THE Gary Gallon Wednesday-Night History

THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY WARNS OF BUSH'S ANTI-ENVIRONMENT MOVES
Saturday Feb 16, 2002

The very old (founded in 1935), large, and U.S. conservative conservation organization, The Wilderness Society, has issued an unusual warning and action alert about the anti-environmental movements of the George W. Bush administration. The Wilderness Society stated that it, "found that, on issue after issue, the president and his appointees have failed to safeguard our air, water, land, and wildlife, siding instead with those interests eager to make a quick profit. We've concluded that informed and aroused activists like you, along with a vigilant Congress, are essential to blunt the administration's anti-environmental actions." It stated that, "while our country wisely focuses on countering terrorism, the Bush administration continues to move at full speed to implement its anti-environmental agenda -- mostly under the radar. Since September 11, Interior Secretary Gale Norton and others have invoked "national security" to justify massive oil development not only in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but also on fragile western public lands across the lower 48 states. But homeland security includes wildland protection. The clean air and water, biological diversity, and inspiration that our national parks, wilderness, and other natural reserves provide are of vital importance." It stated that, "the truly patriotic course of action is not to plunder the most stunning lands we have inherited, but to protect them. Each generation serves as trustee of these natural treasures, and this administration is breaching that trust." The Wilderness Society warned that, "the White House is championing an energy plan that is a half-century out of date and appears to draw more on the advice of Enron and other fossil-fuel industry executives than on anyone else's. Under this blueprint, our environment would be sacrificed in a host of ways. The new administration has ignored or misstated findings of the scientific community. Scientists extol the value of roadless forests, but the Bush administration is trying to undermine the policy that would protect 58.5 million acres of roadless national forest lands. Interior Secretary Norton gave inaccurate testimony to Congress on Arctic caribou calving facts, claiming later that it was a typo. She told the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that she supported its wetlands proposals -- but failed to pass along criticism from biologists at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service." Many, many appointees to key positions in the Administration are former lobbyists or employees of powerful timber, oil and gas, coal mining, and energy companies. They include: Mark Rey, Steven Griles, James Connaughton, James Cason, William Myers, Paul Hoffman, Drue Pierce, Rebecca Watson, Bennet Raley, and Camden Toohey. Read their bios on-line at www.wilderness.org/newsroom/rls012402.htm . You can download the full report from www.wilderness.org/newsroom/rls012402.htm.

U.S. EPA CRITICIZES CHENEY’S NATIONAL ENERGY PLAN In an internal memo the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) criticized Vice President Dick Cheney’s National Energy Plan. The 3-page memo was written by Tom Gibson, US EPA Associate Administrator for Policy, Economics and Innovation. Commenting on what was then Chapter 8 of the National Energy Plan the memo stated, "costs of compliance with environmental requirements are overstated, several inaccurate statements and opinions are presented as factual, and no citations are provided for many of these statements." It went on to state that, "we are very concerned that this language is inaccurate and inaapropriately implicates environmental programs as a major cause of supply constraints in the United States’ refining capacity." The memo also stated that, "statements regarding coal-generated electricity create the false impression that environmental regulations are the sole cause of the decrease in investment in new coal generation." Source, "EPA Initially Blasted White House Energy Plan", by Traci Watson, USA Today, McLean, Virginia, February 6, 2002.

BRUSSELS GROUP OF NATIONS TRIED TO LIMIT IMPACT OF 1972 STOCKHOLM ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE

The United Nations Conference on the Environment held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972, was the first in a series of great world conferences on the environment. It was followed by UN world conferences on population, food, habitat, energy, etc. The 1972 Stockholm Environment Conference was the first, created by a swell of public outrage at the unremitant pollution of the environment, with no controls, by forest, mining, oil and chemical industries. Citizens were calling for unprecedented government action and laws to control the polluters. We celebrate Stockholm every ten years by holding special international conferences. The last was in Rio in 1992. The next is in South Africa this year to celebrate 30 years after Stockholm and to monitor international progress towards cleaning up the environment. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) based in Nairobi, Kenya, was created as a result of the Stockholm Conference.

That's why it has come as a stunning revelation that many of the OECD nations including the United States, the U.K., Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany, formed the "Brussels Group" to try to limit the effectiveness of the decisions and actions that would be taken in Stockholm in 1972. The existence of this cabal, known as the Brussels group, was revealed in 30-year-old British government records that were kept secret until December 2001. The group was "an unofficial policy-making body to concert the views of the principal governments concerned", according to a note of one of the group's first meetings written by a civil servant in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. "It will have to remain informal and confidential." This meeting took place in July 1971, nearly a year before the Stockholm conference opened. The group was concerned that environmental regulations would restrict trade. It wanted to stop UNEP from being an effective world body and limit its annual budget so that it couldn't function as properly as other UN agencies such as UNICEF and FAO. British Foreign Office papers say the group "made real progress on this difficult problem", though without specifying how this was done. The notes record that Canada's Maurice Strong, Chairman of the UN Stockholm Environment Conference and Director General of the Rio "20" After Stockholm Conference in Brazil, had already been grumbling about the group's negative activities in 1971. "We may get some criticism from the Swedes and others [and] we must be careful when expanding the group not to include awkward bedfellows," the note adds. Another memo, written by an official in what was then the U.K. Department of the Environment, it says that Britain wanted to restrict the scope of the Stockholm conference and reduce the number of proposals for action. In an indirect reference to what would later become UNEP, the paper says a "new and expensive international organisation must be avoided, but a small effective central coordinating mechanism ... would not be welcome but is probably inevitable". For the full story see the website www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991734 .

