Archives - August 2002

August 30, 2002

"The Other Fake Meat" - "You might think the anti-meat food police at the Center for Science in the Public Interest would be cheering the new meat substitute Quorn. Instead, CSPI is scaring the public and bad-mouthing Quorn to the Food and Drug Administration." (Steven Milloy, FoxNews.com)

"Mobiles are safe, just ask 1600 mice - theage.com.au" - "Radiation from mobile phones does not increase the likelihood of cancer, according to the largest and most rigorous animal study undertaken into the controversial question. The study exposed 1600 genetically modified and "wild type" mice to differing levels of mobile phone radiation for an hour each day over two years. It found no increase in their rate of lymphoma even though the transgenic mice were bred with a "hair trigger" tendency to develop the tumour in response to cancer-promoting changes in their environment. The research, carried out in Adelaide with a $1.2 million grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council, is a centrepiece of Australia's $4.5 million contribution to international efforts to determine whether mobile phones could be harmful."

"Greenpeace, biz urge climate change action" - "JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Aug. 29 -- The business community and the environmental action group Greenpeace, in a self-described unprecedented event, Thursday joined to urge action on climate change and to demand the United States ratify the Kyoto climate protocol." (UPI)

"The smokescreen hiding our greenhouse effort - theage.com.au" - "Despite what the government says, Australia is one of the worst polluters per capita in the world, and it is going to get worse. Claire Miller reports."

"Greenhouse-emission calculations quite wrong" - "IN JANUARY last year the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest projections of prospective global warming. The key finding was that "globally averaged mean surface temperature is projected to increase by 1.4 to 5.8`C over the period 1990 to 2100".

The statement led to widespread alarm. Most commentators, including many scientists, interpreted the IPCC's new projected range as a forecast of massive rises in global temperatures, but the IPCC made projections, not predictions, by feeding hypothetical levels of future greenhouse emissions into climate models. The output of such models cannot be better than the input assumptions upon which they are based.

The simulated temperature increases in the IPCC's lowest emissions scenario ranged from 1.4 to 2.5`C. Some assumptions incorporated in this scenario were conservative, but it also assumed an extraordinarily high rate of economic growth in the developing world." (Ian Castles, The Canberra Times)

[Mr Castles, formerly head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, is a Visiting Fellow at the ANU's National Centre for Development Studies]

"'BULLSHIT AWARD FOR SUSTAINING POVERTY' AWARDED TODAY TO VANDANA SHIVA" - "28 August, Johannesburg - At a mass rally today in Johannesburg, the winner of the Bullshit Award for Sustaining Poverty was announced. In a closely run race, the winner was chosen for her important contribution to sustaining poverty around the world, in her role as a mouthpiece of western eco-imperialism.

In front of a rapt crowd of farmers from Africa and Asia, the award - a plaque mounted with a cow manure, representing the traditional agricultural technology that the winner favours - was bestowed on Ms. Vandana Shiva. Other award nominees included Greenpeace International, BioWatch, SAFeAGE, and the Third World Network." (Liberty Institute, India)

"National Geographic News: Viewpoint: End Global Poverty Before Global Warming" - "With the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development underway in Johannesburg this week, much is being said about sustainability and development. The phrase sustainable development is a curious mix of Western concern for environmental sustainability and the developing world's concern for substantial, economic development. At these big environmental gatherings it has historically been the First World's priorities that have won out. The challenge in Johannesburg is to finally get the courage to put development ahead of sustainability"

"Unsustainable economic tack -- The Washington Times" - "The World Summit on Sustainable Development doesn't have to end up the way it's likely to end up, with just one thing to be grateful for - the fact that most of its recommendations will never be implemented. If they were, the objectives of lessening poverty and protecting the environment would be kaput, finished, dead things that wacko ideologies had finished off by dint of their perverse refusal to see reality."

"Fund set up to safeguard future food supply" - "LONDON - Agricultural groups launched a drive yesterday to protect the seeds that will secure future food supplies even as world leaders sought ways to halve world hunger. The United Nations' food arm and a developing world agricultural research group told the Earth Summit in Johannesburg they aimed for an endowment of $260 million for the genebanks holding some 5.4 million crop plant samples globally. They hope the summit, held in the shadow of famine in southern Africa, will galvanise a drive to protect the seeds which ensure that world food staples can be revitalised in the face of changing climate, pests or disease." (Reuters)

"Greens accused of helping Africans starve" - "JOHANNESBURG — U.S. AID Administrator Andrew Natsios accused environmental groups yesterday of endangering the lives of millions of famine-threatened Africans by encouraging their governments to reject genetically modified U.S. food aid.

"They can play these games with Europeans, who have full stomachs, but it is revolting and despicable to see them do so when the lives of Africans are at stake," Mr. Natsios said in an interview.

Mr. Natsios did not name specific groups, but other officials indicated he was infuriated by the activities in Zambia — a country he had just visited — of groups including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth.

"They are using big-time, very well-organized propaganda the likes of which I have never seen before" in 12 years of American-led famine-relief efforts, said Mr. Natsios, who could not persuade the Zambians to accept U.S. food aid.

"The Bush administration is not going to sit there and let these groups kill millions of poor people in southern Africa through their ideological campaign," Mr. Natsios said on the sidelines of the World Summit on Sustainable Development." (The Washington Times)

"US presses Africa to take GM foods" - "The US was accused yesterday of putting intense pressure on United Nations organisations, the European Union and individual countries to support the export of GM food aid to six African countries facing severe hunger in the coming months. Three countries were insisting that the food be milled to prevent the seeds being planted by farmers who may unwittingly pre-empt national legislation." (The Guardian)

August 29, 2002

"On Long Island, Scientists Keep Studying Breast Cancer Rates That Are Not Unusual" - "When scientists announced this month that a widely anticipated federal study of breast cancer had failed to find links to pollution or other environmental factors, attention was again focused on the prevalence of the disease on Long Island, where the study was based.

For years, it has been widely thought that rates of breast cancer on Long Island are unusually high. But, contrary to popular belief, they are not. The rates on Long Island are not much different from those of the rest of the country — and a number of areas in the Northeast and elsewhere have higher rates." (Gina Kolata, New York Times)

"Forecast for Future: Deluge and Drought" - "It has been a summer of extremes. Rains have deluged Europe and Asia, swamping cities and villages and killing some 2,000 people, while drought and heat have seared the American West and Eastern cities. What is going on? The floods and droughts could simply be flickers in the inherently chaotic weather system, some experts say. But many warn that such extremes will be increasingly common as the world grows warmer." (New York Times)

"ATMOSPHERIC WAVE LINKED TO SEA ICE FLOW NEAR GREENLAND, STUDY FINDS" - "A NASA researcher finds that the amount of sea ice that moves between Greenland and Spitsbergen, a group of islands north of Norway, is dependent upon a "wave" of atmospheric pressure at sea level. By being able to estimate how much sea ice is exported through this region, called Fram Strait, scientists may develop further insights into how the ice impacts global climate." (NASA/GSFC)

"Frigid South Pole atmosphere reveals flaw in global circulation models" - "Atmospheric measurements made at Earth's geographic poles provide a convenient way of validating and calibrating global circulation models. Such measurements also might provide some of the first conclusive evidence of global change in the middle and upper atmospheres. But new data shows that the current models are wrong: Temperatures over the South Pole are much colder in winter than scientists had anticipated." (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

"Chrétien could deliver Kyoto to world" - "OTTAWA and TORONTO -- Will he or won't he? A big political question hanging over Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's trip to Johannesburg next week is whether he will use the occasion to commit Canada to ratifying the Kyoto Protocol.

The temptation to announce Canada's ratification has to be huge. Mr. Chrétien can effectively deliver the protocol to the world community if he agrees in Johannesburg that Canada will ratify. For a Prime Minister at the end of his mandate who is casting about for a legacy, that would be a world-class coup." (Globe and Mail)

"U.S. Faces Legal Battles as Climate Bogeyman" - "JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The United States faces new challenges in the courts over its climate policies despite denying that the world's biggest polluter is responsible for global warming. Wednesday the government of tiny Pacific island state Tuvalu said it planned to launch lawsuits within a year against the United States and Australia. Both have rejected the Kyoto climate pact. The country, which is only 13 feet above sea level at its highest point, faces oblivion if the scientists' gloomy scenarios prove right and global warming causes the sea to rise. Tuvalu is blaming the polluters." (Reuters)

"Those Imperfect Storms" - "In boxing, there is always a Fight of the Century. Hype is part of boxing's anticipatory and participatory excitement, and is entirely expected by its fans.

And then there are Storms of the Century.

Storms of the Century aren't jostled into being by mere inebriate or even sober subjectivity. A Storm of the Century must meet certain quantitative benchmarks. For example, it must be counted in inches of rain per hour, total inches of rainfall, or floodwater height or volume. But that modest factual basis doesn't keep subjective, unscientific judgment from cluttering the analysis of them." (Sallie Baliunas, TCS Europe)

"Australia still summit villain" - "AUSTRALIA'S climate change approach was mocked at home and abroad today, with the Government painted as a villain at the largest United Nations summit in history. Environmentalists in Johannesburg said members of the Australian delegation set up a stall at the summit only to be mocked by other delegates, angry at its climate stance." (AAP)

"INTERVIEW - Big business needs Kyoto, says industry chief" - "JOHANNESBURG - The world should stick with the Kyoto climate change pact despite misgivings from some major companies and rejection by the United States, according to the chief industry representative at the "Earth Summit II". "I believe that Kyoto should be ratified. It is not a perfect agreement, it has shortcomings but it's the only agreement we have got," Mark Moody-Stuart, former chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, told Reuters late on Monday." (Reuters)

"Bush Was Right" - "JOHANNESBURG—To the chagrin of tens of thousands of Green activists here in South Africa, the latest United Nations environmental conference is turning out not to be a typical environmental conference at all. Instead, it is focusing on the real-life concerns of the citizens of developing nations—especially, on economic growth.

