ELS Connections

2011-08-07T21:02:00.001-05:00

For Those Interested in Green Building

2008-09-11T15:31:00.000-05:00

This article provides a great introduction to the topic. It also reminds me to remind people about the Greenbuild Conference to be held in Boston on 11/19-11/21.

Thanks

Manu

Recent Developments In MA Environmental Policy + 2 Service Opportunities For ELS

2008-09-05T10:02:00.000-05:00

I apologize for the long post but I wanted to include everything so people can scroll through to see if there is a policy, legislation or funding issue that interests them personally. At the bottom of this bulletin are links to two environmental community service opportunities I thought might interest people.

From the Mass Audubon Advocacy Group:

A Season of Success!

This has been one the most successful years for energy and the environment on Beacon Hill, brought about by a new administration, a new focus for the legislature, and changing public attitudes about energy and the environment. It’s a new landscape for energy and environment, with major energy legislation including net-metering and incentives for renewable development, ocean management, caps on emissions, significant investments in land protection and new funding for the state’s ailing park system, and restoration of funding for endangered species protection. There was a distinct focus on energy, whose traditional, fossil fuel based production is the greatest threat to the environment. The new incentives for renewable energy production may both better protect the environment through emissions and source-point pollution reduction, as well as spur on Massachusetts’ sleepy economy.

POLICY

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative In one of his first acts in office, Governor Patrick signed RGGI, joining other northeast states in their commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and making Massachusetts first in the nation with the auction of greenhouse gas emission allowances. The auction begins September 25th. Although cap and trade programs alone are not the answer to global warming, RGGI will spur reduction of emissions through encouragement of renewable energy and in improved technologies.

No-Net Loss of Open Space A Mass Audubon priority. The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs have been effective in their review of Article 97 land taking bills, requiring mitigation when appropriate. Looking to the future, Mass Audubon will continue to advocate for codification of the EEA policy, the Public Lands Protection Act, which did not pass this session.

LEGISLATION

The Environmental Bond A Mass Audubon priority. At over $1.5 billion, this is the largest investment in environmental programs ever, with $50 million per year set aside for land protection, funding for enforcement, endangered species protection, planning for climate change, and a state income tax credit for land protection. The Governor has until Sunday to sign the Bond. Thank you to those who have called the Governor’s office asking him to sign the Bond with the tax credit included, his office has been flooded with calls! Look for a complete analysis in the next Roundup.

Ocean Management Act A Mass Audubon priority. Passage of this Act provides for the development of a first in the nation comprehensive ocean management plan protecting sensitive marine life and habitats, promoting renewable energy and guiding responsible use. The draft plan will be available for public comment next summer. See the Mass Ocean Coalition website for full coverage and updates.

The Green Communities Act A priority for the Speaker of the House and the administration, this Act overhauls the Commonwealth’s energy policy, encouraging renewable energy development and investment in conservation and efficiency. Mass Audubon worked on language to encourage responsible siting of renewable energy facilities, including hydroelectric.

Global Warming Solutions Act In a thrilling, down to the wire victory, this passed in the last hours of the legislative session with the House standing in applause. The Act sets state limits on greenhouse gas emissions, 25% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, making Massachusetts a national leader in climate change policy. Mass Audubon successfully worked to include a climate change and adaptation commission, finding ways to help nature cope with climate change. The Governor has until Sunday to sign Global Warming into law.

Green Jobs Creates a Clean Energy Technology Center, supporting research, development, and job training. The Governor has until Sunday to Green Jobs into law.

Biofuels Exempts advanced (cellulosic), non-food based biofuels from state gas taxes.

Phosphorous Act Bans phosphorous from dishwasher detergent, protecting rivers, streams, and wetlands from nutrient loading and degradation.

STATE FUNDING

Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program A Mass Audubon priority. The Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program's mission is to protect the rare species of Massachusetts, their habitats, and the full range of natural community types to conserve the biodiversity of the Commonwealth. After five years of neglect, state funding was restored this year!

Riverways Program A Mass Audubon priority. Funded at Mass Audubon recommended levels of $50,000 more than requested by the administration, this program protects Massachusetts rivers and streams

Resource Management Plans A Mass Audubon priority. The legislature overrode the Governor’s veto of $100,000 for Department of Conservation and Recreation Resource Management Plans.

What remains to be seen is the impact of expedited permit review, siting of renewable energy facilities, criteria and standards for environmental impact review of wind turbines, and development of a biofuels industry that does not encourage destructive forestry practices. As the administration moves towards implementation of the many environmental successes of this session, we will continue to be engaged.

Service Opportunties:

Be The Change 2008

http://sites.google.com/site/bethechangeboston2008/Home

GreenBuild Conference- 11/19-11/21

http://www.greenbuildexpo.org/

A Thought About the Future of ELS + Some Conservation News

2008-07-01T12:08:00.001-05:00

"A huge patchwork of privately owned forest in northwest Montana — much of it abutting wilderness, and together almost a third the size of Rhode Island — will be permanently protected from development under an agreement announced Monday by two private conservation groups, the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land."

- N.Y. Times, 6/01/08, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/us/01develop.html

This acquisition is being financed by Qualified Forestry Conservation Bonds (QFCBs) whose sale is authorized by the recently passed Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill).

QFCBs are tax credit bonds issued by a state or a section 501(c)(3) organization for the acquisition (from an unrelated person) of forest and forest land that meets the following requirements:

(1) some portion of the land is adjacent to US Forest Service land;

(2) at least one-half of the land must be transferred to the US Forest
Service at no net cost and not more than one-half of the land may remain with or
be donated to a State;

(3) all of the land must be subject to a habitat conservation
plan for native fish approved by the US Fish and Wildlife Service; and

(4) the land must be at least 40,000 acres.

QFCBs have a total allocation of $500 million.

From an environmental finance point of view the QFCB program is a great start. The very fact QFCBs may be issued by a State or political subdivision as well as 501(c)(3)s encourages the public-private partnerships that are already driving conservation efforts throughout the country. The Agricultural Preservation Restriction program in place in Mass. is an example this kind of cooperation. http://www.mass.gov/agr/landuse/APR/index.htm.

From an environmental advocacy point of view this news reinforces my belief that the sale of municipal bonds, and their state and private sector counterparts, are an effective way to reliably finance environmental/conservation projects.

From an ELS point of view this news makes me think that we can expand our reach a bit. While still focusing on greening NESL and the surrounding community, ELS can make it our mission to advocate for bond financing for environmental projects. Granted we probably can't get bond measures on any legislative agendas ourselves, but we can look for places where they are already on the ballot, find like-minded organizations who may be supporting such measures, and join their fight. I think this might be a good way for us to integrate our members into environmental communities outside of Massachusetts. We might also be able to gain some advocacy experience which is always invaluable for lawyers-in-training like us.

I hope people might give all of this some thought. Of course suggestions as to how we might advocate effectively in other contexts, besides that of muni. bonds, are always welcome. I am always available at Manuhusain@gmail.com and am in Boston for the summer if anybody would like to get together to talk through all of this stuff.

A Thought About Using Muni Bonds to Finance Environmental Projects

2008-05-21T16:56:00.000-05:00

The Supremes just handed down their decision in Kentucky Dep't of Revenue v. Davis where they upheld a tax exemption for interest on state and local muni bonds. From what I gather the Court relied heavily on: 1) the fact that the selling of muni bonds is a traditional state activity that funds things like infrastructure and 2) the market participant exception to the dormant commerce clause. 1 is the only one that really garnered any kind of majority. There is much more to the opinion of course.

My point is that given the fact that a $1.6 bil environment and energy bond bill, H4561, is currently pending in the legislature, I think this decision should be applauded. If people know that they won't have to pay interest on munis in Mass they will be inclined to buy more of them. If they buy the H4561 bonds this helps the environment. There's probably a hole in that logic somewhere (probably in the area of undue burdens on personal choices about how to invest) but I don't see it yet.

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has any thoughts.

Manu

Here is what some smarter people have to say about Davis:

http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/

http://taxprof.typepad.com/

Top Ten World's Worst Polluted Places, for 2007

2007-09-14T18:48:00.000-05:00

The Blacksmith Institute has released the 2007 Top Ten World's Worst Polluted Places.

Global Warming & Bioneers

2007-09-02T18:16:00.000-05:00

From the Marion Institute:

Global Warming: A Real Solution
June 18, 2007 Rolling Stone | Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In early May, 100 of the nation's top business leaders gathered for a summit at a private resort nestled on 250 acres in California's Napa Valley. The attendees, gathered at the invitation of Silicon Valley venture capitalists, included CEOs and other top executives from such Fortune 500 corporations as Wal-Mart, Proctor & Gamble and BP. They had been invited to discuss ways to end America's fossil-fuel addiction and save the world from global warming. But in reality they had come to make money for their companies - and that may turn out to be the thing that saves us. Read more here: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/15051506/global_warming_a_real_solution

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be appearing at a special Special Bioneers by the Bay: Connecting for Change kick-off event Thursday, October 18th, at 7:30 pm at the Zeiterion Theatre, New Bedford, MA. Admission is free. Seating is limited and is first come, first serve.

International Polar Year

2007-08-31T08:09:00.000-05:00

2007-08 is the International Polar Year, to "to advance our understanding of how the Earth's remote polar regions affect global climate systems." There's also a US-specific resource, U.S. IPY. These links are being added to the resources sidebar as well.

New Resource: FAOLEX

2007-06-27T18:17:00.000-05:00

There's a new resource in the sidebar: FAOLEX.

FAOLEX is a comprehensive and up-to-date computerized legislative database, one of the world's largest electronic collection of national laws and regulations on food, agriculture and renewable natural resources.

