, or the contents of the Saatchi gallery. The nearest you'll come to...

CHERNOBYL RECORD.(Review)
February 1, 2001... THE DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF THE CHERNOBYL CATASTROPHE By R F Mould INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS PUBLISHING 2000 [pound]7.95 It is almost 15 years since the No 4 reactor at Chernobyl exploded. In this information age', you might be forgiven...

MID-COURSE CORRECTION.(Review)
February 1, 2001... TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE By Ray C Anderson CHELSEA GREEN PUBLISHING 2000 $17.95 When Henry Ford launched his Model T motorcar, he stipulated that all parts from sub-contractors must be shipped to his Detroit assembly...

WORTH READING.(Review)
February 1, 2001... Indian campaigner Vandana Shiva is always good value; her 'Third World' perspective on the absurdities of global trade, the marginalisation of the rural classes and the grinding down of diversity is always a good answer to the Clare Shorts of...

AND WE ARE DOING IT.(Review)
February 1, 2001... IT BUILDING AN ECOVILLAGE FUTURE By J T Ross Jackson RDR PUBLISHERS 2000 $9.95 Don't be deceived; And We ARE doing It! is not a manual on yurt building, or a kitchen garden planner for alkaline soils. This is the tale of a...

PLANET EARTH: THE LATEST WEAPON OF WAR.(Review)
February 1, 2001... A CRITICAL STUDY INTO THE MILITARY AND THE ENVIRONMENT By Dr Rosalie Bertell THE WOMEN'S PRESS 2000 [pound]12.99 Rosalie Bertell believes, as have many greens before her, that the current focus on economics is at the expense of...

CROSSING THE CREEK TO FETCH WATER.(long-distance hauling of produce pollutes the environment)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The case for localised food production. Reading the report 'Bringing the Food Economy Home', compiled by the International Society for Ecology and Culture [ISEC] and reviewed in the November 2000 issue of The Ecologist, started me...