As a veteran of similar meetings at the Hague in 2000 and Bonn last year, which concentrated on climate change and turned into bash-America festivals, I was pleasantly surprised, when I arrived today at the World Summit for Sustainable Development, to find the focus broader and more productive than at any similar conclave since Rio ten years ago. Yes, the fanatics are here, but the tone is more reasonable." (James K. Glassman, TCS)

"Fueling the Future; What energy sources will drive the 21st century?" - "Johannesburg, South Africa — "The priority has to be getting energy access to poor people no matter what the source," said Greenpeace spokesman Steve Sawyer at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He was responding to my question about whether the 2 billion or so people without access to modern energy services should nonetheless be able to get access to energy from whatever source, renewable or not? It is indeed progress that radical groups like Greenpeace now recognize poor people can't be overly choosy about how they cook their food and light their homes." (Ronald Bailey, Reason)

"Voters attack Labour's green record" - "Sixty per cent of British voters think that the Labour government is not doing enough to tackle world pollution or to give aid to the developing world, according to the results of this month's Guardian/ICM opinion poll. The survey shows that the nation appears to be split over whether the earth summit in Johannesburg will prove to be more than a global talking shop or is just a massive junket for the world's ministers. Fifty-six per cent of British voters think the 60,000 delegates will achieve "not much" (39%) or "nothing at all" (17%) during the conference at which they are debating the state of the environment and looking at development issues including health care, education and the relief of poverty." (The Guardian)

"In Johannesburg, activists sow false fears" - "Six thousand journalists are in Johannesburg to cover the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The BBC team alone is rumored to number at least 100. Never have so many traveled so far to report so little: The meeting will likely produce nothing except the same tiresome effusion of anti-Western rhetoric we heard from last year's "World Conference Against Racism" in Durban. Already, both South African President Thabo Mbeki and the summit's secretary-general have accused Western leaders of presiding over a system of "global apartheid." Not to be outdone, Friends of the Earth International declared Canada, the United States and Australia to be part of an "axis of environmental evil." (National Post)

"Poor Choices" - "JOHANNESBURG - The World Summit on Sustainable Development has focused on the issue of poverty. In his opening remarks South African president Thabo Mbeki, lamenting the current inequalities between the wealthy and poor, called for "wealth sharing" as a way out. How does he propose to go about this?" (James S. Shikwati, TCS Europe)

"A Summit Hard to Stomach" - "U.N. gathering spends millions on polish and paper, not for poor." (Ken Adelman, TCS)

"Unsustainable; It’s the third world, not the West" - "As the U.N.'s "World Summit for Sustainable Development" got under way this week in Johannesburg, South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki welcomed the 12,600 attendees with the warning that "unsustainable patterns of production and consumption are creating an environmental disaster that threatens both life in general, and human life in particular." The root of the problem, according to Mbeki, is that the international economic order is "constructed on the basis of a savage principle of survival of the fittest." And thus, the U.N. conference got off on a predictably wrong foot." (Jerry Taylor, NRO)

"Real Aid; Save the planet with capitalism" - "Whenever delegates from countries around the world get together it is almost always bad news for freedom and capitalism. The earth summit on "sustainable development" that is currently being held in South Africa is no exception." (Stephen Moore, NRO)

"Agriculture and Biodiversity Can Survive and Thrive Together" - "Johannesburg, South Africa, (Future Harvest Foundation/IUCN) - Practical, real-world solutions to food production and biodiversity conservation can feed the world's poor today and satisfy the projected 40- to 60-percent increases in global food demand over the next few decades according to a study sponsored by the Future Harvest Foundation and IUCN - The World Conservation Union, and released today." (Future Harvest Foundation/IUCN)

"U.S. Offers Zambia Food Safety Help" - "LUSAKA, Zambia - The United States offered Wednesday to help Zambia assess the safety of genetically modified grain, after the Southern African nation rejected donations despite an impending food crisis. Almost 2.5 million Zambians are reportedly in danger of starvation if they don't get help quickly, but the government is worried the food may be a health risk. Washington has offered to help Zambia set up its own biotechnology plant so scientists can research genetically modified foods, said Andrew Natsios, the director of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The United States will also provide Zambia data collected by its own scientists, he said. Natsios made the offer at a meeting with Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa, during a two-day visit to Zambia." (AP)

"San Francisco Chronicle - Altered fish in a battle for survival Regulation measures face tough obstacles" - "A pair of bills that aim to make California the first state in the nation to regulate transgenic fish in food markets and the environment face deadly battles in the Legislature this week. On Monday, the Senate passed a consumers' right-to-know bill that would require the labeling of unpackaged bioengineered fish and seafood sold in California retail stores. The bill must clear the Assembly by Saturday, the session's end, to survive."

August 28, 2002

JunkScience.com is very widely read: "What's so scientific about junk science?" - "THERE was a time, not so long ago, when any proposition was accepted or rejected on the basis of its `scientific' validity. Thus, the characterisation of any proposition as `scientific' was thought to establish its truth beyond dispute while its description as `unscientific' implied that it did not merit any further consideration." (The Hindu Business Line)

"World's top judges pledge to punish polluters" - "More than 120 chief justices, supreme court justices and other top judges from 60 countries pledged yesterday to crack down on breaches of environmental laws that, until now, have been only patchily enforced across the world. The first worldwide meeting of top judges, which convened last week, concluded they had to be guardians of the global environment, and promised "to boldly and fearlessly implement and enforce" the laws. Some of them believe that the decision will be the first step towards the creation of an international court of environmental rights." (The Independent)

"U.S. Pays $3.3B for Salmon Recovery" - "Federal agencies have spent more than $3.3 billion in the past two decades to help Columbia River Basin salmon and steelhead runs recover — with little conclusive success, the General Accounting Office says." (AP)

"U.S. Says No To WEO" - "A top U.S. State Department official has all but rejected a proposal to establish a World Environmental Organization, similar to the World Trade Organization. The official went further, stating, "Since the 1992 Rio Summit, experience shows that the international community does not need new treaties, new bureaucracies, or new government-to-government aid commitments." (James K. Glassman, TCS)

"The Villainous Vandana Shiva; A false environmental prophet" - "Attila the Hun, though widely regarded as a barbaric tyrant, is revered in Hungary. The same is true of Vlad Dracula in a region of Eastern Europe. Knowing this makes it just a bit easier to understand how the current issue of Time magazine could profile Indian environmental activist Vandana Shiva as "hero." (Michael Fumento, NRO)

"Stars Not Coming Out for Earth Summit" - "JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The sun may have shone on the Earth Summit but the stars have definitely not come out in Johannesburg. "Where have all the big names gone?" is the protest lament in South Africa as not only President Bush but also the green stars of the entertainment world who graced the event in Rio de Janeiro 10 years ago have been conspicuous by their absence.

"It's off the radar screen," was the dismissive verdict at the offices of big-selling British celebrity magazine Hello. "Not a word has been uttered about it."

That may be bad news not just for gossip columnists but for the U.N. summit organizers anxious for coverage around the globe to raise awareness of poverty and environmental dangers. Sting, John Denver and the Beach Boys serenaded delegates who flocked to Brazil and the delights of Copacabana beach for the first Earth Summit in 1992. It is hard to find one A-list music industry celeb in Johannesburg. Irish rock third world warriors Bono and Bob Geldof are not here, despite a long record of raising money and publicity for Africa's debt problem and famines." (Reuters)

"From Rio to Johannesburg" - "If you are in love with international treaties, if non-governmental organizations make your heart beat faster, then Johannesburg will be the place for you. If you care passionately about fighting poverty and improving the lives of children in the Third World, on the other hand, then there are probably better ways of spending your time and travel money." (Helle Dale, Washington Times)

"A sham summit in South Africa" - "JOHANNESBURG THE OCCASION is the United Nations' World Summit on Sustainable Development, a summit that is attempting to fix a world that we are told is on its last legs - gloomy stuff indeed." (Boston Globe)

"Sustaining the Sustainers" - "Global conferences aimed at changing the world have grown humbler over the decades. Initially full of hope, they have a legacy of broken promises. The current UN conference in South Africa on the loosely defined idea of "sustainable development" may be the most humbling.

Europe sees such conferences as a way to help the economies of former colonies, while the US seeks greater democracy through aid and trade. They've all come to realize that private aid and market solutions do far more to lift billions out of poverty and save the planet than can centralized bureaucracies and official aid.

This conference, a followup to the 1992 Earth Summit, reflects that humbling shift toward the private sector. It includes more business and technology groups, and NGOs. They speak less of the "environment" – a term suspect in some quarters – and more of "sustainable development." (The Christian Science Monitor)

"Underclass is a myth, Left admits" - "The existence of an underclass of the permanently poor is a myth, a Left-wing think tank claimed yesterday in findings that present a direct challenge to assumptions at the heart of Labour policies on welfare reform. According to a pamphlet published by Catalyst, poverty is normally temporary and most people who are poor will not stay poor for life." (Telegraph)

"FEATURE-Brokers blaze trail for new greenhouse gas market" - "NEW YORK - Big business brokers in trading rooms at staid Wall Street addresses may be doing more to cut pollution than protesters at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Take Benedikt von Butler, a broker at Evolution Markets LLC in Manhattan, who is one of a new breed of environmental financiers at natural gas, bonds, and coal brokerage firms.

Brokers like von Butler create markets out of 30 types of air pollution -- from sulphur dioxide (SO2), a component of acid rain, to carbon dioxide (CO2), a gas scientists say warms the Earth by trapping solar heat in its atmosphere.

In emissions trading, companies who have cut pollution by more than agreed targets can sell "credits" to other companies that are still polluting more than they should." (Reuters)

"CLIMATE CHANGE: Effort To Encourage Bush Participation Cited" - "JOHANNESBURG -- The divisive topic of climate change was deliberately left off the agenda of the World Summit on Sustainable Development here in an unsuccessful effort to encourage U.S. President George W. Bush to attend, World Bank chief scientist Robert Watson said here today. Bush announced this month he is sending Secretary of State Colin Powell when high-level talks begin here next week.