Users of FAOLEX have direct access to the abstracts and indexing information about each text, as well as to the full text of most legislation contained in the database.

Interesting Update on Nuclear Weapons Matls in Landfills

2007-05-14T15:25:00.000-05:00

Anyone know more?

* NEWS FROM NIRS *
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
6930 Carroll Avenue, #340, Takoma Park, MD 20912
301-270-6477; fax: 301-270-4291; www.nirs.org; dianed@nirs.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 14, 2007
Contacts: Diane D’Arrigo, 301-270-6477 ext. 16
Mary Olson (NIRS Southeast) (after 1 PM eastern), 828-675-1792

New Report Finds Nuclear Weapons Materials Released to Landfills

Pathways Open for Reuse and Recycling

Takoma Park, MD – Radioactive materials are being released from nuclear weapons facilities to regular landfills and could get into commercial recycling streams, finds a new report released today by Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS).

The report: Out of Control – On Purpose: DOE’s Dispersal of Radioactive Waste into Landfills and Consumer Products – was commissioned to track if and how the Department of Energy (DOE) releases some of the radioactive wastes from nuclear bomb production.

The report authors, led by Diane D’Arrigo, NIRS’ Radioactive Waste Project Director, researched seven sites and the DOE national headquarters. The seven sites were: Oak Ridge TN, Rocky Flats CO, Los Alamos NM, Mound and Fernald OH, West Valley NY, and Paducah KY.

“People around regular trash landfills will be shocked to learn that radioactive contamination from nuclear weapons production is ending up there, either directly released by DOE or via brokers and processors,” D’Arrigo said. “Just as ominous, the DOE allows and encourages sale and donation of some radioactively contaminated materials.”

The report tracked the laws, guidance and technical justifications that DOE uses to rationalize allowing radioactive scrap, concrete, equipment, asphalt, plastic, wood, chemicals, soil, and more out to landfills, commercial businesses and recreation areas, recycling and reuse in places unprepared to handle radioactivity. Applauding DOE’s ban on recycling of radioactive metal from nuclear weapons, the report cautions there are loopholes and it is again threatened.

“DOE is ignoring public opposition to unnecessary exposures and releasing radioactivity even though the U.S. Congress revoked such release policies,” said Mary Olson, director of the NIRS Southeast office and a co-author of the report. “DOE is using its own internal guidance to allow radioactive weapons wastes out of control, claiming the doses to people will be ‘acceptable’ even though they are not enforced or tracked.”

Under the current system, the DOE and other nuclear waste generators release materials directly, sell them at auction or through exchanges or send their waste to processors who can then release it from radioactive controls to landfills, to recyclers or for reuse.

The report found that the State of Tennessee is a leader in licensing processors that can release radioactive materials for the nuclear waste generators.

“Tennessee is serving as a funnel to bring in nuclear weapons and power waste from around the country to disperse into the landfills and recycling without public knowledge,” D’Arrigo said.

The waste is processed by state-licensed companies and in some cases “redefined” as “special” then released to regular landfills. This free release also opens up the potential for the materials to enter the recycling stream to make everyday household and personal items or to be used to build roads, schools, and playgrounds.

“As long as DOE and other nuclear waste generators can slip their contamination out –letting it get Out of Control – On Purpose – there is really no limit to the amount of additional radiation exposure members of the public could receive,” D’Arrigo concluded. “Only an informed, outraged public can force DOE and agreeable states to shift the goal from dispersal to isolation of radioactive waste.”

A copy of the full report can be found on the NIRS web site at: http://www.nirs.org/radwaste/outofcontrol/outofcontrol.htm

The report authors and contributors include:
Diane D’Arrigo, NIRS’ Radioactive Waste Project Director
Mary Olson, Director, NIRS Southeast Office
Cindy Folkers, NIRS, Health and Environment Project
Dr. Marvin Resnikoff, Radioactive Waste Management Associates, NYC
###

SWEP Event

2007-05-10T08:15:00.000-05:00

Hello All -

Great networking opportunity!

The Society for Women Environmental Professionals is having their Annual Dinner next week. Here is the information:

Wednesday May 16, 2007
Sheraton Framingham Hotel

Guest Speaker:
Ann Berwick, Undersecretary for Energy
Massachusetts' Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

$40 Members
$50 Non-Members

Checks payable to SWEP-MA
Send to: Robin Swift
Geosyntec Consultants
289 Great Road, Suite 105
Acton, MA 01720

Legislating/Suing and Green Capitalism

2007-04-22T12:44:00.001-05:00

Salmon Campaigner Wins Top Award

Looks like he followed the Nature Conservancy's approach -- acquiring an easement or ownership to protect a resource, rather than pursuing legislation or filing a lawsuit to force someone else's action. When is one more effective than the other, or are they all equal, and just a matter of an advocate's choice?

Plastics are Forever

2007-04-16T09:12:00.000-05:00

Great Pacific Garbage Patch: Plastic Turning Vast Area of Ocean into Ecological Nightmare

I'd like to quote so much, but I'll restrain myself to this:

am often asked why we can't vacuum up the particles. In fact, it would be more difficult than vacuuming up every square inch of the entire United States; it's larger and the fragments are mixed below the surface down to at least 30 meters. Also, untold numbers of organisms would be destroyed in the process.

Besides, there is no economic resource that would be directly benefited by this process. We haven't yet learned how to factor the health of the environment into our economic paradigm. We need to get to work on this calculus quickly, for a stock market crash will pale by comparison to an ecological crash on an oceanic scale. (Emphasis added.)

This is not a new article, but the garbage patch is new to me. Anyone know more? Wikipedia has an article with a useful-looking bibliography.

New Global Warming News Site

2007-04-06T16:14:00.000-05:00

The Christian Science Monitor has rolled out a new website just on global warming, CS Monitor.com: Global Warming.

Two Supreme Court Env. Cases Decided

2007-04-03T06:15:00.000-05:00

Mass. v. EPA -- The Court held that the EPA does have power under the Clean Air Act to regulate CO2 emissions from motor vehicles.

Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corp. "Modification" need not be interpreted consistently throughout the Clean Air Act.

Mass v. EPA discussion with Jim Milkey

2007-03-09T19:36:00.000-05:00

Jim Milkey, Assistant Attorney General who argued the case Mass v. EPA before the Supreme Court in November, will be at New England School of Law on Thursday, March 15, at noon, to discuss the case and the experience of arguing before the Supreme Court.

Cherry Room, noon
Thursday March 15
New England School of Law
154 Stuart Street
Boston, MA 02116

Gore Nominated for Peace Prize

2007-02-01T22:25:00.000-05:00

Al Gore nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

"A prerequisite for winning the Nobel Peace Prize is making a difference, and Al Gore has made a difference," Conservative Member of Parliament Boerge Brende, a former minister of environment and then of trade, told The Associated Press.

Brende said he joined political opponent Heidi Soerensen of the Socialist Left Party to nominate Gore as well as Canadian Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier before the nomination deadline expired Thursday.

For those who don't know, Sheila is the woman most directly behind the Inuit Circumpolar Council's petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, regarding the impact of global warming on the Inuit tribes of the Arctic.

SWEP - Networking

2007-02-01T15:26:00.000-05:00

Great opportunity to meet environmental engineers, consultants, and attorneys practicing in Massachusetts!

2007 Business Practices Forum
Next Thursday, February 8th at 6 p.m.
Westin Hotel, Waltham

Jointly hosted by the LSP Association and Society for Women Environmental Professionals.

Contact Elizabeth with any questions: elkadlub@yahoo.com

GWU NAELS Conference

2007-02-01T15:17:00.000-05:00

17th Annual National Association of Environmental Law Societies Conference
March 15 - 18, 2007

"The Future of Environmental Protection"

Hosted by: The George Washington University Law School Environmental Law Association

Register by February 15th:

http://www.law.gwu.edu/News/17th+Annual+NAELS+Conference/

Environmental Law Society Meeting

2007-01-11T12:40:00.000-05:00

Welcome back students!

Our Spring ELS meeting will be held next Thursday, January 18th at 5 p.m. in Room 503.

We will be discussing events for this semester and recruiting event organizers.

Our success depends on your participation!

We look forward to seeing you there.

Navy Sonar Revived?

2007-01-11T12:28:00.000-05:00

The Jan/Feb 2007 issue of Nature's Voice published by the NRDC had a disturbing article on the Navy's plan to use low frequency active (LFA) sonar in potentially 75% of worldwide oceans. The use of LFA sonar is intended to detect submarines with low-frequency sound waves that can travel more than 300 miles. This noise, at close range, can purportedly damage whale eardrums and lungs and at farther distances, disrupt feeding and mating.

In August 2003, on the same subject, the Navy was ordered by a district court judge to set up protective measures for marine mammals. According to the agreement, the Navy was only able
to use LFA sonar in a limited area of the Pacific Ocean. The Navy has requested a new permit to expand use of the LFA sonar.

A decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service on the permit is expected in July.

Bush, Merkel Pledge Closer Cooperation on Mideast, Global Warming

2007-01-06T18:32:00.000-05:00

Bush, Merkel Pledge Closer Cooperation on Mideast, Global Warming

Is this meaningful, aspirational, or mere puffery?

Have a Hot 2007

2007-01-04T15:56:00.000-05:00

Scientists Say 2007 May Be Warmest Yet

Have we passed the tipping point? Crossed the Rubicon? What do people think?

The Energy Electranet

2006-12-22T20:10:00.000-05:00

Al Gore discusses decentralized energy networks (analogous to how the internet is decentralized), only not in a boring way like I just made it sound: My Turn: The Energy Electranet.