RENEWABLE ENERGY GROWING FAST IN COUNTRIES THAT SUPPORT IT

Why has wind energy grown faster in Germany than Britain, and energy from solar panels expanded more quickly in Spain than Greece? A new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) identifies factors that can influence the success or otherwise of renewable energy projects. Renewable energies: success stories aims to facilitate greater use of renewable energy sources and contribute to efforts by the European Union (EU) and its Member States to meet targets for increasing power from renewables by 2010. This is part of the EU efforts to meet the Kyoto Protocol targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from burning oil, coal, and natural gas for energy. The report focuses on how much each EU country managed to expand its use between 1993 and 1999 of a number of renewable energy technologies - solar photovoltaic panels, solar thermal heating, wind and certain uses of biomass (wood and crops). The study identifies essential elements for success in seven areas: political, legislative, fiscal, financial and administrative support, technological development, and information, education and training. It concludes that the key to success lies in the combined effect of support measures rather than in any single factor. The winning combinations vary from one technology to another. The success stories include the expansion of solar thermal energy and biomass-fueled district heating in Austria, wind energy and biomass power in Denmark, photovoltaics, solar thermal and wind energy in Germany, photovoltaics and wind energy in Spain and biomass district heating in Sweden, said EEA Executive Director Domingo Jiménez- Beltrán. The report was released at the European Parliament in Brussels at a meeting of the European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources (EUROFORES) and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC). The study and the executive summary can be downloaded from the EEA website at <reports.eea.eu.int/environmental_issue_report_2001_27/en/>.

EUROPEAN UNION SET RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGET OF 12% OF TOTAL ENERGY PRODUCTION

The EU has set itself an indicative target of producing 12% of its energy (both electricity and heat) and 22.1% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010. Indicative national renewable electricity targets for each Member State are also included in the recently adopted EU renewable electricity Directive (2001/77/EC). For more information contact Tony Carritt, Media Relations Manager/Responsable des relations avec les médias, European Environment Agency/Agence européenne pour l'environnement , Kongens Nytorv 6, 1050 Copenhagen K, Denmark, Tel (direct): +45 3336 7147, Mobile: +45 2368 3669, Fax: +45 3336 7198. Visit the EEA's press room at org.eea.eu.int/PR.

SEATTLE CITY LIGHT IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON COMMITS TO 50-MW WIND POWER PURCHASE

Seattle City Council members unanimously approved Mayor Paul Schell's proposal to become the largest municipal utility purchaser of wind power in the nation. The city will begin buying 50 MW of capacity from PacifiCorp Power Marketing (PPM)--about 5% of the utility's load--from the Stateline Wind Farm beginning January 1, 2002. The purchase is set to increase to 100 MW in August, 2002, and possibly to 175 MW by August, 2004. "This is a great opportunity for our utility," said City Council member Heidi Wills, chair of the Council's Energy and Environmental Policy Committee. "Wind power diversifies our energy portfolio and gives us another clean, efficient renewable resource to complement our hydroelectric power." The price for the energy generated in January, including delivery costs, will be less than 5 cents per kWh and is comparable to costs for electricity generated by natural-gas-powered turbines. They also demonstrate that wind is clearly competitive, provide strong incentives to leverage future wind resource development, and inform regional discussions as to the costs of turning the intermittent wind resource into a firm, more practicably usable product."

CHEVRON/TEXACO TO INVEST IN SOLAR ENERGY EXPANSION

The energy services subsidiary of the ChevronTexaco oil company, Chevron Energy Solutions LP, is collaborating with its manufacturing affiliate, Energy Conversion Devices Inc, to broaden the commercial application of flexible solar electric roofing materials and nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries, as well as hydrogen storage systems and fuel cells. The full story can be read at: www.solaraccess.com/news/story.jsp?storyid=1313 .

THREE NEW SKYSCRAPERS IN LONDON, U.K. WILL BE BUILT TO BE ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND

UK developer St. George recently unveiled plans for a 49-story building that would be Britain's tallest residential high-rise and "greenest" skyscraper. If approved, the triple-glazed, mainly glass structure will be topped by a 30-foot tall wind generator to provide enough power for the building's communal lights, and will use heat exchangers drawing on the water table to reduce the need for air conditioning and central heating. The building, say architects Broadway Malyan, will use just a third of the energy of a comparable building, reduce carbon emissions by up to 66 percent and include features like gardens and windows that open. Two other planned high-rises billed as ecologically sensitive are a 30-story "bioclimatic skyscraper" expected to be built next year in south London, by Malaysian architect Ken Yeang, and Norman Foster's 41-story "erotic gherkin" planned for the City. Most of Yeang's buildings have been in the tropics; he will have a different set of problems in south London, but we can expect a building with natural ventilation, natural lighting, and rain and wastewater collection systems. From The Guardian (London), 12 Dec 2001 and 14 Dec 2001, by John Vidal. Source Chris Hammer, Copyright 2001 Sustainable Design Resources.