In an interview with UN Wire, Watson placed most of the blame on the United States -- which is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and last year abandoned the Kyoto Protocol to limit those emissions -- for the international deadlock that prompted climate change being left out of 10 days of talks that began here yesterday. "There's no evidence that the U.S. in any way will narrow the differences" it has with the European Union and others in the near future, he said." (UN Wire)

"An American Abdication" - "FRANKFURT — At present there is much talk about the unparalleled strength of the United States on the world stage. Yet at this very moment the most powerful country in the world stands to forfeit much political capital, moral authority and international good will by dragging its feet on the next great global issue: the environment. Before long, the administration's apparent unwillingness to take a leadership role — or, at the very least, to stop acting as a brake — in fighting global environmental degradation will threaten the very basis of the American supremacy that many now seem to assume will last forever.

American authority is already in some danger as a result of the Bush administration's decision to send a low-level delegation to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg — low-level, that is, relative to America's share of both the world economy and global pollution. The absence of President Bush from Johannesburg symbolizes this decline in authority." (Norbert Walter, New York Times)

"Australia given lead on climate statement" - "Australia is pushing to have any reference to the Kyoto protocol dropped from the statement on climate change produced by the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development. This came as Australia was accused of playing a spoiler role with the United States and Canada. Despite Australia's continued opposition to the international climate change treaty it has gained the responsibility for writing the draft statement that will go before the international meeting next week." (Sydney Morning Herald)

"European space watch on climate" - "European space scientists were preparing last night to launch the latest in flying thermometers - an instrument to take the temperature of the planet.

A two-ton Meteosat second generation satellite, known as MSG, was scheduled to have taken off just before midnight aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou in French Guiana. It will sit in geostationary orbit 22,000 miles above the Gulf of Guinea, the point where the Equator and the Greenwich meridian intersect.

And its most advanced instrument will be the first to measure the Earth's radiation budget - that is the sunlight absorbed by the planet, and the infrared warmth radiated away into space or absorbed by the atmosphere. With GERB, the geostationary Earth radiation budget experiment, climate scientists will have new insight into the processes by which the planet is heated or cooled." (The Guardian)

"Few listen as tiny island of Tuvalu fears destruction from global warming" - "JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — The tiny island nation of Tuvalu sees the issue of global warming as a matter of life and death. Few at the U.N. development summit seem to care.

The United States does not want the gathering to commit to specific pollution controls. The world's developing nations — many of them major oil producers — have little interest in helping a nation of 12,000 people that fears it will be crushed by storms, rising ocean levels and disruptions to marine life.

"If this issue of climate change is ignored, what will happen to Tuvalu?" said Paani Laupepa, Tuvalu's assistant secretary of the environment." (Associated Press)

Actually, there's good reason for everyone to ignore the rather, um... extravagant, claims emanating from Tuvalu.

"Global Warming Victims Sue U.S. for Fossil Fuel Projects" - "WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 -- Friends of the Earth (FoE), Greenpeace and the City of Boulder, Colorado filed a lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco on behalf of their members and citizens who are victims of global warming. The suit has been filed against two U.S. government agencies -- the Export Import Bank (ExIm) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Ex-Im and OPIC are taxpayer funded agencies that provide financing and loans to U.S. corporations for overseas projects that commercial banks deem too risky." (U.S. Newswire)

"Optimism over cleaning up coal, diesel -- The Washington Times" - "LOS ANGELES, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Coal and diesel fuel currently don't enjoy a pristine reputation for being environmentally friendly, but technological advances could eliminate their sooty image and keep them in the energy mix within the United States."

"CO2 and Biodiversity: Does the Former Affect the Latter?" - "Summary: Extinction is a chilling word, for it denominates the utter annihilation of a unique plant or animal; and with the loss of but a single species, earth's biosphere is the less and the entire planet is impoverished. What is the relationship of this subject to the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 content? Will it exacerbate the sorry situation that currently confronts us? Or will it ameliorate it?" (co2science.org)

"Subject Index Summary: Wind" - "Summary: In the virtual "model world" of climate alarmists, all sorts of weather extremes, including winds, get ever stronger as the air's CO2 content continues to climb. In the real world of nature, however, things behave a little differently." (co2science.org)

"Growing Season Trends in Northern Taiga Forests of Russia" - "Summary: Do they dance to the beat of the climate-alarmist drummers? Climatic Change 54: 387-398." (co2science.org)

"Testing The Current Generation of Climate Models" - "Summary: Do any of you really believe they pass muster? Physical Review Letters 8: 028501(4)." (co2science.org)

"Bush's Kyoto Secret" - "JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The "World Summit on Sustainable Development" got underway today amid several key questions. How would anti-globalization - and, possibly, worse -- forces attempt to disrupt the world leaders' proceedings? What form would latent anti-Americanism take? And, of course, what of substance might emerge?" (Christopher Horner, TCS)

Science For Sale: The Global Warming Scam (Accuracy in Media)

"Industrialized nations, oil states scuttling clean energy timetable at summit" - "JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - To the outrage of environmentalists, the United States, Saudi Arabia and other nations at a U.N. summit worked Tuesday to water down promises to rapidly expand the use of clean, renewable energy technologies around the globe." (AP)

"EU 'sell-out' is massive blow for renewable energy plans" - "Hopes that world leaders would agree to boost renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, were dealt a devastating blow yesterday when European Union negotiators abandoned attempts to press for it. Confidential conference documents seen by The Independent reveal that the EU – which has led attempts for an increase in renewable energy – is proposing that it rises by only a single percentage point worldwide over this entire decade. The development endangers any remaining prospect that the World Summit on Sustainable Development will make progress in protecting the environment and reducing poverty, just two days after it opened. It is also a humiliating personal rebuff for Tony Blair." (Independent)

"Windmills on Their Minds" - "Not everyone in Cherry Valley, N.Y., is embracing windmills as a pollution-free form of energy production." (New York Times)

"Generators passing on extra cost of 'green' obligations" - "Some electricity generators are charging business customers extra for "green" energy that they are required to supply anyway, according to research by Platts energy newsletters and Friends of the Earth.

Their report urges businesses that want to use renewable energy to choose carefully to ensure they do not simply subsidise power companies in order to meet their legal obligations.

Under the renewables obligation introduced last April, power companies must generate 3 per cent - rising to 10 per cent by 2010 - of their electricity from renewable sources. But the report claims that to meet the cost, several generators are not only increasing their conventional power prices, but are charging a premium to customers wanting 100 per cent "green" power." (Financial Times)

"Europe's Forgotten Promise" - "Delegates to this week's World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, will have to confront several stark ironies. Their lavish, $50 million soiree will be held in the shadow of 13 million hungry drought victims in the continent's southern cone -- a problem made all the more miserable by obstructionist policies in scores of countries around the globe. What's more, all of this may have been avoided if only these environmental activists and politicians had lived up to a promise they made 10 years ago." (Gregory Conko, TCS)

?!! "US farmers reap heavy penalty for sowing GM crops" - "Since the election, a number of scientists have claimed that methods of genetic testing are inaccurate, and that New Zealand will isolate itself from world trade unless it relaxes seed-testing requirements and embraces genetic modification technology. Many of the claims are inaccurate and misleading. GM crops have, in fact, had a disastrous impact on United States farm economies." (Guy Hatchard, New Zealand Herald)

[Dr Guy Hatchard was the director of economic, regulatory and market analysis at US company Genetic ID until June]

"Sowing doubt" - "Two farmers who recently experimented with planting GM crops have been visiting Britain. But Corky Jones from America and Nhlela Phinias Gumede from South Africa recount experiences that differ as widely as the continents from which they come" (The Guardian)

"Food fights on the global scale -- The Washington Times" - "When East meets West, food fights often ensue. Nowhere is that more notable than in the current debate over genetically modified foods. It's an important fight: During the next 50 years, the Earth's population is expected to rise to approximately 9 billion people, all of whom will actually have to eat."

August 27, 2002

"The world's energy-poor need hydrocarbon fuels" - "You are a tribal woman in the Jharkhand region of north-eastern India. Sustaining life has always been tough, but it has become harder of late. Environmentalists, obsessed by what they see as the deforestation of the subcontinent, have imposed a fuel-cutting ban in the protected forest near your village. It was bad enough for your mother, who had to spend hours bending down, hacking saplings with her small sickle-shaped daoli, but now you can only gather dry, fallen leaves or small twigs from the thorny bush you call putus. You must also go much farther afield to collect your daily fuel needs." (Philip Stott, Daily Telegraph)

"Sustaining Environmentalists" - "For the first Earth Day in 1970, overpopulation guru Paul Ehrlich wrote a fictitious report for the Progressive presenting an eco-gloomster's portrait of the U.S. in 2000. The population had fallen to 22.6 million, 8% of the current population, and the diet was less than the daily calorific intake of an African. By 1974, Mr. Ehrlich and his wife, Anne, worried that "global cooling" would diminish agricultural output -- that the world was becoming unsustainable.

As they say, the more things change: In America these days, we fret about "global warming," not "global cooling," and are more concerned about fat than about general starvation. Grain production has increased 53% since the 1970s when Mr. Ehrlich wrote his treatise. But no matter, in Johannesburg yesterday, some 40,000 arrived for the World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002. As Nitin Desai, the summit's Secretary-General declared last week: "Development is now as sexy as the environment, absolutely." (Philip Stott, Wall Street Journal)

"US and Australia branded by greens as 'axis of evil'" - "Campaign groups at the Johannesburg Earth Summit have branded the United States, Canada and Australia an "axis of evil" for their reluctance to co-operate with the rest of the world in tackling global poverty and environmental degradation. (UK Independent) [End seas of poverty, says Mbeki; Orphans of Aids appeal for more than mere words; World Bank and IMF hurt poor farmers, says Oxfam; Gulf between rich and poor is new apartheid, warns Mbeki; Summit diary: Highs and lows from Johannesburg]

"NGOs Don't Speak for the Hungry" - "In recent years we have witnessed the rapid rise of what is called "civil society" in the form of a multiplicity of NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) who claim to be the voice of the poor and powerless who can not speak for themselves. From the demonstrations in Seattle to the streets of Genoa — where the cry was "you are the G-8, we are 6 billion" — organizations dominated by wealthy white male Northern Europeans and North Americans have carried the twin banners of the poor and the environment of planet Earth in battle against the evils of globalization, multi-national corporations, and modern technology and biotechnology. They even have a website, G6B for "global six billion." (Thomas R. DeGregori, ACSH)

"Consumer Alert - an NGO at the World Summit - Offers Its Proposals" - "Washington, D.C., August 23, 2002 -- Consumer Alert, accredited as a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, will have ten NGO representatives attending many of the meetings taking place August 24 - September 4, 2002, in Johannesburg, South Africa. About 60,000 delegates from around the world are expected to attend the Summit." (Consumer Alert)

"Give the poor a choice" - "The United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development, which begins today in Johannesburg, may represent a turning point for the international aid bureaucracy. Thousands of people will be there and yet almost none of them expects any concrete outcomes. The summit will address many of the same issues that were left unresolved 10 years ago at a previous UN World Summit held in Rio de Janeiro.