Think it'll happen?

Countering Urban Sprawl -- Car-free Living

2006-12-19T20:00:00.000-05:00

New German community models car-free living

Could this concept work in Boston?

BBA Meeting on Mass v. EPA

2006-12-17T09:19:00.000-05:00

Environmental Law Section Meeting: Arguing Massachusetts’ Clean Air Act Case in the U.S. Supreme Court - 12/21/06

click here for more details and to RSVP

Thursday, December 21, 2006, at 12:30 p.m.

Boston Bar Association
16 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108

Jim Milkey, Chief of the Environmental Protection Division of the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General, will discuss his recent argument to the United States Supreme Court in Massachusetts, et al. v. EPA, No. 05-1120. In the case, Massachusetts and 28 other petitioners are challenging EPA's refusal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the federal Clean Air Act.

I'll be there -- hope to see some of you there, too!

New Outlook for Climate Change on Capitol Hill

2006-12-08T11:13:00.000-05:00

New Outlook for Climate Change on Capitol Hill

Sen. Boxer will be taking over as chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which has been chaired by Sen. Inhofe -- he's the one who called blogal warming the "greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people."

If you read the portion on S.3698:

(4) to establish a motor vehicle global warming pollution emission requirement;

-- That's Mass v. EPA right there;

(10) to promote, through leadership by the United States, accelerated reductions in global warming pollution from other countries with significant global warming pollution emissions.”

I wonder if that means signing Kyoto, or a similar subsequent protocol? How would a "market-based emission control system administered by the EPA" fit with this item #10? Or would they not?

Water War Brewing Along Mexican Border

2006-12-05T20:44:00.000-05:00

Water War Brewing Along Mexican Border

There's a canal across part of California, and the current Administration is requesting it be lined with concrete, to stop seepage (therefore, retaining water for U.S. use). Mexican farmers on the other side of the border are less than thrilled.

Looks like there's some interesting questions:

All three judges suggested during oral arguments in the case Monday that people in Mexico might not have legal standing to assert a claim for the water in U.S. courts.

"How does a constitutional barrier against takings of property in the United States apply to somebody's property in Mexico?" Judge John Noonan asked.

Wild Law

2006-11-26T12:05:00.000-05:00

On thin ice: Could 'wild laws' protecting all the Earth's community - including animals, plants, rivers and ecosystems - save our natural world?

One of the first was introduced in September, when a community of about 7,000 people in Pennsylvania, in the US, adopted what is called Tamaqua Borough Sewage Sludge Ordinance, 2006.

It was hardly an event to set the world alight, except for two things: it refuses to recognise corporations' rights to apply sewage sludge to land, but it recognises natural communities and ecosystems within the borough as "legal persons" for the purposes of enforcing civil rights.

This just crossed my plate recently and I find it simply astonishing. Douglas and Blackmun broached the idea in their Sierra Club v. Morton dissents, suggesting that forests could have rights (which really translates to standing to sue).

The first question I asked upon reading this was whether the community actually had the right to do this (grant rights -- standing to sue) via passing an ordinance.

Different states grant different rights to their municipalities, so it's possible that depending on what state you're in, a town might not have sufficient power. Massachusetts, for example, is a "Home Rule" state -- towns and cities have a lot of legislative power, and can pass ordinances and bylaws that create, say, wetlands protection restrictions on development that are even more stringent than the state or federal version of the same. Home Rule states are not common, though.

Generally, when you pass a statute (or, in this case, bylaw or ordinance) you can grant standing to categories of people to sue. Defining an ecosystem as "person" for the purposes of a given ordinance seems to fall within the framework of that power.

This opens the door to a lot of fighting about who has the legal right to represent that ecosystem, since it still can't represent. That came up in the Morton case, b/c the Sierra Club was trying to represent that ecosystem.

It should be very interesting watching this Pennsylvania ordinance shake things up.

Comments?

Land Conservation Trusts in Alaska

2006-11-26T12:02:00.000-05:00

Land trusts raise hopes for future preservation

Land preservationists say the century-old conservation land trust movement is gaining ground even in Alaska, where most land is public and there are only 1.1 people per square mile -- by far the nation's lowest density. Much of the state's population growth and private development has happened in lush valleys, on beaches and near salmon waterways.

Landowners who participate in creating trusts often get property tax breaks when assessors determine their land no longer carries the same development potential. Federal law also provides an income tax deduction spread over several years.

It's interesting because this is sort of the flip side of a lot of proposed post-Kelo land use legislation that argues landowners are better off with as few controls on their land as possible. (Consider, for example, Oregon's Measure 37.) Yet, these landowners are controlling the development of their community, and getting a tax break.

The End of Wild Seafood

2006-11-03T00:27:00.000-05:00

'Only 50 years left' for sea fish

ELS Member Rebecca found this one, and I think it indirectly illuminates the false binary system of environment or economy. It's not "or", it's "and": destroy one and you're destroying the other, because what do agribusiness, aquaculture, etc., depend on? Healthy land and healthy seas. Good stewardship is good business.

Boston study questions commuter railroad expansions

2006-10-30T15:52:00.000-05:00

The study is published by the Rappaport Institute, that has traditionally been unhappy about investments in public transportation and the impact of "smart growth" policies on development projects. I personally find it hard to believe anyone can argue against investments in public transportation with a straight face, in light of global warming concerns and air pollution, but here it is anyway:

Growth from rails limited, study says: Development, usage examined

Links between asthma and truck exhaust

2006-10-29T20:34:00.000-05:00

An EJ study that monitored air quality with the help of volunteers- 10-12 year old Bronx children with asthma:

A Study Links Trucks’ Exhaust to Bronx Schoolchildren’s Asthma

British government report on the cost of climate change

2006-10-29T20:31:00.000-05:00

A ground-breaking report for the British government will today say that global warming could cost the world up to £3.68 trillion.
Sir Nicholas Stern's analysis will set out the devastating economic and environmental impact of failing to curb the planet's carbon dioxide emissions.
His analysis is seen by the UK as marking a major turning point in the international debate on how to tackle climate change.
Commissioned by the Cabinet Office and Treasury in July 2005, it is the first major analysis by an economist rather than a scientist or campaign group...

Review warns of climate change cost

Friends of the Earth Biofuels Database

2006-10-29T10:23:00.000-05:00

My friends who is working on her sustainable business MBA found this recently.

You can view impacts of a selected biofuel (source), or compare: Friends of the Earth Biofuels Database.

This looks like a very interesting starting point for anyone contemplating producing or relying on biofuels.

Clean Alternative Energy Act

2006-10-23T19:27:00.000-05:00

Proposition 87 will be voted on in California in November to tax oil drilling. This is considered the most expensive initiative in history with $105 million spent to date.

The idea, capped at $4 million, is to use the proceeds to sponsor projects in solar, wind, and ethanol, among other energy options.

The initiative boasts spokespersons of both Clinton and Gore as well as a number of Hollywood celebraties.

The rest of the article can be found here:
California's Big-Bucks Battle Over Clean Energy

An Inconvenient Truth

2006-10-20T07:23:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for joining us yesterday for the Center for Law and Social Responsibility Environmental Advocacy Project & Environmental Law Society screening of An Inconvenient Truth. The film will be available on DVD to purchase in late November, and should be in the NESL library by spring semester.

www.climatecrisis.net is the website for the film. Check it out to learn more about what you can do, today, to make a difference. Did you see those stats about Americans having the highest carbon emissions load of any other country? Let's each of us change that, for ourselves, right now.

And, now that you've seen it -- train to be an Inconvenient Truth presenter. Check out www.theclimateproject.org for more details and an application form.

Don't forget the Global Warming Action Conference in November! If you're interested in a group rate, contact Iva Ziza at ivaziza@gmail.com.

Mass. Climate Action Network's 5th Massachusetts & New England Global Warming Action Conference

Sunday, Nov. 19, 8:30 am - 6:00 pm

MIT's Stata Center, 32 Vassar St, Cambridge, MA

Hosted by MIT’s Technology & Culture Forum (TAC)
Co-sponsors: Clean Water Action, Conservation Law Foundation,
Environmental League of Mass., MassPIRG,
Mass. Sierra Club, Mass. Technology Collaborative

- What you, your town, city, state, company, or university can do about global warming
- Learn from & network with climate activists, technical experts & policy specialists

For updated conference program information, go to www.MassClimateAction.org

Oceanic Dead Zones

2006-10-19T18:00:00.000-05:00

The U.N. has posted that scientists have found 200 "dead zones" in our oceans, a thirty-four percent increase in two years.

Dead zones are described as location where pollution strangles the marine life and those that rely upon them.

The cause of the dead zones are primarly thought to be fertilizer, sewage, and the burning of fossil fuel.

Here is the full report:
http://www.gpa.unep.org/bin/php/igr/igr2/supporting.php

NYU Environmental Law Journal Essay Contest

2006-10-18T08:29:00.000-05:00

The NYU Environmental Law Journal is pleased to announce the fourth annual National Student Essay Contest. The contest, which recognizes outstanding student scholarship on current topics in environmental and land use law, takes place each year, with submissions due in early January and the winners published in the third issue of each volume of ELJ. The contest is open to all students enrolled in any U.S. law school and to individuals who have graduated from a U.S. law school within the last year. Essays must be original; they may have been submitted for course credit, but they must not have been published elsewhere or have been written as part of paid employment. Each year the contest entries are judged by a panel that includes the Editor-in-Chief of ELJ, the Submissions Editor, an NYU School of Law faculty member, and a reader selected from the greater community of environmental law practitioners and scholars. The winner of the contest receives a $1000 cash prize.

