Monday, 14 Jun 2004

Flavor of the Week

Ben Cohen (of Ben & Jerry's Fame) InterActivates

We're pleased as punch this week to be featuring an InterActivist named Ben, whose last name is not "& Jerry's" but Cohen. Turns out he's interested in more than ice cream. His work with business leaders and the online progressive group TrueMajority is inspiring, his mobile statue of Bush with pants on fire is amusing, but what you really want to know is: What's his favorite flavor? Find out in InterActivist -- only on the Grist Magazine website. And don't forget to ask him a question of your own by noon PDT on Wednesday.

When Elves Attack

Radical Enviros Target Suburbs

Radical enviros are turning their attention from forests and wilderness areas to the nation's sprawling suburbs, prompting growing concern among law-enforcement agencies and the developers and homeowners whose money is invested in said sprawl. The Earth Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for more than a dozen acts of sabotage and vandalism in the past year, with damage totaling more than $60 million; most of the damage was done to houses and SUVs in areas where forests were cleared or wetlands filled to make room for suburban development. Despite hundreds of thousands of dollars of reward money and intensified efforts by the FBI to infiltrate the group, few arrests have been made and fewer convictions secured. The ELF is comprised of loosely affiliated cells and has no top-down hierarchy of the sort that enabled law-enforcement agents to penetrate and take down traditional criminal enterprises like the mafia. The ELF website strongly discourages any harm to people or animals.

Eco-Field of Dreams

Ask Umbra on Getting a Green Job

Advice guru Umbra Fisk is often asked about how to get a job in, as one reader terms it, the "eco-field." She tackles the question today, with an eloquent answer that involves mighty rivers and chocolate cakes. It all makes sense, we promise. Find out how in Ask Umbra -- today on the Grist Magazine website.

Damage Control

Canadian High Court Clears Way for Damage Suits Against Polluters

In a significant -- and, to enviros, heartening -- decision handed down Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that governments may sue polluters and negligent companies for damage done to public lands and natural resources that have no commercial value. The case involved an effort by the British Columbia provincial government to get compensation from a timber company for damage caused by a wildfire. The high court sided with the B.C. government, issuing a ruling that clears the way for companies to get slapped with big fines for environmental degradation. Sierra Legal Defense Fund lawyer Jerry DeMarco, who argued the case before the court, called the ruling "a major environmental law precedent in Canada" that will have repercussions for "any case where a natural asset or resource is held in common for the benefit of everyone and is harmed by corporate negligence."

Buy-O Tech

Biotech Industry Funnels Cash to Universities and Politicians

The biotechnology industry is steering millions of dollars into both U.S. agricultural universities and political campaigns -- and it's getting plenty of return on its investment. At the University of California at Davis, for example, biotech companies contribute money for new buildings, laboratory studies, salaries for post-doctoral students, scholarships, and consulting fees for professors. In exchange, they get dibs on new discoveries, research that supports their goals, business advice from professors, and a crop of academic scientists who are wedded to the biotech mindset. In the political arena, biotech companies made more than $7.7 million in campaign donations during the 2002 election cycle, according to the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics. In an extensive five-day series on biotechnology, the Sacramento Bee follows the money trail, and also examines the unintentional spread of genetically engineered seeds, lapses in biotech regulation, the challenges for Americans who want to avoid buying GE food, and more.