The current summit is strong on laundry lists and short on focus. Exactly what "sustainable development" means seems to be a well-kept secret. The original idea was protecting the environment, but the official documents for the summit say that sustainable development also involves such concepts as poverty relief, dialogue among civilisations, democracy, corporate accountability, "equitable globalisation" and world peace.

The corporate executives at the summit could make a big contribution by explaining to the other delegates a principle of efficient management: in trying to solve everything you solve nothing. Is there a better way to meet the needs of the desperately poor billions?" (Financial Times)

"Treaties Don’t Save Species" - "International gabfests in exotic locales are no way to protect the environment." (Jonathan H. Adler, NRO)

"Earth protesters stranded on another planet" - "ACROSS the other side of town, and on another planet from the main Earth Summit of national delegations and corporate lobbyists, is a second, alternative summit. The Global Forum is where the United Nations has put all the charities, protest groups and campaigners who want to have their say. It is a jamboree of workshops, speeches, placards and dancing. It is also a festival of anger and caring, of outrage and good intentions, all mixed together with chaotic disorganisation." (The Times)

"Never mind the destitute, eat, drink and be merry - for this is a world summit" - "No one with a heart or mind can disagree with the aims of the largest, but rapidly shrinking, summit ever held. No one is heretical enough to say they don’t believe in sustainable development, and who can argue with helping to relieve world poverty while protecting the environment? But the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which started yesterday in Johannesburg, is rapidly generating far more cynicism than hot air. It is on course to achieve precisely the opposite of its aim of reinvigorating the political process needed to bridge the world’s divisions between the haves and the have-nots." (The Times)

"Study suggests cholera will worsen as globe warms" - "NEW YORK - A new study provides the first direct evidence that global warming may be worsening epidemics of infectious disease.

Researchers have found that the cyclic global weather phenomenon El Nino has begun to affect the course of cholera epidemics in Bangladesh, an effect that is likely driven by warming of the land and water in the area due to climate change.

El Nino is an unusual warming of the Pacific Ocean close to the equator. The phenomenon occurs every 2 to 7 years, and can cause weather changes, such as increased temperatures and decreases in rainfall and relative humidity. It has been linked to outbreaks of infectious diseases including dengue fever, malaria and cholera." (Reuters Health)

"Agonising fever extra reason to halt global warming - smh.com.au" - "Twice as many Australians and more than half the world would be at risk of contracting dengue fever by 2085 unless increases in climate change, population growth and social inequality are reversed, a study has forecast. The area of Australia at risk of a dengue outbreak would extend southwards along the east coast beyond Brisbane, said the study, which was published in the medical journal The Lancet online. Rates of the mosquito-borne dengue fever are increasing worldwide, with an estimated 50 million cases a year, according to the World Health Organisation. In Australia, outbreaks have been restricted to north Queensland, although it is endemic in more than 100 countries in South-East Asia, the western Pacific, Africa, the Americas and the eastern Mediterranean. The study's author, Simon Hales, of the Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences in New Zealand, said the findings provided further evidence of the effects of climate change on human health."

"Split on climate change becomes consensus" - "Scientists who a decade ago questioned the human role in global warming now say intensive research has shown the need for immediate action" (Dan Rowe, National Post)

"Law: Reports linking India’s haze to Indon hotspots false" - "PETALING JAYA: Recent reports in the Western media, which blamed the forest fires in Indonesia and Borneo for contributing to the Asian “brown haze” hovering over the Indian subcontinent are false, said Science, Technology and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Law Hieng Ding.

He said the reports, which appeared on the eve of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, were a ploy by developed countries to avert attention from growing pressure on them to ratify the Kyoto Protocol." (The Star, MY)

"Now is the time for rich to match poor's generosity" - "Ten years ago the world saw the most generous gesture in the history of international relations. To support the lifestyle of millions, one group of countries relinquished their claim to the debts - worth trillions of dollars - of another. In 1992 most of the poorest countries in the world queued up to sign the UN framework convention on climate change. In a stroke they wrote off the historical ecological debts of rich countries, run up by their burning of finite fossil fuels and the resulting legacy of global warming." (Andrew Simms, The Guardian)

"What do we really want?" - "Economic growth is seen as good, yet it makes many in the rich world miserable" (George Monbiot, The Guardian)

"Regulator rejects power price complaints" - "CALLUM McCARTHY, the Energy Regulator, yesterday vigorously defended the electricity trading market, which is being blamed within the Government for driving down the price of power to uneconomic levels and damaging the finances of British Energy, the nuclear power company.

The chief executive of Ofgem rejected the criticism and said the New Electricity Trading Arrangements (Neta), were operating as intended. “All that is happening is not illogical, or indeed, unexpected,’’ he said. “Neta does not artificially bring down prices. It produces the lower prices you would expect in a competitive market.” (The Times)

"Studies to look at chemicals, Parkinson's" - "WASHINGTON - The federal government said on Monday it was giving $20 million to three research centers to try to find out if chemicals or other environmental factors cause Parkinson's disease.

Farmers and other people exposed to pesticides seem to have a higher risk of developing the incurable brain disease, which slowly robs patients of their ability to move properly, but no one has been able to show a clear and irrefutable link." (Reuters)

"Good news, bad news on cancer for caffeine lovers" - "NEW YORK - Caffeine in the form of a lotion may help to prevent skin cancer, according to the results of a new study. But a separate study found that caffeine may actually promote cancer.

In the "good news" study, skin cancer was prevented in mice at risk of developing the disease if a lotion containing caffeine was applied to their skin. In the "bad news" study, when a dish of hamster cells was exposed to tumor-inducing radiation, adding caffeine appeared to inhibit the cells' ability to repair themselves, increasing their likelihood of becoming cancerous.

Both studies appear in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." (Reuters Health)

"Bush baits Brussels over GM crops" - "The US government is to launch a trade war over GM crops in an attempt to force the European Union to back down in its tough stance against GM.

The Independent on Sunday has learnt that the US trade representative, Robert Zoellick, is putting in a complaint to the World Trade Organisation claiming that the EU moratorium on GM imports and crop-testing is a restraint of trade. His action is being backed by Monsanto, the US biotechnology group that has been at the centre of the development of GM crops." (Independent on Sunday)

"Ragnar Lofstedt: Time to sow seeds of GM harmony" - "Why does there continue to be heated debate in Europe about genetically modified crops? When I travel to the States my American colleagues often ask me why Europeans are not prepared to accept GM crops, when the US sees them as safe and beneficial for both the environment and consumers. This transatlantic schism has several possible explanations." (Independent on Sunday)

"The race to boost organic farming is heading up a dead-end street" - "TO AN outsider our food policy, if we have one, must seem a mess of hilarious contradictions which have just scaled new heights of absurdity in the boost to organic cultivation arising from the Curry Report earlier this year.

Subsidising inefficiency, pandering to cranks and propping up privilege have contributed greatly to the mess we are now in and we should not compound it by subsidising the absurdity of organic production." (John Stewart, The Scotsman)

August 26, 2002

"Blood tests link MMR to autism" - "FRESH evidence has emerged to link the controversial MMR vaccine with autism. DNA blood tests carried out by Professor John O’Leary, a world authority on autism and possible links with MMR vaccines, suggest a Scots child may have become autistic months after receiving the vaccine. The tests confirmed that Angus Kyle, 10, was suffering from a ‘persistent measles virus’ although he had never had measles. O’Leary’s written report confirms the presence of the virus and is now with the Kyles’ lawyer who is considering action against the manufacturers of the vaccine, Germany-based MERCK Sharp Dohme." (The Scotsman)

"Is cleanliness next to sickliness?" - "Modern life could be to blame for the rise in childhood asthma, writes Julie Robotham, but the jury is out on whether the illness can be headed off.

Too much processed food, too little fish oil, too few siblings, insufficient sunlight, excessive synthetic bedding and artificial infant milk formulas, lack of contact with animals ... potential culprits for the rise in childhood asthma read like a litany of modern life." (Sydney Morning Herald)

"The Miami Herald | 08 25 2002 | Timber! Parks cut wood, switch to plastic lumber" - "Say goodbye to splinters. Parks throughout Broward County are replacing regular lumber with recycled plastic lumber for picnic tables, benches, fences, docks and boardwalks. The process has been accelerated by Broward's $400 million parks bond program -- which devotes nearly $135 million to upgrading bathrooms, picnic shelters and ball fields and adding new features to county parks. ''Every time that wood needs to be replaced, we're putting recycled plastic lumber in,'' said Bob Harbin, Broward County's parks and recreation director. ``We have pretty much eliminated wood.''

"Malaysia says it will oppose attempts to link trade to environmental issues at earth summit" - "KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia will oppose any attempts to link trade with environmental issues at a U.N. summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, next week, a senior government official said Saturday. Primary Industries Minister Lim Keng Yak said Malaysia does not want the World Summit on Sustainable Development to be reduced to developed nations and rights bodies threatening developing countries over forest protection. "They can talk about climate changes or biodiversity," the national Bernama news agency quoted Lim as saying. "But if they talk about forestry, we'll fight," he added. "Developed countries are the biggest polluters but they want us to take care of biodiversity." Environmentalists have long urged developed countries to cut aid and trade with developing countries they accuse of depleting forest reserves to open up plantations, factories and residential areas." (AP)

The earth summit gets under way - with 400 issues still to be resolved - "UN officials were already warning yesterday of the dangers of the earth summit failing to reach its key goals, with 400 disputed issues still unresolved after two days of tough pre-summit negotiations." (The Guardian)

"Britain blames US for failing world's poor" - "Deep tensions between Britain and the US have emerged ahead of the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, which remains shrouded in pessimism ahead of its official start today. The summit is aimed at reducing world poverty through promoting environmentally sustainable growth, and although it is seen as the most important world summit for years, there are growing concerns that virtually nothing significant will be achieved. As the gloom deepened in the corridors, it seems many delegates are staying away. Although 65,000 delegates had been predictected to turn up, the UN has downgraded its expectations to just 40,000, and by yesterday only 9,000 delegates and journalists had been accredited." (The Times)

Ecological decline 'far worse' than official estimates - "The real level of world inequality and environmental degradation may be far worse than official estimates, according to a leaked document prepared for the world's richest countries and seen by the Guardian.