For more information: feel free to contact us at law.elj@nyu.edu if you have any questions. Thanks, and we look forward to receiving many great entries,

Kathy Hanna
Managing Editor
NYU Environmental Law Journal

**********
The flyer will be posted on TWEN.

SWEP

2006-10-16T12:47:00.000-05:00

We had a great turnout on Thursday for the Society for Women Environmental Professionals event. Our guest speaker was Sonya Ward, a program manager at ENSR's Integrated Site Closure Group in Pennsylvania which focuses on environmental compliance and site remediation. She spoke on the importance of networking for career growth.

Another SWEP meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 14th at 6 p.m. in the Seaport Hotel Lounge in conjunction with visiting chapters for the Brownfields Conference. Everyone is invited.

Cathy Roberts, the Environmental Studies Director at Holy Cross, announced The Blackstone Canal Symposium in Worcester on November 3rd and 4th. For more information, www.nps.gov/blac.

The 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wangari M. Maathai, "a world-renowned environmentalist" is speaking at the Holy Cross campus on October 25th from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on "The Greenbelt Movement in Africa: Mobilizing Ordinary People to Improve the Environment and Their Day-to-Day Lives". This event is FREE!

Any other events in the community - do tell!

Watch "An Inconvenient Truth" with the ELS!

2006-10-12T20:24:00.000-05:00

The Environmental Law Society and the Center for Law and Social Responsibility invite NESL students and members of the legal community to a screening of "An Inconvenient Truth".

If you haven't heard of it, "An Inconvenient Truth" is a film by former Vice President Al Gore on the effects of global warming and our role in reversing them. In his review of the film, Roger Ebert wrote: "This is not a boring film.... You owe it to yourself to see this film."

So if you haven't seen it, now's your chance!

Our panelists during intermission will be:

* David Cash, Director of Air, Energy & Waste Policy for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs
* James W. Hunt III, Chief for Environmental and Energy Services, City of Boston
* Ann Weeks, Litigation Director, Clean Air Task Force

Room 305
October 19th, 2006
3:15 p.m.

~ Refreshments will be provided ~

For those interested in International Environmental Law

2006-10-07T00:14:00.000-05:00

International Environmental Law Committee of the BBA:

Stuart Sleeman, Material Content Manager for the ESH Department of Sensata Technologies, will discuss how the European WEEE and RoHS directives have affected US multinationals and EU Member countries. He will also discuss what you will need to put in place for and the potential impact of China’s version of the RoHS directive which will become effective on January 1, 2007.

-- OK, I don't know what half that means, so it's a great opportunity to show up and learn. Remember, the BBA just asks for $7 if you eat lunch there.

Date and Time
Friday, October 13, 2006
12:30 p.m.

Location
Boston Bar Association
16 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108

Global Warming Action Conference

2006-09-29T19:03:00.000-05:00

Let me know if you're interested. The fee to participate is high, but looks like we can probably get a deal as a group of students. This is a very exciting panel of speakers!

Please join us at Mass. Climate Action Network's
5th Massachusetts & New England
Global Warming
Action Conference
Sunday, Nov. 19, 8:30 am - 6:00 pm
MIT's Stata Center, 32 Vassar St, Cambridge, MA
Hosted by MIT’s Technology & Culture Forum (TAC)
Co-sponsors: Clean Water Action, Conservation Law Foundation,
Environmental League of Mass., MassPIRG,
Mass. Sierra Club, Mass. Technology Collaborative

• What you, your town, city, state, company, or university can do about global warming
• Learn from & network with climate activists, technical experts & policy specialists

For updated conference program information, go to www.MassClimateAction.org

Speakers include:

Commissioner Gina McCarthy of the Connecticut Dept. of Environmental Protection
Professor William Moomaw of Tufts University, renowned expert on global warming
Ross Gelbspan, author of Boiling Point and The Heat is On
Peter C. Frumhoff, Director, Global Environment Program, Union of Concerned Scientists
Kim Lundgren, Northeast Regional Director, Cities for Climate Protection campaign (ICLEI)
Kelly Gallagher, Dir., Energy Technology Innovation Proj., Kennedy School of Government
Seth Kaplan, Senior Attorney, Conservation Law Foundation
Rob Sargent, Senior Energy Analyst, National Association of State PIRGs
Cindy Luppi, Organizing Director, Clean Water Action
Steven Strong, President, Solar Design Associates
David Cash, Director of Air, Energy, & Waste Policy, Mass. Executive Office of Envir. Affairs
Professor Kerry Emanuel of MIT, expert on global warming and hurricanes
Professor Howard Hertzog of MIT, expert on “carbon capture & storage” (CO2 sequestration)
Sally Wright, wind power specialist with U. Mass. Renewable Energy Research Lab
David Tannozzini, Energy Manager, City of Newton
Tyler Gil, Ameresco energy services company
Marc Breslow, Executive Director, Mass. Climate Action Network

Plenary speakers and 14+ workshops covering:

How do we get to 75% emissions reductions?
Climate change science & impacts on New England
Transportation challenges
State & regional policy
Threats to & opportunities for renewable energy development
Green building initiatives
Global warming policy around the world
Skills for organizing and advocacy
CO2 “capture & storage”
Local climate action plans & GHG reduction strategies
The Northeast’s plan for cutting power plant pollution
How to cut energy use in your home
Financing energy efficiency in public buildings
Reaching out to new constituencies

Conference Registration

$45 if postmarked by Nov. 9. $60 after Nov. 9 or at the door. Includes light breakfast, full lunch, and mid-afternoon snack break. Make checks out to the Commonwealth Foundation and mail to MCAN, 86 Milton St., Arlington, MA 02474. Student & low-income discounts by arrangement. After Nov. 13, please e-mail registration info to marc@mbreslow.org and bring a check to the conference. Call 781-643-5911 with questions. To pay by credit card go to www.MassClimateAction.org and follow the links.

Wetlands Restoration Project Update

2006-09-27T17:25:00.000-05:00

The latest update from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management on wetlands restoration is available.

NESL Students -- Interested in Env. Moot Court?

2006-09-24T09:38:00.000-05:00

Professor Cox at NESL has extended the application date until Fri, Sept 29. See him for details.

Siberian Permafrost Melting

2006-09-22T19:48:00.000-05:00

As the article mentions, this is a bad sign because of both the carbon and methane normally trapped by permafrost: Climate Change Cited in Siberian Landscape Shift

Boston 101 Series at KSG

2006-09-22T11:57:00.000-05:00

Green Cities: Urban Growth and the Environment
Wednesday, October 4 at 12:00 p.m.
Fainsod Room, 3rd floor of the Littauer Building, 79 John F. Kennedy St.

Matthew Kahn, Professor of International Economics, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
Sponsored by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government

Both rapid urban growth and suburban sprawl heighten concerns about sustainable development. Are economic growth and environmental health always mutually exclusive goals? Matthew Kahn, Professor of International Economics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, will discuss the environmental consequences of urban growth and how cities can deal with the environmental challenges produced by growth.

PS- The Fall 2006 Boston 101 series begins on Monday at 5:00 p.m. For more information on the series, call 617-495-5091. All lectures are free and RSVPs are not necessary.

California sues automakers over greenhouse emissions

2006-09-20T22:00:00.000-05:00

California sues automakers over greenhouse emissions

Suing automakers for creating a public nuisance? According to the article, a NY court has dismissed that argument before. Any thoughts on this version surviving?

REBA luncheon

2006-09-20T07:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I attended a luncheon of the Real Estate Bar Association's Environmental Committee, to hear Arleen O'Donnell, the new acting commissioner of MassDEP, speak briefly. She was energetic, attentive to questions and feedback, and had many interesting things to say.

One of the things we discussed was illegal dumping. At the time, I was already thinking about the common difficulties states and the international community face: for example, storm runoff isn't generally subject to Clean Water Act NPDES requirements, and the impact of that same kind of regulatory gap exists in the international arena as well, only it's between nations rather than between states. How can you reach into a state and effectively control this kind of source without infringing upon their sovereignty?

So, it made for an interesting resonance on U.S. states and nations and their common difficulties when I saw an article on illegal dumping this morning, after yesterday's discussion, about petrochemical waste dumped in Ivory Coast. (Residents complained about the smell of hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs), leading to the discovery, and -- this is interesting -- two executives of the Dutch company that owned the dumping tanker were arrested.)

Womens Bar Association Career Panel

2006-09-18T15:37:00.000-05:00

Save the date:

"Ask and You Shall Receive"

Thursday, September 28th
6:00 p.m.
Edwards Angell
Palmer & Dodge LLP
111 Huntington Avenue
Boston

Panelists:
Beth I.Z. Boland - partner at Bingham McCutchen
M. Ellen Carpenter - founding partner at Roach & Carpenter
Kathleen L. McGinn - author and professor at Harvard Graduate School of Business Admin.
Evelyn Murphy - author and president of The WAGE Project and former Lt. Gov of MA
Betsy Munnell (Moderator) - partner at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge

Hosted by The New Lawyers Committe of the WBA.

RSVP to: programs@womensbar.org or call 617.973.6666

Fee for law students: $10, admission may be paid online at www.womensbar.org or bring a check made payable to "WBA".

