Wednesday, 03 Jan 2001

Abraham Slinkin'

President-elect George W. Bush yesterday nominated outgoing Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) for Energy secretary, a choice that has infuriated enviros. Abraham, who lost his Senate race last fall, tried to abolish the Energy Department while in Congress. Abraham also fought to block higher fuel-economy standards for sport-utility vehicles, lower the federal gasoline tax, and open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas drilling. He opposed increased funding for renewable energy research and received a zero percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters in the last Congress.

Man Oman

Stating a desire to protect the environment and children's health, Saudi Arabia this week began a year-long phaseout of leaded gasoline. All of the kingdom's domestic refineries began producing exclusively unleaded fuel this week and leaded fuel reserves are expected to be exhausted by the end of the year. Saudi Arabia's phaseout comes a year in advance of the January 2002 target date set by the Gulf Cooperation Council, which also includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Regulation Time

A blue-ribbon committee formed by the U.S. and European Union to study genetically engineered foods has recommended mandatory labeling and more careful testing of such foods. The committee, whose 20 members included opponents and fans of biotechnology, said late last month that stronger regulations would increase public confidence in the foods, a position that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has denied in the past. In calling for mandatory labeling, however, the committee did not specify how much of a biotech component a food would have to include to require a label.

Teach Half a Million Men to Fish, They'll Eat for a Day

South Africa said yesterday that it will impose emergency measures to save plummeting stocks of several fish species. The fish, including rock cod and red stumpnose, are being caught with long lines, a fishing method that is devastating the fish populations. About half a million commercial and recreational fishers are actively linefishing in South Africa. The country's Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism said it would lower fish catch limits, as well as the number of permitted commercial fishers.

The Call of the Wild

With just 18 days remaining in the Clinton administration, enviros have organized a nationwide call-in campaign today to urge Pres. Clinton to declare the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska a monument (hint: 1.888.750.4897). President-elect George W. Bush pledged in his campaign to try to open the Arctic Refuge to oil and gas drilling, and his nominees for Interior and Energy secretaries also favor such a policy shift. The last-ditch attempt by enviros seems unlikely to succeed as Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt hasn't publicly thrown his weight into the effort. Other Interior officials have expressed concern that declaring the refuge a monument might prompt the Republican-controlled Congress to roll back past monument designations and eliminate the ability of future presidents to create monuments.

Burning Down the House

A radical environment group, the Earth Liberation Front, has claimed responsibility for setting fires to several houses under construction on what used to be farmland on Long Island, N.Y. The vandals left the message, "If you build it we will burn it," in red paint on one house damaged on Saturday. The ELF, whose members are unknown, issued a news advisory on Sunday that said it was trying to boost costs to force "rich sprawl corporations" to stop developing Long Island. Although other environmentalists in the area disapproved of the group's activities, they also criticized sprawl on the island. Richard L. Amper, Jr., executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, said, "Just because they are behaving like terrorists doesn't mean we are not overbuilt." The ELF in the past has said it was responsible for such environmental protests as setting fires at the Vail ski resort in Colorado to protest threats to lynx habitat.