"Linking Poverty Aid to the Environment" - "In the 1990's, Africa had the world's highest rate of deforestation as poor people cleared trees for farmland and firewood. Acute respiratory infections, which often afflict families that rely on coal or firewood, kill or disable about 30 percent of sub-Saharan Africa's children each year, the United Nations says. Meanwhile, pollution is worsening as millions of Africans abandon rural villages for urban shantytowns.

Poor countries say they cannot safeguard their natural resources unless they can strengthen their economies. They want wealthy nations to commit 0.7 percent of their gross national product to aid developing countries; to reduce or eliminate tariffs on agricultural goods from poor countries and to halve the number of people without access to sanitation by 2015.

Some wealthy nations, including the United States and some members of the European Union, are resisting. American officials say they have already agreed to increase foreign aid to the poor, and developing nations should eliminate corruption and strengthen democratic institutions before more aid is committed." (New York Times)

"Current 'disasters' show WSSD negotiators future to avoid" - "Johannesburg, South Africa - As southern Africa struggles with the human devastation wrought by drought, floods ravage Europe and Asia, and fires and drought impact the US, WWF, has called on negotiators starting two days of informal meetings prior to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to ensure that the Summit will take action to reverse the environmental degradation at the root of recent disasters." (WWF)

"The Environmentalists Are Wrong" - "With the opening today of the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, we will be hearing a great deal about both concepts: sustainability and development. Traditionally, the developed nations of the West have shown greater concern for environmental sustainability, while the third world countries have a stronger desire for economic development. At big environmental gatherings, it is usually the priorities of the first world that carry the day. The challenge in Johannesburg will be whether we are ready to put development ahead of sustainability. If the United States leads the way, the world may finally find the courage to do so." (Bjorn Lomborg, The New York Times)

"Antarctic Ozone Hole to Expand in Coming Weeks" - "GENEVA - The annual depletion of the earth's protective ozone layer has begun over Antarctica and the hole is set to expand in coming weeks, the World Meteorological Organization said on Friday. In its latest bulletin, the WMO said the size of the ozone hole over the Antarctic was "normal for this time of year." The depletion began as delegates prepared to discuss environmental issues in Johannesburg next week at the Earth Summit, officially the United Nations' World Summit on Sustainable Development. The ozone layer protects people from harmful radiation and many scientists blame its depletion on chemicals such as chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) and some crop fumigants." (Reuters)

"Johannesburg Earth Summit" - "Beginning Monday 26th August, the Johannesburg Earth Summit will provide a re-run of the Rio summit of 1992. That was a circus, and this event is on track to do the same, with an estimated 100,000 people expected to attend in one capacity or another - officials, politicians, NGOs, activists, demonstrators, and media. The wastage of public resources for such an extravagant event is quite staggering.

While listening to the usual hand-wringing and righteous indignation of `leaders' railing against Western democracies, the 100,000 people there could do well to note the climate record from the very airport most of them arrived in - Johannesburg International Airport (Jan Smuts), located 10 miles northeast of the city." (John Daly, Still Waiting For Greenhouse)

"Erratic weather from a brown cloud -- The Washington Times" - "What's causing all of the crazy weather around the globe? Drought in northwest India, where the annual monsoon rains failed to arrive, and in many other regions. Meanwhile, devastating floods in northeast India, in Central Europe, and elsewhere. And surprise - it cannot be blamed on Global Warming or on American consumption of energy."

"Aerosol could change global climate: Experts - The Times of India" - "GENEVA: The World Meterological Organisation (WMO) has warned that giant man-made aerosol clouds in the atmosphere could lead to significant global climate change. The recent discovery via satellite images of massive aerosol clouds stretching from southeast Asia to the Indian Ocean, also led WMO experts to suggest that potential health problems may be associated with air pollution. "These clouds, like the Asian Brown Cloud, can affect precipitations - which is not yet proven - and the human respiratory functions," said Leonard Barrie, head of the WMO environmental division."

"On Farms, a No-Till Tactic on Global Warming" - "For farmers struggling to make a living with corn and soybeans, a new cash crop may be on the horizon: carbon. Although it can't be used to feed animals or make vegetable oil, "farming" carbon could provide extra income for farmers and provide significant environmental benefits.

A $15 million project being carried out by 10 universities in the Midwest has the goal of encouraging farmers to use methods, including "no-till" farming, that keep carbon in the soil rather than releasing it to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas. Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases considered a culprit in global warming." (Washington Post)

"smh.com.au - World politics generates hot air on greenhouse" - "Professor Warwick McKibbin, one of Australia's internationally recognised experts on global warming, is not one of the 272 economists petitioning the Federal Government "to ratify the Kyoto Protocol without delay". "It is a pretty sad indictment of the profession when people sign these things en masse without expertise," he says. Clive Hamilton, whose Australia Institute pushed the petition, says he "wouldn't waste the postage stamp" inviting McKibbin to enlist because he "serves the Government's interests".

The world may be moving towards a consensus that greenhouse emissions are causing global warming but has never been more polarised on what to do about it. Today, the key players line up in Johannesburg for Earth Summit 2002 - and some say the future of the Kyoto Protocol is on the line. "The fundamental problem with the Kyoto Protocol is it assumes that nature is priceless and therefore the costs of taking action should be unbounded. Extreme environmentalists don't believe in trade-offs but incorporating trade-offs are inevitable for sustainable policy," McKibbin says.

"Government facing €1.3bn bill for rise in gas emissions" - "THE government will face a whopping €1.3bn bill for its soaring climate-[c]hanging greenhouse gas emissions, environmental groups warned yesterday. The Earth Summit Ireland coalition of all the country's environmentalists warned Ireland will be severely penalised under the binding Kyoto international agreement. Although Ireland was allowed to increase its emissions by 13pc, it is predicted this will rise to over 36 pc. It is currently estimated at 26pc.

Under the Kyoto protocol, countries in excess of their greenhouse gas emissions will be required to buy "emission credits" at €25 a tonne from other countries. Ireland could have to pay for 106m tonnes at €25 which works out at a staggering €265m each year. Over five years between 2008 when the penalties come in and 2012, environmental groups estimated this could amount to €1.325m." (Irish Independent)

"Carbon tax to transform energy market" - "Measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions--a major culprit in global warming--will have a great impact on the consumption of fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil. In particular, the imposition of an environment tax and trading of CO2 emissions rights will either directly or indirectly lead to reduced energy consumption. Inevitably, the coal, electricity, gas and oil markets will be significantly influenced by new measures against greenhouse gases.

A carbon tax--under consideration for introduction as an environment levy--would be paid by consumers of carbon-containing fuels such as coal, gas and oil. In the energy market, either companies in the upstream--producers, importers and distributors of fossil fuels--or consumers in the downstream may be subject to the tax." (The Daily Yomiuri)

"Japan to seek Asian CO2 credits" - "The government will begin a joint study with seven developing Asian nations with the aim of helping the countries reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases in exchange for CO2 emissions "credits" to help Japan meet its emissions target under the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, officials said Sunday. The study, which is planned with participation from China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, will involve Japanese officials traveling to the developing nations to discuss possible concerted CO2 reduction projects." (Yomiuri Shimbun)

"African Famine, Made in Europe" - "Southern Africa is suffering its worst drought in a decade. The U.N. World Food Program estimates some 13 million people in six countries will need 1.2 million tons of food aid till March 2003 to avoid famine. Yet two countries, Zimbabwe and Zambia, have spent most of the summer rejecting food aid shipments of corn from the U.S. because some varieties of U.S. corn are ''genetically modified'' (GM). Incredibly, African leaders facing famine are rejecting perfectly safe food. What is going on here?" (Dow Jones Newswires)

"Zambia cites health risk in rejecting genetically modified food" - "JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Zambia has rejected a U.N. appeal to distribute genetically modified food, saying it would procure enough other grain to feed its starving people." (Associated Press)

August 23, 2002

"Stop Scaring the Mentally Ill" - "Schizophrenics may be the latest victims of the junk science mob. There seems to be a move afoot to link the leading medication for treating schizophrenia with diabetes." (Steven Milloy, FoxNews.com)

"Gastrointestinal symptoms not linked to later autism" - "Children with autism are no more likely than children without autism to have had gastrointestinal disorders, finds a study in this week's BMJ." (British Medical Journal)

"Ear thermometers 'may miss fever in young'" - "Taking the temperature of infants and young children with ear thermometers may be unreliable and lead doctors and parents to miss signs of fever, researchers say today. The inconsistency of readings obtained from the increasingly popular devices in which the tips are gently inserted into patients' ears could lead to doctors making mistaken judgments on whether their patients need further investigations, antibiotics or even admission to hospital, according to a team from Liverpool University." (The Guardian)

"Moulds increase severity of asthma" - "Severe asthma in adults may be associated with sensitivity to airborne moulds rather than pollens, finds a study in this week's BMJ." (British Medical Journal)

"Winnipeg considering lawn chemical ban" - "WINNIPEG - The City of Winnipeg is considering a ban on certain types of lawn chemicals and some lawn care companies are crying foul. The city's environmental committee is reviewing the use of herbicides and pesticides on residential lawns. An interim report suggests phasing out chemical weed- and pest-control products the committee deems harmful." (CBC News)

"New brain tumour alert on mobiles" - "Long-term users of some first generation mobile phones are almost twice as likely to develop brain tumours, according to the most damaging study yet to suggest a link between cellphones and cancer.