AltWheels Events around Boston

2006-09-18T07:50:00.000-05:00

September AltWheels Events (full details on our website at www.altwheels.org)
1) September 21st 4-7:30 p.m. Alternative Transportation Caravan from Larz Anderson to Stata Center at MIT. Let us know if you have an alternative vehicle and want to be in the caravan. Otherwise come meet us at 6 at the MIT Stata Center with the media for a preview of our show.
2)September 22nd 7:00-7:00 p.m.. Boston City Hall Plaza. Come meet Mayor Menino, see more than 60 vehicles including more than 16 types of alternative transportation technology, be one of the first 1000 people to pledge to change a lightbulb on the Energy Freedom Trail and get a free CFL lightbulb, bring your bike to the REI free bike repair tent, hear talks by Peter Senge, Francis Moore Lappe, EO Wilson, Sousan Abadian and Ron Heifitz, and Patricia Aberdeen, and experience the first alternative transportation awards. Music from 5:30-7:00 pm by Kevin Connelly. This is our main day, it is free, and volunteers are badly needed. (See below)
3)September 23rd 10:00-4:00 p.m. Boston City Hall Plaza. See more than 60 vehicles including more than 16 types of alternative transportation technology, be one of the first 1000 people to pledge to change a lightbulb on the Energy Freedom Trail and get a free CFL lightbulb, bring your bike to the REI free bike repair tent, many events for kids including activities from the Museum of Science, the Children's Museum, the New England Aquarium. Music all day from the CocaBanana band.
4) September 24th 10:00-4:00 p.m. Larz Anderson Museum of Transportation in Brookline. Come join us at our original home. See more than 60 vehicles including more than 16 types of alternative transportation technology, have a chance to talk with users of alternative transportation technologies, test drive some of the many scooters and Segways, meet the pioneers who have converted their vehicles to run on used vegetable oil (Chinese and BBQ) and much more.
5) September 25th 8-1:30 p.m. Fleet Day Larz Anderson Museum of Transportation in Brookline. We end our week of events with an invitation only event for corporate, state and municipal fleet managers.
Here are the FOUR WAYS we need your help to make these events a success:
1) Help us share the word. Please send this email on to others in Boston who care about environmental issues, who are around in September or who want to learn more about what is happening and the real options that exist today in alternative transportation and energy technologies. In addition to several give-aways, a chance to see the latest vehicles being designed by Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda and others, we are also offering discounts on many of the alternative vehicles at the festival. There will also be an auction for two Prius' just in time for the $3,150 tax deduction that is cut in half October 1st. So if you or others are thinking about your alternative vehicle options this is the place and the time. Please forward this email to your friends and networks.
2) Please consider volunteering. If we receive the crowds we expect we will need close to 400 volunteers to cover the six events listed above. In addition to helping us with key areas, we are creating a green energy freedom trail this year with twenty-six stops of ways to lessen each of our environmental footprints. Many of these stations need to be manned and volunteers of course get free admission to the events they cover. If you have more than 3 hours to offer between September 16-25th please go on the AltWheels website (www.altwheels.org) and sign up to volunteer. It is very rewarding and we really need you. There are also two training evenings in September listed as part of the volunteer form on the web site. We would be so appreciative for your help this year.
3) You are welcome to exhibit or sponsor but the deadline for exhibiting at Boston City Hall is coming up fast so if you are interested please go on our website this week and fax in the exhibit form. Larz Anderson has more flexibility around the deadline.
4) Join us for our last planning meeting September 8th at 60 State Street from 8-10 am. If you do want to join us you need to RSVP so I can put you on the security list and so we will have enough breakfast.
Thanks so much for the incredible energy, vision, and outpouring from our volunteers and committee coordinators. We are thrilled to be on Boston City Hall Plaza this year and so hope to see each of you for the parts of the festival that excite you. We are planting seeds for a growing awareness of how we are connected across the planet and how important our choices are in defining the future we will all share. Please come lend your support. We need you!
With appreciation.

www.altwheels.org

Event at BC

2006-09-13T22:45:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine (BC law student) is working on establishing EarthRights International chapter at Boston College, and she asked me to pass this on. EarthRights (who I don't know all that much about) apparently litigates on behalf of people in communities all over the world where US companies have done environmental damage that impacts public health. Everyone's invited.

More info at www.earthrights.org

The event:

After the Public Interest Orientation

The BU Law Chapter of EarthRights International presents:

TOTAL DENIAL
An EarthRights Documentary

Tuesday, Sept. 19th at 7:00 in Barristers Hall
Boston University School of Law Tower

Winner of the Vaclav Havel Special Award for Human Rights 2006
Introduced by: Human Rights Attorney Katie Redford
Boston University Professor Robert Sloane

One Man…Slave Labor…Two Western Corporations…
www.earthrights.org

Fall Conference Announcements

2006-09-13T05:50:00.000-05:00

1. Law Seminars International is hosting their 2nd annual conference on "LNG Development in the Northeast" on December 4th & 5th at the Hilton Hotel in the Back Bay. For more information: http://www.lawseminars.com/seminars/06LNGMA.php .

2. The Brownfields 2006 conference will be held November 13-15 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. For more information: http://www.brownfields2006.org/en/index.aspx .

3. The UMASS Soils Conference will be held at UMASS Amherst October 16-19. For more information: http://www.umasssoils.com/ .

4. The Massachusetts chapter of the Society for Women Environmental Professionals is hosting speaker Sonya Ward of ENSR on October 12th in Framingham. For more information: www.swep-ma.org .

5. The Global Warming Action Conference is being held on November 19 at MIT's Stata Center in Cambridge. For more information: http://www.massclimateaction.org/ .

6. Another LSI event at the Back Bay Hilton Hotel; "Energy in the Northeast - Resource Adequacy & Reliability Conference". For more information: http://www.lawseminars.com/seminars/06BSEMA.php .

Job Announcement from Alternatives for Community & Environment

2006-09-11T15:17:00.000-05:00

Hi, New England School of Law Environmentalists,
Here's a Job Announcement I received from ACE,
Professor Manus

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT - September 2006

Environmental Justice Services Coordinator
Alternatives for Community & Environment (ACE) seeks a full-time EJ
Services Coordinator. Based in Roxbury, ACE is a non-profit
environmental justice organization that builds the power of lower income
communities and communities of color in New England to achieve
environmental justice. We believe that everyone has the right to a
healthy environment and to be decision makers in issues affecting our
communities. ACE organizes residents, provides legal/technical support
to community groups, develops youth leadership, and coordinates
campaigns on critical environmental justice issues.
As a member of ACE's legal and technical assistance team, the EJ
Services Coordinator will be responsible for outreach to and building
relationships with community groups in Greater Boston and the state,
matching their needs to ACE and other resources, providing direct
assistance to groups, and connecting them to the broader EJ movement.
The Coordinator will work closely with ACE's Executive Director, Staff
Attorney and Senior Volunteer Attorney.

Qualifications
* 3-5 years experience in providing assistance, training, and/or
other relevant experience in low income communities of color
* Master's or advanced degree in field related to environmental
justice, public health, law, or community development (or bachelor's
degree and experience in lieu of masters or other advanced degree).
* Strong commitment to social/environmental justice and
community empowerment
* Experience in popular education, capacity building and
training
* Experience in environmental advocacy and/or community
organizing
* Good listener and facilitator
* Good written and oral advocacy
* People person with good interpersonal skills
* Well-organized
* Team player, self-starter, quick learner, and ability to work
in fast-paced environment
* Flexibility to work weeknights and weekends as needed.
* Driver's license and access to an automobile as needed.
* Spanish language fluency a plus
* Solid computer skills (familiar with Word, Excel, Internet,
and database)

Salary: $35,000-$45,000 depending on experience, plus health and
retirement benefits.

Please send resume with cover letter by September 30, 2006 to:

Penn Loh
2181 Washington St. #301
Roxbury, MA 02119

Phone: (617) 442-3343 x224 Fax: (617) 442-2425
Email: penn@ace-ej.org

Women and people of color strongly encouraged to apply.
For more information, please see ACE's website: http://www.ace-ej.org

Minnesota area environmental blog

2006-09-07T21:33:00.000-05:00

If you're interested in that region, check out Sky Blue Waters. Some of the recent entries on a proposed oil pipeline expansion look very interesting: Great Lakes Oil Pipeline Expansion Planned and A Crude Pipeline for Minnesota.

Followup on CA legislation

2006-09-01T14:31:00.000-05:00

California CO2 Laws Won't Prevent Coal Boom

Nevada is prepping to build a bunch of coal plants -- but will California buy their electricity? What if the state can get it from somewhere cleaner, most if not all of the year, like wind or solar?

Latin America/Caribbean -- Hurricanes, Deforestation, and Drought?

2006-08-31T15:58:00.000-05:00

Up in smoke? Latin America and the Caribbean -- a new report on that region and global warming.

From an article about the report, Latin America told to bat[ten] down hatches for climate change:

[I]t also warns that the impact of these changes will be felt across the world, as a permanent shift to seasonal "El Niño" conditions could lead to "a long-term drying out and die-off of the Amazon rainforest". This could become a "feedback mechanism", leading to catastrophic and irreversible climate change.

California leading the pack?

2006-08-26T16:06:00.000-05:00

California Poised to Act On Its Own on Global Warming

California has had an immense impact on environmental issues, and is poised to have more.

[One] bill would bar California utilities from buying electricity from out-of-state power plants that generate large quantities of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas. That would force more than two dozen coal-fired plants under development in the West to adopt non-polluting technologies or lose a piece of the California market.

This ties directly into some of the research I've been doing this summer. The electricity networks of the United States are divided into East and West. (The line runs down the country, with Montana on one side and the Dakotas on the other at its top, and squiggles around to finally cut through the eastern portion of New Mexico. It is neither straight, nor does it follow state boundaries exactly.) California is the dominant electricity market in the "Western Interconnection", so every energy exporter (and every state that wants to be an energy exporter) as well as B.C. and other Canadian provinces in the Interconnection, want to sell to it. And that's just electricity, not petroleum products that are actually delivered as petroleum.