VISIT THE USGS WEBSITE ON CHEMICAL CONCENTRATIONS IN U.S. SURFACE WATER

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has new online web maps of chemical concentrations in surface water in the United States. This will give you chance to learn where polluters are dumping and take corrective action. The url is long. If it doesn't work for you just go to the link at www.mapcruzin.com/ . Here is how to get there directly: orxddwimdn.er.usgs.gov/servlet

RECKLESS COMMERCIAL FISHING PRACTICES NEED TO BE AMENDED

For centuries who cared? Commercial fishermen could kill and discard fish, seals and whales at will. They could drop damaged fish net overboard and let them kill the fish and marine mammals for years later. There were just too many fish. They could never be depleted. Now that we know that the bounty of fish could be sustained under increasing human pressure is a myth, we must change our laws and change ways in order to protect the remaining depleted world fishery. Fishing gear that goes on killing long after it has been discarded is the scourge of the Pacific Ocean, particularly near the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands where the nets threatens already endangered Hawaiian monk seals, turtles, and sea birds. The good news is that more than 60 tons of discarded fishing nets and derelict fishing gear have now been recovered from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands by teams of expert divers. The bad news is that there are still more than 100 tons of the stuff out there entangling and killing local fish and marine creatures. As a whole, the unpopulated Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are quite free of human influence. But the pattern of Pacific Ocean currents pushes massive amounts of derelict fishing nets and gear onto the widely separated islands. Monk seals, especially curious pups, get entangled in the nets and often drown. With U.S. $3 million allocated for ocean debris removal, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) deployed three chartered commercial vessels in September 2001 for a 90-day clean-up tour. NOAA joined forces with the Ocean Conservancy, U.S. Coast Guard, Hawaii Sea Grant, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other state and private organizations to clean up the waters around the Hawaiian archipelago. It is time to regulate the casual ocean disposal of commercial fishing gear. Source, Environmental News Network (ENN), December 5, 2001. See the full story at www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2001/12/12052001/s_45791.asp

KNOW THE ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES IN THE COMPANIES YOU INVEST IN

The United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) requires companies lists on the New York Stock Exchange and other U.S. stock exchanges to report their environmental liabilities to potential investors. A 1998 Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) study found that 74 percent of publicly-traded companies had failed to adequately disclose the existence of environmental legal proceedings in their 10-K registration requirements as mandated by the Securities Exchange Commission. In October 2001, the EPA launched a campaign for corporate environmental accounting under US SEC Regulation S-K. For more information visit the websites www.pollutiononline.com/read/nl20010515/427844, and
es.epa.gov/oeca/ore/sec.pdf . And now Senator Jefford's has proposed a draft bill to have corporations file the financial impact of their greenhouse gas emission performance on their quarterly and annual SEC 10-Q & 10-K filings under SEC Regulation S-K.

References:
Notice on Public Company Requirements to Disclose Environmental Legal Proceedings
es.epa.gov/oeca/main/strategy/oppac_notice.html

Also see the October 1, 2001 US EPA alert on SEC disclosure at the website es.epa.gov/oeca/ore/sec.pdf

See the World Resources Institute report on financial environmental departures by US publicly traded pulp manufacturers www.wristore.com/pureprofit.html

Publicly traded corporations disclosing financial environmental liabilities must have corporate reserves to cover those liabilities under SEC regulations. www.law.uc.edu/CCL/regS-K/ . Source, Donald Sutherland at email www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14003/story.htm .

ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING LECTURE GIVEN AT HARVARD

One of the world's top figures in environmental accounting gave a lecture at the Harvard School of Public Health, September 11, 2001. Dr. Markus Stobel, (Institute for Management and the World, University of Augsburg, Germany) presented a seminar entitled "Material Flow Oriented Cost Accounting: A Tool for Cost Saving Recognition and Environmental Protection." This is methodology that has been extensively tested in Germany and Japan as a means for companies to seek competitive advantage in Eco-Efficient Management. This technique should also work well in university programs aimed at greening of the campus since it addresses the financial impacts of these programs. For more information about the lecture contact Dr. Robert Pojasek, Adjunct Faculty Lecturer, Harvard School of Public Health, P.O. Box 1333, East. Arlington, Massachusetts 02474-0071, ph. (781) 641-2422, fax (781) 465-6006, email rpojasek@hsph.harvard.edu . Visit their website at www.hsph.harvard.edu/facres/pojasek.html .

More Letters by Garry Gallon

Vol. 7, No. 4, January 31, 2003 GALLON's Iraq
Vol. 6, No. 16, July 18, 2002 GALLON on Enron
Vol. 6, No. 7, April 3, 2002 GALLON on Water