The study of 1,617 Swedish patients diagnosed with brain tumours between 1997 and 2000 found that those who used analogue mobile phones had a third higher risk of developing brain tumours than those who had not used cellphones.

The risk of a tumour was particularly high on the side of the brain close to where the phone was usually held, the authors of the study said." (The Telegraph)

"The Globalization of Human Well-Being" - "Executive Summary: Controversy over globalization has focused mainly on whether it exacerbates income inequality between the rich and the poor. But, as opponents of globalization frequently note, human well-being is not synonymous with wealth. The central issue, therefore, is not whether income gaps are growing but whether globalization advances well-being and, if inequalities in well-being have expanded, whether that is because the rich have advanced at the expense of the poor. ..." (Indur M. Goklany, Cato Institute) [Full Text of Policy Analysis No. 447 (PDF, 20 pgs, 112 Kb)]

"WTO Agreements and Public Health — A joint study by WHO and the WTO Secretariat" - "The World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization Secretariat published today a joint study of the relationship between trade rules and public health.

The 171-page study WTO Agreements and Public Health explains how WTO Agreements relate to different aspects of health policies. It is meant to give a better insight into key issues for those who develop, communicate or debate policy issues related to trade and health. The study covers areas such as drugs and intellectual property rights, food safety, tobacco and many other issues which have been subject to passionate debate. In this joint effort, the first of its kind, WHO and the WTO Secretariat endeavour to set out the facts." (Press Release) [Download “WTO Agreements and Public Health” in pdf format (175 pages, 788 KB)]

"Financial Times Criticizes Latest World Bank Report" - "The Financial Times criticizes the World Bank's latest World Development Report in an editorial today for being too vague, calling on the bank to take a clearer position on the advantages and trade-offs of important policy choices.

"If its aim was to offend as few people as possible," the Financial Times writes, the bank "succeeded" yesterday when it released its latest report on development.  "The annual document, which traditionally took a firm, and sometimes wrong-headed, stance on development issues, offers something for everyone this year," appeasing "economic liberals," "critics of rapid growth" and "campaigners for controls against unfettered capitalism" alike, the newspaper says." (UN Wire)

"SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Analysts Criticize Draft Conference Document" - "The language in the 77-page draft text for next week's World Summit on Sustainable Development, being billed as the largest international conference in history, is "impenetrable and nebulous," making it nearly "unintelligible" and exposing the rifts between developed and developing countries, Reuters reports analysts as saying." (UN Wire)

"Top judges talk environment" - "Top judges from countries as diverse as Costa Rica and Tanzania swapped ideas on Tuesday on how best to enforce environmental laws at a meeting ahead of the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development. The conference brought together some of the world's most powerful judges to discuss, for the first time, ideas ranging from establishing an international environmental court to training judges in environmental science and policy. "The fragile state of the global environment requires the judiciary, as the primary guardian of the rule of law, to boldly and fearlessly implement and enforce international and national laws," a resolution adopted by the group read." (Sapa-AP)

"Green shoppers are growing in number" - "When Philips produced its first eco-friendly light bulb it had high hopes for the product, whose technology meant it used 75 per cent less energy than incandescent bulbs. Sales failed to take off, however, until the Californian energy crisis hit. The company redesigned the product - with a standard screw base and a traditional glass bulb shape instead of unorthodox looking tubes. It changed the name from Earthlight to Marathon, and played down the environmentally friendly aspects of the bulb, stressing its longer life. Sales took off immediately. The story sheds light on consumer attitudes to environmentally friendly products. While green shoppers are growing in number, they remain a niche of younger, affluent buyers. Most are not prepared to buy green products unless they are superior or cheaper." (Financial Times)

"Combining to harness the power of private enterprise" - "The role of business in tackling development challenges will be a key theme at Johannesburg. This reflects an important shift in thinking over the past decade, says Peter Woicke, head of the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank's private sector lending arm.

"Ten years ago, the Earth Summit in Rio was primarily about the role of governments, about treaties and about restrictions. All of that is important and necessary," he told a joint FT and IFC conference in London in June. "But I think Johannesburg should be about the role of the private sector, about implementation, incentives and opportunities. Private enterprise, more often than not, can create public goods beyond tax revenue." (Financial Times)

"Business role is greeted with some suspicion" - "Battle lines are being drawn up as delegates gather for the summit. For some governments, it is an opportunity to promote the role of business in sustainable development. But many campaigners have the opposite goal: to stem the tide of corporate influence over social and environmental policy." (Financial Times)

"CHALLENGES OF DEVELOPMENT Global talks taking up threats to earth riches" - "PARIS Since the Earth summit meeting in Rio de Janeiro 10 years ago, more than 180 countries have signed a convention to protect one of the planet's most valuable natural resources: the tremendous variety and diversity of plant and animal species. But as the world prepares to address the issue again at the Johannesburg conference starting Monday, the record shows that humanity is squandering this biological bounty at such a high rate that scientists describe the current era as the greatest period of mass extinction since the disappearance of the dinosaurs. More than 800 species already have disappeared, usually because of the degradation of their environments, and 11,000 more are threatened by extinction, according to the World Conservation Union. Moreover, in a related threat that has become greater in the decade since Rio, nature is being changed through the irreversible genetic modification of plants and challenged by the engineering of human and animal genes." (Barry James, International Herald Tribune)

"A habitat for half-truths" - "Sustainable development" sounds like a good thing - one of those noncontroversial ideas over which we need not squabble. Few of us are for things that can't be sustained. So what is there to argue about? Quite a bit, actually, as representatives from around the world gather in Johannesburg to address poverty, environmental concerns and economic growth at the United Nations-sponsored World Summit on Sustainable Development. In perusing the fine print published by the organizers of the conference, economists and concerned people from across the globe are alarmed by what is concealed behind a seemingly harmless bit of jargon." (J.D. Tuccille, The Washington Times)

"Anti-globalisation protesters aim to 'shut down' summit" - "Anti-globalisation protesters, united under the banner 'Our world is not for sale', aim to "shut down" the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development next week, their leaders said in Johannesburg today. "It is our aspiration to shut them down. If we can get the numbers, that is what we will do," said Trevor Ngwane, leader of the Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF), which claims to have about 20,000 members." (AFP)

Vandana Shiva ... "Summit's failure will be our success" - "Global activists lobbied yesterday to end biopiracy, but pinned little hope on the upcoming UN World Summit on Sustainable Development, saying it is aimed at further institutionalising the theft of biological resources by rich nations and corporations. Vandana Shiva, India's foremost anti-biopiracy campaigner, said: "The summit is a piracy conference by rich and powerful countries, agrobusinesses and water companies to create even more wealth for themselves." (AFP)

"Heavy environmental polluters 'should pay less'" - "Loggers, poachers and emission junkies are met with stiff taxes, fines and ultimately, the threat of prison. The logic is simple - the more you pollute, the more you have to pay. But this approach does not seem to be working.

Harsher penalties seem only to encourage corruption and bribery, and ultimately more environmental damage, argues Richard Damania at the University of Adelaide. In Thailand, for example, the government has bumped up fines for illicit behaviour. But because the chance of someone actually being caught offering a bribe or taking one is so low, all the draconian policy has done is drive up the asking-price for bribes.

To afford them, companies simply pollute more by stepping up production to keep profits up. Likewise, raising the tax against pollution simply drives up the incentive to give out bribes and under-report emissions." (New Scientist)

We could wish... "Next ice age on ice? Another big freeze might never happen." - "Mankind could lock the world into an irreversible greenhouse effect, banishing future ice ages, warn two Belgian scientists. Global warming caused by emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases could tip the Earth into a completely new climate state in which cycles of freezing and thawing are switched off, they suggest." (NSU)

"SATELLITES SHOW OVERALL INCREASES IN ANTARCTIC SEA ICE COVER" - "While recent studies have shown that on the whole Arctic sea ice has decreased since the late 1970s, satellite records of sea ice around Antarctica reveal an overall increase in the southern hemisphere ice over the same period. Continued decreases or increases could have substantial impacts on polar climates, because sea ice spreads over a vast area, reflects solar radiation away from the Earth’s surface, and insulates the oceans from the atmosphere." (NASA/GSFC)

"Home Office defies Prescott ozone directive" - "Leaked documents reveal that the Home Office is insisting its new Whitehall headquarters is fitted with an air conditioning system which has been officially criticised because of its damage to the environment. Confidential tendering documents for the building in Marsham Street, London, show the government will only consider bids to supply air conditioning that uses hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. John Prescott's UK climate change programme says that the use of HFCs is unsustainable, and advises businesses and government contract managers that "action be taken to limit" their use." (The Guardian)

Probably just a little confusion. After all, UK's environment minister, Michael Meacher, doesn't know a hurricane from an El Niño event [See Transcript of interview given by the Minister of State for the Environment, Mr Michael Meacher in Friday, 9 August 2002- Interview with The Sunday Times (PDF 48kb)] and sustainability is a really tricky topic. While The Guardian is worried about ozone, Government offices to use 'global warming' chemical cries The Independent.

"European Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accelerating" - "BERLIN, Germany, August 22, 2002 - Carbon dioxide emissions in the European Union rose in 2001 by three-quarters of one percent, according to new data from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). Emitted by the combustion of fossil fuels, carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming as it forms a blanket trapping the Sun's heat close to Earth. Last year's rise is greater than between the years 1999 and 2000, when CO2 levels increased by just 0.5 percent across the 15 EU member countries." (ENS)

"Kyoto policy shift stuns oilpatch; Ottawa may sign soon: Sector fears conditions sought will fall by wayside" - "CALGARY - Canada's oilpatch reacted with anger yesterday at news that Ottawa appears ready to sign the Kyoto accord on reducing greenhouse gas emissions without any of the conditions sought by industry.

"We are extremely surprised and disappointed," said Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, which represents the country's major oil and gas companies.