Purely from an economic standpoint, when California shifts, its suppliers must listen. Other members of the Western Interconnection seem to be doing so. Most of the resource-rich states (coal and wind) in the upper Midwest have taken strides in the past three years or so to establish state-level bodies to help grow their electricity transmission capacity (these tend to be sparse states, and a sparsely populated state doesn't grow a lot of transmission lines), and to promote the development of "zero-emission" clean-coal plants. Caveat: I'm a little down on the plants, myself, but that may be a) b/c I know full well that wishing for a technological advancement ("zero-emission") *now* isn't enough to trigger one actually happening, and b) all this research I've done this summer on this subject has been for an organization promoting wind energy.

FERC issues pipeline rule

2006-08-24T21:26:00.000-05:00

News Release - FERC to Require Pipeline Companies to Report Infrastructure Damage Resulting from Hurricanes, Other Disasters under RM06-18. (PDF format here)

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission today revised its rules to better monitor and assess the physical state of the interstate natural gas pipeline grid and gas storage infrastructure when service is disrupted due to damage caused by a hurricane, other natural disasters or acts of terrorism.

The final rule, issued today, will require jurisdictional natural gas companies to report to the Commission damage to their facilities and report service disruptions that occur when a natural disaster or other cause results in a reduction in pipeline throughput or storage deliverability.

Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher said, “The rule fills a regulatory gap identified by the Commission last year after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The Commission lacked vital information on the physical condition of facilities that affected the operation of the pipeline grid. This rule will enhance our ability to mitigate critical gas service issues more quickly.”

Current Commission regulations only require regulated entities to report serious service disruptions, but not damage to the affected gas infrastructure. During last year’s hurricane disasters, companies kept the Commission informed about service disruptions, but FERC staff had to scramble to gather information through phone calls and other means to help the Commission assess the damage.

There's no enforcement mechanism, is there? Aside from the one that operates with or without this rule -- media reportage. It's self-initiated by whomever owns or operates the pipeline.

BP Shutdown of Prudhoe Bay Prompts Energy Policy Criticism

2006-08-09T08:04:00.000-05:00

After Alaska Disruption, Governors Criticize National Energy Policy

Some criticized poor federal oversight, others, environmentalists who fight pipeline construction and drilling.

Last night I watched a news report featuring interviews with Lois Epstein from Cook Inlet Keeper and Steve Marshall of BP.

Ms. Epstein pointed out the state's reluctance to regulate pipeline construction and maintenance, due to its heavy dependence on oil revenue, and that in this case, because the BP lines met certain criteria (these have got to be 'internal' lines, carrying crude oil to the trans-Alaska pipeline or something like that) including not being near commercially navigable waters, that created a regulatory gap such that neither state nor federal rules were covering this pipeline adequately.

Of course that doesn't mean BP consciously built bad pipelines because of this gap, or anything like that. It's not in their commercial interest to build stuff designed to carry oil and have them fail to carry oil. But we are talking about lines that were built in the 1970's, and a) things age; and b) understandings of the impact of a pipeline and how best to construct and maintain them is going to advance with time.

The particularly troubling remark Ms. Epstein made is that the cause of corrosion in this case was unknown, which means (these are my words) this is and was an accident waiting to happen. Mr. Marshall suggested microbial corrosion, and noted that this is a highly corrosive environment, which doesn't seem to fit with his earlier description of the "dry crude" this particular pipe was carrying as being "low-risk", (and hence having no need for some of the more strenuous checks available).

Altered Oceans

2006-08-07T08:29:00.000-05:00

The Los Angeles Times has a 5-part multimediate presentation up right now called Altered Oceans, their own ocean-oriented Inconvenient Truth. It looks pretty impressive.

Senate moves on lifting the drilling ban

2006-08-01T11:34:00.000-05:00

The amount of oil from the Gulf Coast would apparently heat 6 million homes for next 15 years:

Bill to expand oil drilling could pass Senate this week

Donating Land To the State

2006-07-31T11:19:00.000-05:00

A nonprofit conservation group has bought 66 acres of the Los Cerritos Wetlands in Long Beach and donated the property to the state, the first success in a decades-long attempt to buy and restore the entire 400-acre marsh and protect it from further development.

Read the rest. Quite interesting. I wonder, though, if the donation came with any strings on the state's uses of the land?

(There's a photo-tour of the bike trail from the San Gabriel Mountains down to the ocean here. I used to bike along a stretch of this myself, when I lived in the area.)

Global Warming Bill

2006-07-26T21:18:00.000-05:00

The Boston Globe reported Saturday that Senate Majority Leader Frederick Berry is blocking passage of the Global Warming Bill . Mass. Climate Action Network says Senate President Robert Travaglini has the power, despite Berry’s request, to schedule a vote on S2516 -- and that a majority of Senators have said they would vote for the bill.

The State legislature finishes its session next Monday, July 31, with all remaining bills dying, and won’t return until January 2007.

Boston Globe Editorial, 7/22/06
Joining the regional Kyoto accord

Eight states in the Northeast, from Maine to Maryland, have agreed to fight global warming by putting a cap on the carbon-dioxide emissions of their power generators. Massachusetts, one of the organizers of this mini-Kyoto, withdrew from the pact at the last minute because of objections from Governor Romney, who feared its effect on electric rates. Now the Legislature has before it a bill that would include the state in this regional greenhouse gas initiative, but opposition from the Senate majority leader, Frederick E. Berry of Peabody, has stalled its progress. [emphasis added]

Berry, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, has told the Salem Evening News that he is concerned that passage of the bill, which would cap carbon and allow generators to bargain for allowances to emit it, could hurt the city of Salem. Salem is the site of a large coal-burning power plant owned by Dominion, a Virginia-based electric-generating company. At a time when New England's power demand is nearing its capacity, it is unlikely that even a cap on carbon could lead to the closure of an important generator like the Salem Harbor station, though the cap could reduce Dominion's profit margin. On the other side of the ledger is the importance of states like Massachusetts and the other members of the initiative showing the nation and the world that concerted action against greenhouse gases is possible. The pact commits states to reduce their utility emissions by 10 percent by 2020.

While Romney has worried about the plan's impact on rates, his own Division of Energy Resources did a study showing rates could actually go down if proceeds from emission allowances are invested in renewable energy and conservation. The Legislature should approve this bill.

Tenant Pays for Agency Delays

2006-07-25T05:43:00.000-05:00

The recent Trends newsletter published by the ABA environmental section highlighted Jaasma v. Shell Oil Co. 412 F.3d 501 (2005). The landlord leased the property to Shell with a remediation clause that upon termination of the lease, the property would be restored to its original condition.

The New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection was notified after contamination was found from a leaking tank. Shell remediated the site. However, it was over two full years later that the NJDEP isssued an NFA (no further action) letter. The landlord sought damages from the tenant for two years of unmarketability.

The lower court held that damages were not cognizable. Yet the Third Circuit ultimately held, even a clean sampling will not prevent damages assessment for agency delays outside party control.

Moral of the story?

Court's 2006-2007 Docket

2006-07-20T09:41:00.000-05:00

Includes Environmental Defense, et al. v. Duke Energy Corp. (The 4th Circuit's June opinion has a nice little overview of the CAA.)

and,

Massachusetts, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al.

Examine the complete list.

Predictions, anyone?

Silver Line Press Conference, July 17th, close to NESL

2006-07-14T11:21:00.000-05:00

I know that the Environmental Advocacy class last year worked on the Silver Line issue. Since some of you might still be checking this blog, there is a press conference where Washington Street Corridor Coalition's Bob Terrell and other community groups opposing the project (including Emerson College) will gather to discuss the project developments. Since you're well acquainted with this, you might find it interesting:

What: Press conference organized by Washington Street Corridor Coalition to voice opposition to the Phase III Silver Line proposal unveiled by the MBTA on March 9.*

More than 20 organizations opposed to the proposal will be represented.

When: 8:45 AM, Monday, July 17, 2006

Where: Eliot Norton Park on Tremont St., near intersection of South Charles St., diagonally across from the Wang Center. (Rain location: Emerson College, Bill Bordy Theater, 216 Tremont Street, across from the Cutler Majestic Theatre)

Risking Pollinators

2006-07-11T11:21:00.000-05:00

The Vanishing [Bee]

Very interesting article on beekeeping in America, their importance as pollinators for crops, and their slow decline, in part due to pesticide use.

Gubernatorial debate on the environment

2006-07-10T07:57:00.000-05:00

I am definitely going to this- July 12th at 7pm, MIT:

Gubernatorial Debate on the Environment

Climate Change College

2006-07-06T11:56:00.000-05:00

article at Treehugger.com about the project

Climate Change College. In the FAQ, Ben & Jerry's describes the project as "a unique interactive partnership between an NGO, business and polar exploration team." This year's participants will be drawn from the UK, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Germany. Students do Arctic research (on-site!!) and get advocacy training both online and at a weekend conference. They become ambassadors for the WWF, especially the PowerSwitch campaign, which promotes use of renewable energy.

Diesel plant proposed for Chelsea

2006-07-06T08:10:00.000-05:00

The same company that is behind the Cape Wind project wants a diesel-powered plant in Chelsea (1/2 mile from an elementary school)- an interesting environmental justice issue:

Energy Management Inc. pitches Chelsea plant

DDT and child development

2006-07-05T08:58:00.000-05:00

Although banned in the US, DDT is still used in developing nations. According to the BBC|News, a recent report indicates child development problems associated with exposure to the pesticide, already linked to low birth weight and premature birth.