"It appears ... that the decision to ratify has been made at a time when we have no idea what [the] implications might be, what the costs might be, and how those costs are going to be shared across the country." (Financial Post)

"Fast-Tracking Adherence to the Kyoto Protocol" - "IN 30 years Durban could find itself a high-risk malaria zone all year round, and SA will be facing massive food shortages due to a dramatic reduction in rainfall. That is just part of the alarming picture painted by the Africa Environmental Outlook, a recent United Nations (UN) Environment Programme report. The cause of the predicted problems is climate change caused by global warming. With the World Summit on Sustainable Development looming large, Paul Norrish is making a concerted effort to disseminate the message that climate change is everyone's problem, and not just a mess that the world's richest nations should be cleaning up." (Business Day (Johannesburg))

"Newsday.com - Dean pledges reductions in state's release of greenhouse gases" - "MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Greenhouse gas emissions in the state would be reduced by more than 25 percent in the next decade if a directive signed Thursday by Gov. Howard Dean is followed. The emissions would continue to be reduced through the middle of the century until they are 75 percent lower than they were in 1990, Dean said. "The overwhelming majority of the world's climate scientists have said that the threat of global warming is real," Dean said. "Many Vermonters will tell you they have sensed subtle changes in our weather already. We must be proactive and cannot close our eyes to these issues."

"Norway scraps experiment to dump CO2 at sea" - "OSLO - Norway bowed to protests by environmentalists yesterday and denied permission for a controversial experiment to dump tonnes of liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) into the ocean off its shores." (Reuters)

"S.U.V. Haters Pitch a Curbside Battle" - "Vigilantes are growing in numbers and intensity, challenging the owners of S.U.V.'s with crude fliers "informing" owners about air pollution and global warming." (New York Times)

"Long Island utility considers wind farms in ocean - 8 22 2002 - ENN.com" - "NEW YORK — Taking another step forward in its effort to harness the wind to generate electricity, New York's Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) issued a request Wednesday for information from potential developers of wind farms in the ocean off Long Island's south shore. "By harnessing the wind to generate electricity, Long Island will be taking a giant step forward in reducing its dependence on fossil-fuel-generated electricity, which in turn will help reduce power plant emissions on Long Island,'' said LIPA Chairman Richard Kessel in a statement."

"Cloned pigs bring new hope for transplants" - "The prospect of pig organs being transplanted into humans moved one step closer yesterday after the creation of cloned pigs which lack a particular gene linked with tissue rejection.

However, patients may have to wait "a number of years" before GM cloned pigs under development by PPL Therapeutics near Edinburgh and other companies can help overcome the desperate worldwide shortage of transplant organs, said Chris Rudge, the medical director for UK Transplant." (The Telegraph)

"Science Group Touts Biotech For Sustainable Development; World Summit Negotiators Urged to Make Good on Promises" - "AUBURN, Ala., Aug. 22 -- The AgBioWorld Foundation today urged representatives to next week's World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa to live up to a ten-year-old commitment to facilitate the introduction of advanced biotechnologies into less developed nations. "At the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, negotiators committed to using biotechnology to advance sustainable development goals," said AgBioWorld president C.S. Prakash, a professor of plant genetics at Tuskegee University. "But for the past ten years, most industrialized nations have been actively preventing this from becoming a reality." (U.S. Newswire)

"US asks EU to assure Africans on biotech food" - "WASHINGTON - The United States has asked the European Union to reassure governments in southern Africa that EU trade ties with the region will not be disrupted if the African states accept donations of U.S. genetically modified grain, U.S. officials said. The United States, which has offered to meet almost 50 percent of the emergency food needs of southern Africa this year, has also asked the Europeans to offer more food aid of their own, the officials said." (Reuters)

"WHO sees risk unlikely from gene-altered foods" - "GENEVA - The World Health Organisation restated yesterday it was "unlikely" genetically-modified foods posed a hazard to humans, but denied it had called crisis talks in Africa to allay fears about food aid containing GM. The Financial Times reported that the U.N. health agency had set up talks in Harare, Zimbabwe on Monday to overcome the refusal of several famine-hit countries to accept GM food. It said that WHO was "stockpiling rejected grain" for distribution. Dr. Andrew Cassels, a senior adviser to WHO director-general Gro Harlem Brundtland, denied the FT story at a news briefing called to launch a report "WTO Agreements and Public Health", the first joint study by WHO and World Trade Organisation (WTO)." (Reuters)

August 22, 2002

"Judge dismisses asbestos claims against Montana" - "HELENA, Mont. (August 21, 2002 3:36 p.m. EDT) - State health officials had no legal obligation to warn residents of the northwestern Montana town of Libby that asbestos from a vermiculite mine and mill was dangerous, a state judge ruled. District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock dismissed those claims from 23 lawsuits involving people exposed to asbestos at the W.R. Grace & Co. mine, which has been blamed for some 200 deaths and hundreds of illnesses." (Associated Press)

"Animal extremism" - "WRAPPED UP in their own obsession, some animal rights activists have descended into lawlessness. Intimidation, assault, and destruction of property are all too common in England. Now US firms may be in for similar treatment.

This week two animal rights activists from an England-based group, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), were arraigned in Boston on charges of stalking, criminal harassment, and extortion. The duo, Lisa Lotts and Ryan Kleinert, are accused of targeting a Back Bay insurance executive whose firm does business with Huntingdon Life Sciences, a contract research laboratory based in England and New Jersey that uses animals to test medicine, chemicals, food products, and pesticides. The pair has been ordered to stay clear of the executive.

According to prosecutors, the pair conducted bullhorn demonstrations at 3 a.m. at his home, threatened to burn down his residence, and sought to intimidate him by making references, by name, to his 2-year-old son." (The Boston Globe)

"EARTH: A Global Health Check" - "As the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development prepares to kick off in Johannesburg, The Guardian publishes a 52-page supplement which surveys the state of the planet, covering the issues of water, poverty, health, climate change, inequality, food & trade, biodiversity, education, population control and natural disasters (items also available as PDF files):
For better: look at the progress already made; For worse: world is suffering from broken promises; Blue gold: Earth's liquid asset; Cows are better off than half the world; The killer diseases that target the poor; Living with malaria; Only the well fed worry about tomorrow; The quest to grow without grime; Do we really care enough to save ourselves?; Worlds apart; International trade has winners and losers. But the odds are stacked against the poor; Hunger in a world of plenty; Anti-GM: It has all the ingredients to add to global hunger; Pro-GM: It is not a panacea, just an everyday essential; And then there were none..." (The Guardian)

"COMMENT & ANALYSIS: America in the dock" - "As heads of state from around the world prepare to gather in Johannesburg for the expected disappointment of the 10th anniversary of the Earth Summit, there may be a shock waiting. In the exhausted world of making global deals on the environment, poor countries are preparing to abandon the negotiating table for the courtroom.

The prime minister of the small South Pacific island of Tuvalu recently surprised the international community by announcing that his country is considering a lawsuit against the US for its emissions of greenhouse gases. Rising sea levels, coupled with extreme and unpredictable weather resulting from global warming, will be devastating to his low-lying nation.

The decision to contemplate such action is almost inevitable after the increasing role of law in international relations to meet perhaps the greatest environmental threat of our times. War crimes tribunals, Nazi Holocaust reparations, and now suits for slavery as a crime against humanity are all evidence that what was either ignored, or the subject of diplomatic deal-making, is now open to international legal redress." (Financial Times)

"The Nando Times: Jumbo squids could signify return of El Nino" - "VENTURA, Calif. (August 21, 2002 7:49 p.m. EDT) - Jumbo squids, which marine experts believe have ridden the warm waters from Baja to Northern California, are being caught by fishermen off the coast of Ventura County. Experts say the jumbo squids' presence is further proof that another El Nino is brewing, which could have a big impact on California's commercial fisheries. Annette Henry, marine biologist with the California Fish and Game Department in La Jolla, said El Nino's warmer waters are bringing the jumbo squids from Baja. The animals propel themselves by funneling seawater through their bodies. Channel Islands commercial fisherman Scott Jarvis said he has been fishing off the Ventura Coast for decades, and he hasn't seen jumbo squids this far north since 1978, when he was 16 years old. Henry said the last California sightings of the jumbo squids were in 1998. They are 2 to 3 feet long. By comparison, the California market squid, which spawns in state waters, is about 12 inches long."

"A More Orderly Process" - "Editor's note: The following is an interview with Dr. Harlan Watson, the U. S. State Department's Senior Climate Change Negotiator and Special Representative. TCS Host James K. Glassman conducted the interview. Watson is leaving today for Johannesburg, South Africa as part of the U.S. government's delegation to the World Summit on Sustainable Development." (James K. Glassman, TCS)

"Global Warming, Global Scepticism" - "In the 1970s and 1980s climate experts started to worry about the measured increase in the carbon dioxide (CO2) content of the atmosphere. On the basis of the known principle of the greenhouse effect, it could be expected that the temperature on the earth would rise. It seemed likely that the change was the result of the sharp increase in the use of fossil fuels (coal, mineral oil and natural gas). In 1988, under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up with the object of interpreting and reporting on developments in climate research around the world. These reports were intended to serve as advice for the participating governments. The main task was to examine whether there was indeed any question of climate change and in particular of global warming. If that were to be the case, international agreements might be needed to limit the use of fossil fuels." (Hans H.J. Labohm and Dick Thoenes, TCS Europe)

World Climate Report Volume 7, Number 24, August 19, 2002 (GES)

"Power Hungry, Power Mad" - "After last summer's energy crisis in California, residents are understandably more at ease this summer. But while some people are concerned about a lack of power, demanding more generators and power lines, others are worried about the consequences of too much power. They claim that the electromagnetic fields (EMFs) generated by high-voltage power lines are detrimental to our health." (Howard Fienberg, TCS)

"Earth facing electricity crisis" - "Paris - Some 1.6 billion people or more than a quarter of the earth's population have no access to electrical power, and 1.4 billion will still be without it in 30 years unless something radical is done, the International Energy Agency warned Wednesday. "1.6 billion people today have no access to electricity," said IEA Director Robert Priddle: "2.4 billion rely on primitive biomass for cooking and heating. "What is more shocking, in the absence of radical new policies, 1.4 billion will still have no electricity in 30 years time. This is not a sustainable future," he told a press conference." (Sapa-AFP)

"Organic farming caused Dust Bowl" - "WASHINGTON -- American farmers are destroying the topsoil and can no longer produce healthy food, claims George Pyle, writing for the Kansas Land Institute recently. Pyle warns that we must go back to traditional farming before we create another Dust Bowl. But if traditional farming was so wonderful, how come we had the Dust Bowl in the first place?