The researchers tested the mental and physical skills of the women's babies at six, 12 and 24 months using established tests to measure the children's development.

For each tenfold increase in DDT levels measured in the mother, the team found a corresponding two to three-point decrease in the children's mental development scores at 12 and 24 months.

Children with the highest DDT exposures in the womb were associated with a seven to 10-point decrease in test scores, compared to the lowest exposures.

When the children's physical skills were measured, there were two-point decreases in children's scores at six and 12 months for each tenfold increase in DDT levels in the mothers.

Malaria and mosquito control is a critical issue in many parts of the world. How do you conscientiously protect your population from malaria without damaging the minds and bodies of your youngest citizens?

Jim Hansen in NY Review of Books

2006-06-30T09:37:00.000-05:00

A well-written, eloquent article and a review of three books:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/19131

Public opinion and the environment

2006-06-28T14:29:00.000-05:00

I find these results somewhat encouraging:

http://www.pollingreport.com/enviro.htm

An Inconvenient Truth

2006-06-27T19:12:00.000-05:00

I saw "An Inconvenient Truth" this afternoon.

Let me say the end first: go see it. Those of us who have lived with this data as it's been released over the years (ice cores, and glaciers, ocean currents and species migration), seeing all this at once may be personally overwhelming. It was for me.

That is not sufficient reason to avoid this film.

For those not already in the choir, I expect this film to be revelatory. The truths in it are inescapable: global warming is real, and we must do something about it. If you have family, tell them to see it. And make sure they do -- buy them a copy for Christmas when it's available. Make sure they sit all the way through it until the end, and read aloud the list of things we all can do to make a difference. And then go do them.

Gore clearly, and very plainly, links CO2 and temperature rise, explains how the greenhouse effect works, explains the importance of the polar ice caps to the engine of the Earth, demolishes the faux "debate" business in the modern media about climate change, and works his way methodically through a host of the impacts of human endeavor on this planet. Human beings are a force of nature, Gore calls us, and I think that's entirely accurate.

There is one thing that I thought demonstrated his target audience was more of a college-student level than older adults, and that was the sparse reference to parenting. I think bringing that closer to the fore might make sense. Because what parent wouldn't sacrifice for their child, so that they can have a better life than we do?

So, I'll close with a reference to the Roger Ebert review of "An Inconvenient Truth": "In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to."

Poker time and we're "All IN" on Global Warming at SCOTUS

2006-06-26T12:00:00.000-05:00

Just got this from the MSNBC home page. But I imagine it will be on all the news channels. Gore will get to do the talk show circuit again, and scientist will get to be on tv.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13554243/

Basically, the SCOTUS has agreed to hear the Mass. v EPA case on carbon emissions under the CAA. I read the petition for appeal, and it's pretty narrow, but it could be huge. The EPA could ultimately be forced to regulate Carbon for everything.

So, my guess is, probably sometime in the fall or just after the election Congress will pass the "Carbon Regulation Act" or something, that does not do what it should and the case will be kicked somewhat for mootness. I just don't think that the 'powers that be' will take a chance on having EPA get to do the regulations.

But, that would mean the CA case on autos would probably go forward, depending on what's passed.

Carabell/Rapanos Decision

2006-06-20T10:15:00.000-05:00

I haven't read the decision announced yesterday yet, but these are of course critical questions in environmental law: for the purposes of the Clean Water Act, when is a water a "navigable water"?

Justice Kennedy writes:

[W]etlands possess the requisite nexus, and thus come within the statutory phrase 'navigable waters,' if the wetlands either alone or in combination with similarly situated lands in the region, significantly affect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of other covered waters more readily understood as 'navigable.' When, in contrast, wetlands’ effects on water quality are speculative or insubstantial, they fall outside the zone fairly encompassed by the statutory term 'navigable waters.'

[NB: I pulled this quote from SCOTUSBlog The blog's first note on the decision is here, and others follow the one from which I quoted.]

This is a very interesting, result-oriented approach to the definition. Rather than tackling a more positive definition of width or length or seasonality (i.e., does it dry up for part of the year), the Justice seems to be trying to avoid all that and instead ask, "what is the effect of this water?"

Thoughts? Predictions? Effects peculiar to Massachusetts or New England?

Fossil Fuel Dependency Solved?

2006-06-15T18:53:00.000-05:00

Hydrogen Technologies out of Clearwater, Florida has developed a system to turn H2O into HHO allowing a car to go 100 miles on four ounces of water. This is a video:
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/2006/06/waterfuel.html

Designated Port Areas

2006-06-15T09:41:00.000-05:00

Here is something I've been working on this summer, and I find it very interesting.

There are 11 Designated Port Areas in Massachusetts (some of them are East Boston, Chelsea, Charlestown etc., they are designated by the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management), and more info can be found here:

http://www.mass.gov/czm/coastlines/2003/c27.htm

On the one hand, I see the necessity for this (especially taking into account Boston's history as an industrial port city), but I also feel that it contributes a lot to the city being cut off from the ocean. I suppose that the idea behind this is to prevent high-rise luxury condos taking up waterfront space, but I wonder what are the chances of allowing more public access in these areas.

Bush Creates the Largest Marine Reserve

2006-06-15T09:40:00.000-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13300363/

Volunteer Opportunity

2006-06-15T06:58:00.000-05:00

What are you doing July 8th? Life is Good is sponsoring their annual Watermelon Festival on the Boston Commons and is looking for volunteers. If you are interested, please go to their site at www.lifeisgood.com

Will Idling Engines Cease?

2006-06-15T06:48:00.000-05:00

This article in the Boston Globe posits that if drivers idling for more than 10-seconds would turn off their engines, emissions will be reduced. Granted, that seems like a logical result, but will this "inconvenience" catch on?

Three Towns Urge Drivers to Shut Down Idling Engines

My first concern was addressed at the end of the article; more wear and tear on a vehicle's starter. It seems characteristic of any environmental issue to sit inconveniently between an opportunity for positive change (however small) and lack of practical implementation (cost) for either the individual or big business.

We can say, that it begins with the individual, that one person can make a difference, if we change our habits...now, if we can just change that electoral voting...

Polar bear extinction

2006-06-13T13:57:00.000-05:00

Worrisome new data about global warming:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13288936/?GT1=8211

New Orleans is Leaking

2006-06-09T14:55:00.000-05:00

Water leaking faster than city is using it, at the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

[New Orleans Sewage and Water Board spokesman] Jackson also said S&WB employees cannot enter private property without the owner's permission to fix a leak, even if water has flowed onto public ground. And he said some problems that may appear to be water board issues, such as sinkholes, may actually be the responsibility of the city streets or public works departments; those are referred to City Hall.

How to get around this? Less than half of New Orleans' residents have returned, or something like that. That's a lot of empty houses that might need traipsing across to fix a leak.

Climate Change, Etc., Books

2006-06-03T08:27:00.000-05:00

RealClimate offers reviews of three climate change-related books:
* Eugene Linden's The Winds of Change,
* Elizabeth Kolbert's Field Notes from a Catastrophe, and
* Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers.

Now that it's summer, I hope most of us have a little time for leisure reading -- why not add one of these to your list? Anyone have further recommendations or reviews?

I just read an article by Joel Salatin, written in 2003, on sustainable agriculture and the regulatory constraints a modern farmer operates under. Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal. I think it illustrates neatly the difficulty of adhering to a standard higher than the "floor" established by federal regulation.

"We face a planetary emergency"

2006-05-21T11:47:00.000-05:00

Gore in Movie Campaign to Protect Earth

"My whole objective here is to try to move the country past a tipping point, beyond which politicians in both parties compete with each other for genuinely meaningful solutions ... and to change the minds of the American people to the point where people in both parties demand action," he said.

So, let me ask people a question. When I was in Ireland last summer (for academic purposes only, of course), one of my professors, in what I thought of as reasonably casual conversation, alluded to the possibility of changes in the Gulf Stream due to climate change that would then have dramatic negative effects on Irish weather.

I don't seem to have those kinds of casual conversations with people here in the US, unless they're already people who care about climate change as a 'specialized' issue rather than a general one that every man-woman-child-pet-on-the-street should care about.

So, how close are we to this tipping point Al Gore wants to get us past? And is the rest of the world well past it?

Another Woburn

2006-05-13T10:19:00.000-05:00

Massachusetts Town Shudders after Study Details Cancer Risk

Back then, children and many adults in Ashland did not worry much about the brightly colored blue, purple and red water in and around the 35-acre site owned by Nyanza Inc., which released manufacturing waste containing such substances as mercury, chromium, lead and cadmium into unlined lagoons and nearby streams.

Maybe its time for a cultural change to a new philosophy: if you don't *know* its safe, assume it's not?

Texas Plans Nation's Largest Offshore Wind Farm

2006-05-12T20:11:00.000-05:00

Texas Plans Nation's Largest Offshore Wind Farm

"The wind rush is on," Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said. "We want to be No. 1. We want to attract the businesses that build the turbines, that build the blades."

So, I have to ask the obvious question, given this is the Gulf of Mexico we're talking about -- how will a wind farm stand up to hurricane force winds?

Environmentalism in China

2006-05-05T22:31:00.000-05:00

China's Pearl River smells, but mayor vows to swim: China begins to tackle pollution out of concern over local discontent

After decades of rapid industrial growth, China has reached a moment akin to America in the 1970s: Pollution has become too obvious to ignore, sprouting a new environmental consciousness and official efforts to start cleaning up.

What are the chances of seeing China's SEPA (State Environment Protection Agency) get some real teeth?

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species for 2006

2006-05-01T14:07:00.000-05:00

Natural world on red alert The article discusses threats to polar bear habitats, and a "dramatic fall in numbers" of hippos in the Democratic Republic of Congo, primarily due to unregulated hunting for both meat and ivory.

RELEASE OF THE 2006 IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES

Main Redlist page. The list itself is available online as a searchable database.

What do we do? Do we tell people to not eat? Not to have children?

(I'm having a "want to adopt greener habits, but...believe individual action is futile" moment, I suppose.)

I guess the answer is: keeping doing the little stuff, because it really does add up.

Carbon offsets

2006-04-25T16:28:00.000-05:00

From this weekend's NY Times- a strange way to compensate for your contribution to pollution:

To people who take the threat of global warming personally, driving a car that spews heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere can be a guilt trip.

But to help atone for that environmental sin, some drivers are turning to groups on the Internet that offer pain-free ways to assuage their guilt while promoting clean energy.

It involves buying something known as a carbon offset: a relatively inexpensive way to stimulate the production of clean electricity. Just go to one of several carbon-offset Web sites, calculate the amount of carbon dioxide produced when you drive, fly or otherwise burn fossil fuels, and then buy an offset that pays for an equivalent amount of clean energy.

Of course, emissions could be reduced the old-fashioned way — by flying less, turning off the air-conditioning or buying a more fuel-efficient car. But that would probably require some sacrifice and perhaps even a change in lifestyle. Instead, carbon-offset programs allow individuals to skip the sacrifice and simply pay for the right to pollute...

The rest of the text is here.

Volunteer this Saturday

2006-04-25T16:23:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder that the Charles River cleanup is this Saturday, 4/29, from 9-12.
We'll be covering the section near the Dartmouth Street landing. The easiest way to get there is to take the Green Line to Copley Square, walk north up Dartmouth Street towards the Charles River, crossing over Storrow at the footbridge. You will then be on the Dartmouth Street landing! We'll proceed eastward toward the Hatch Shell.
So far only two of us from NESL are going, so please join us if you can!

Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals

2006-04-25T13:47:00.000-05:00

From Progress Action Report for today:

FACILITIES VOLUNTARILY REDUCE RISK OF TOXIC TERRORISM:Chemical facilities across the country representing a range of industries have switched to safer alternatives from a variety of hazardous chemicals, producing dramatic security and safety benefits at a reasonable cost, according to a new report. The study released today by the Center for American Progress, in partnership with the National Association of State PIRGs and the National Environment Trust, shows that 284 facilities in 47 states "have dramatically reduced the danger of a chemical release into nearby communities," making roughly 38 million people safer from the "threat of a major toxic gas cloud" affecting nearby communities.

I thought this was a nice followup from last year's Promoting Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals workshop, here at NESL.

The issue is getting framed via a terrorism perspective, but the result is the same: reducing the danger of toxic chemicals.

BBA - Env. Law Section

2006-04-22T08:27:00.000-05:00

The Environmental Law Section of the Boston Bar Assoc., and other sections of the BBA, have the following environmental-law-related activities scheduled for April/May (including a CLE course on brownfields).

The Remainder of April

April 24 - Environmental Justice Workgroup 8:30am
April 24 - Air Quality and Climate Change Committee 12:30pm (RSVP requested)

April 25 - Hazardous and Solid Waste Committee 12:30pm (RSVP requested)

In May

May 01 - Wetlands, Waterways & Water Quality Committee 12:30pm

May 02 - Environmental Law Section Steering Committee 8:30-9:30am
May 02 - Land Use & Development Committee 12:00noon

May 04 - Environmental Litigation Committee 12:30pm

May 16 - Environmental Law Section 12:30pm
May 16 - CLE - Brownfields 3:30-6:30pm (registration and fee req'd)

May 19 - Clean Air Committee 12:30pm

May 23 - Hazardous & Solid Waste Committee 12:30pm

May 30 - Environmental Law Section 12:30pm

MA legislation

2006-04-21T12:57:00.000-05:00

I stumbled upon this recently. It caught my attention mainly because it is especialy relevant to Massachusetts as the outcome of pending legislation could have some direct results in Waltham...

Geneticists have mixed DNA from the roundworm C. elegans and pigs to produce swine with significant amounts of omega-3 fatty acids -- the kind believed to stave off heart disease.Researchers hope they can improve the technique in pork and do the same in chickens and cows. In the process, they also want to better understand human disease."We all can use more omega-3 in our diet," said Dr. Jing Kang, the Harvard Medical School researcher who modified the omega-3-making worm gene so it turned on in the pigs.Kang is one of 17 authors of the paper appearing in an online edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology.The cloned, genetically engineered pigs are the latest advance in the agricultural biotechnology field, which is struggling to move beyond esoteric products such as bug-repelling corn and soy resistant to weed killers.Hoping to create healthier, cheaper and tastier products that consumers crave, Monsanto Co. of St. Louis and its biotech farming competitors like DuPont are developing omega-3-producing crops that yield healthier cooking oils. Kang said 30 academic laboratories are now working with his omega-3 gene, presumably pursuing similar projects."Consumers have responded pretty positively when asked their opinion of food modified to improve food quality and food safety, just as long as the taste isn't altered negatively," said Christine Bruhn, director of the Center for Consumer Research at the University of California, Davis.Earlier experiments have succeeded in manipulating animals' fat content but most never made it out of the lab because of taste problems.While boosting Omega-3s doesn't decrease the fat content in pigs, the fatty acids are also important to brain development and may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and depression. The American Heart Association recommends at least two weekly servings of fish, particularly fatty fish like trout and salmon, which are naturally high in omega-3s.People already eat genetically engineered soy beans in all manner of processed food, but biotech companies run into what bioethicists call the "yuck factor" when they begin tinkering with animals.The Food and Drug Administration has never approved food derived from genetically engineered animals. Unlike crops, the FDA treats such animals as medicine and requires extensive testing before approval."We understand that this research is in the very early stages," FDA spokeswoman Rae Jones said. "This technology will not likely reach meat counters for many years."The FDA is still considering Waltham, Massachusetts-based Aqua Bounty Technologies' application to market a salmon genetically engineered to grow faster, the only such request pending with the agency. Aqua Bounty began its federal application process about nine years ago and there is no indication when the FDA will rule.

Growth in Green Venture Capitalism

2006-04-21T09:39:00.000-05:00

Thought this was an interesting article after reading the post about "Green MBAs" as it seems venture capitalists are finding a lot of promise w/'cleantech' companies and ideas, and starting to invest serious money.
http://www.grist.org/biz/fd/2006/04/11/lee/

W/the business and environmental worlds fusing and people becoming more aware of energy concerns, this has the potential to become a big emerging market ... maybe an interesting niche to get into as an attorney

Kyoto: Is Something Better than Nothing?

2006-04-18T22:39:00.000-05:00

Buying Credits, Reducing Emissions

An article poses a criticism of Kyoto. Generally, companies can continue emit carbon beyond their allocated amount if they engage in alternative courses of actions such as investing in clean emissions technology in developing countries or in carbon sinks, or by purchasing additonal emissions credits on the market.

I believe under RGGI, there is a limit to the amount of mitigation projects a company may use to make up for their excess emissions. Kyoto may have similar provisions.

Are companies that invest in mitigation projects elsewhere in leiu of reducing their own carbon emissions really helping to combat global warming? The purpose of Kyoto is to reduce global warming, right? So, what does in matter if global warming is reduced by invest in carbon sinks that will scoop excess carbon rather than cutting of the carbon at the source?

Well, its seems that this option produces problems. First, the idea that well-financed companies and developing nations are on equal footing to for agreements seems suspect--and also seems ripe for projects with unintended consequences. The other problem is that the major polluters need to reduce their own emissions. As far as I know, the initial steps taken to reduce emissions are cheaper than steps taken later. In other words, it seems like rich countries are capitalizing cheap emissions reduction opportunities as a quick fix. On the other hand, there is an argument that much can be done in developing countries where there is enough capital to get the job done.

Keeping in mind that Kyoto is a voluntary program, I suppose any progress is progress, right?

The Bird Flu is Good for Wetlands

2006-04-12T19:20:00.000-05:00

Well, sort of. A UNEP reports says that restoring wetlands may help curb bird flu by restoring natural habitat for wild birds (thus preventing infected wild birds from intermixing with birds raised for consumption). This really illustrates how important it is to extend the chain of causation when considering the potential environmental impacts of draining wetlands. Perhaps Rachel Carson rings true, again?

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/health/bird_flu
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2006/2006-04-11-02.asp

This wont contribute to global warming but........Iran claims nuclear tech breakthrough

2006-04-11T16:02:00.000-05:00

Iran has produced enough low-grade enriched uranium to power nuclear plants, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced today. "I officially announce that Iran has joined countries with nuclear technology," he said. White House spokesman Scott McClellan reacted to the news by saying Tehran is "moving in the wrong direction." Read more here

Brownfields 2006 Conference - Travel Scholarships

2006-04-11T15:57:00.000-05:00

Travel Scholarship Applications Now Available

The International City/County Management Association is sponsoring a
limited number of travel scholarships to the Brownfields 2006 Conference
for community-based stakeholders involved in the cleanup and
redevelopment of brownfields. To be eligible, you must be affiliated
with, or a representative of, a local government, state or Tribal
government, community group, environmental justice organization, or
nonprofit. The scholarship program will help ensure diverse brownfields
stakeholder groups participation in the conference.

Apply on-line by going to http://www.brownfields2006.org. Deadline for
submittal is August 11th.

For more information, please contact Tony Raia of EPA at 202-566-2758.

http://www.brownfields2006.org/en/Article.28.aspx

http://www.brownfields2006.org/en/Scholarships.aspx