In the 1930s, when the original Dust Bowl crisis hit America, all farming was organic and low-intensity. That's what Pyle recommends for our future. But the dust clouds roiled, literally, from the prairies all the way to the U.S. Capitol in Washington where gritty-eyed senators hurriedly created the U.S. Soil Conservation Service." (Dennis T. Avery and Alex R. Avery, Knight Ridder)

"Strategy to boost biotechnology's market share" - "A major strategy statement designed to ensure Australia becomes a stronger global competitor in the field of biotechnological research and development was launched by the CSIRO today at the AusBiotech2002 Conference in Melbourne. CSIRO's mission centres on achieving growth in the area by facilitating large-scale collaborative ventures in partnership with industry and other research agencies. Launching the document, the Deputy Chair of CSIRO's Biotechnology Strategy Team, Professor Richard Head, said Australia's biotechnology R & D sector was in a prime position to take advantage of its already high international standing." | CSIRO brings biotech to Australia's farmers (CSIRO)

"WHO seeks to allay African GM food fears" - "The World Health Organisation has summoned African governments to a crisis meeting in Zimbabwe to try to allay fears over genetically modified food as emergency relief. The meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, is an attempt by the international agency to overcome the refusal of several famine-hit countries to accept GM food as humanitarian aid. The WHO, which is stockpiling rejected grain and wants to distribute it as soon as possible, warned that 300,000 people could die of hunger and disease in the next six months. WHO officials said they would meet 10 southern African health ministers in Harare on Monday to consider a response to the "acute and large-scale crisis facing the region". Gro Harlem Brundtland, WHO director-general, will attend. The US has supplied GM maize as part of an international effort to relieve the 14m people facing starvation in the region. While Malawi, Lesotho and Swaziland have accepted the GM aid, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique have rejected it." (Financial Times)

August 21, 2002

"In a World of Hazards, Worries Are Often Misplaced" - "Spared from worry about whether they will have enough to eat today or a roof over their heads tomorrow, most Americans have the luxury of worrying about the hazards that may be lurking in their air, water and food as a result of all this progress and affluence.

We are healthier, live longer, have more sources of pleasure and convenience and more regulations of industrial and agricultural production than ever, but we are also more worried about the costs to our health of environmental contaminants." (Jane E. Brody, New York Times)

2 for 1 offer, Spitzer and Landrigan: "Toxic Pesticide Risk Is Seen for Public School Children" - "Children who live in public housing, go to public schools and play in parks in cities across the state are being exposed to high levels of toxic pesticides, according to a report released yesterday by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer." (New York Times)

"Side effects of the war on pesticides -- The Washington Times" - "The growing death toll associated with the mosquito-transmitted West Nile virus has captured the nation's attention. Yet environmental activists maintain that public health officials are engaged in a massive overreaction to a small risk, leading localities to use highly dangerous pesticides. In reality, it's the environmentalists' attack on pesticides that poses the greatest risk. Environmentalists have gone as far as to depict West Nile fatalities as unimportant."

"Adoring Nature, Till It Bites Us in the Back" - "Biophilia, humanity's tendency to be drawn toward nature, enfolds biophobia, a fear of being sucked down and overwhelmed by too much nature." (New York Times)

"Learning to Live With Logging and (Gasp!) Even Liking It" - "BOKOLA, Congo Republic — "Bongo!" Paul Elkan exclaimed as he cruised down a logging road in this dense central African forest, keeping one eye out for animal tracks and the other on oncoming traffic.

A researcher with the Wildlife Conservation Society, Mr. Elkan can spot the tracks of the bongo, or striped antelope, while driving at top speed in his Land Cruiser. He knows many other soil signatures as well: the giant pads of the forest elephant, the cleft hooves of the duiker, the handprints of the chimpanzee, not to mention the tread marks left by logging trucks loaded down with hardwood rushing to the sawmill.

Irresponsible logging replaces rich ecosystems with barren fields. But scientists acknowledge that selective logging can actually help a forest grow and provide room for some animal species, like elephants and bongo, to forage, socialize and reproduce.

This new view that resources can often be managed both for economic and environmental value is uncomfortable for some conservationists. But it is spreading. In fact, some environmentalists say it is the best and perhaps the only approach to conserving nature in rapidly developing countries." (New York Times)

"As Alien Invaders Proliferate, Conservationists Change Their Focus" - "In a human-dominated planet, it is only natural that wilderness and wildlife will be increasingly disrupted, hemmed in or exterminated. That has been happening steadily through the era of industrialization, which created today's wealthy minority, and will happen far more, biologists say, as the developing world strives to become developed." (New York Times)

"Harvest the Whales" - "It makes sense to save the whales that are endangered, but it's also time to allow some species to be harvested again." (New York Times)

"Experts Scale Back Estimates of World Population Growth" - "Demography has never been an exact science. Ever since social thinkers began trying to predict the pace of population growth a century or two ago, the people being counted have been surprising the experts and confounding projections. Today, it is happening again as stunned demographers watch birthrates plunge in ways they never expected." (New York Times)

"Bracing for Economic Changes, When the Population Grows No More" - "For decades, economic advisers from rich countries have preached the virtues of slower population growth to poor countries striving to improve their standards of living. Intentionally or otherwise, the advisers' own countries may have followed that recommendation too closely. Where a stabilizing population can offer economic succor to one country, it may wreak fiscal turmoil in the next." (New York Times)

"Changing Everything" - "More than 100 presidents, prime ministers, and other potentates will convene over the next couple of weeks (August 26-September 4) in Johannesburg, South Africa, in a desperate attempt to save the earth. The occasion is the United Nations' World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which is aimed at revolutionizing how the world's economy operates. This economic, social and environmental revolution must occur because, it is claimed, humanity is on an unsustainable path that is leading toward global catastrophe. Indeed, all summer, as the WSSD approached, we have been treated to a series of reports and media events concocted to persuade us that the world is about to fall apart. " (Ronald Bailey, Reason)

TechCentralStation has launched www.Joburg.TechCentralStation.com, a special section of TCS devoted to daily coverage of the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) with an optimistic, pro-development, high tech agenda for humanity. The online portal will feature news and commentary from a team of experts, on-site at the Summit, led by TCS Host Jim Glassman. The site will offer up to the minute coverage and interviews on issues ranging from climate change, water rights, AID vs. trade, biotechnology, and corporate responsibility. (TCS)

?!! "A World Without Water" - "In 1995 World Bank vice president Ismail Serageldin made a much quoted prediction for the new millennium: "If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water." Serageldin has been proven correct much faster than he or anyone else thought. Two years into the 21st century, the global water wars are upon us." (Ginger Adams Otis, The Village Voice) | As the world grows thirsty, a vital question: Who owns water? (Associated Press) | Children are victims of privatisation, warns charity (Independent)

"US Government, Charities Launch New Safe Water Program for West Africa" - "A $41 million initiative to provide safe drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people in West Africa is being launched by a group of private U.S. charitable organizations and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The new multi-million dollar effort will accelerate current efforts to bring safe water to people in West Africa." (VOA News)

"Why Earth Summit must fail to succeed" - "The issues are not right, there is no political will, and the world is not ready for yet another summit on sustainable development right now. So let it fail, and let it fail miserably." (W. Bradnee Chambers, The Daily Yomiuri)

[Chambers is head of Multilateralism and Sustainable Development and senior program coordinator at the U.N. University Institute of Advanced Studies.]

"Lobbying galore" - "The world's biggest conference will cost £35m and bring some 65,000 delegates from 185 countries to Johannesburg. An expensive jamboree for heads of state and unwieldy delegations? In fact, most of those attending what has been dubbed the earth summit, but has the proper name of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), will not be from official delegations. Apart from the 12,000 journalists, there is a massive turnout from environmental and development lobby groups and big business. These will all have parallel conferences and be lobbying politicians. Unlike at Rio de Janeiro 10 years ago, when the multinationals watched from the sidelines, businessmen will be central to this summit." (The Guardian)

"Malaysia Tigers Risk Bullet as Global Summit Nears" - "KUALA LUMPUR - By the time global talks to tackle human poverty and save rare species and habitats start in South Africa Monday, several Malaysian tigers may have been shot dead or shut behind bars.

Three Malaysian rubber tappers have been mauled to death since April, and a fourth is missing following a series of attacks which led to the chief minister of the northern state of Kelantan to ask the army to shoot all tigers in the area.

The clash between poor people and endangered tigers is an indication of the complexity of issues facing delegates at Johannesburg's World Summit on Sustainable Development. "I am all for the shooting of the animals rather than using tranquilizers or traps, as these methods will not solve the problem," local newspapers reported chief minister Nik Aziz as saying." (Reuters)

"South Africa readies for Earth Summit" - "As Johannesburg gears up for the world summit on sustainable development, not all of its citizens are looking forward to the estimated influx of 40 000 visitors ranging from anti-globalisation protestors to heads of state. For months now the roads in and out of the summit's epicentre at Sandton City have been in traffic gridlock. "A sign of things to come," sighed a friend of mine wearily. It used to take her five minutes to get to work. These days it takes her at least an hour. It is because all of the roads are being widened and upgraded to cater for the cavalcades of cars carrying dignatories, delegates, popstars and heads of state to and from the summit. Water and sewerage systems have also had to be upgraded to cope with the extra volume." (BBC News Online)

"How your quiet night at home is destroying the planet" - "It is evening. The curtains are drawn, the halogen lights have been turned down low. A compact disc is playing on the stereo. Later, there's the prospect of watching that new Tom Cruise movie on the DVD player. The microwave has just pinged to announce that the chicken tikka is ready to serve. Maybe there'll be time to sneak in a few rounds of Premiership Manager on the PlayStation before bed.

While this is the sort of evening many Britons may look forward to as they struggle through their working day, such domestic indulgence comes at an increasingly heavy cost for the environment.

A new report from the Government reveals how the increasingly luxurious lifestyles enjoyed by many Britons, and their reliance on ever-greater numbers of electrical appliances, have led to a spiralling rise in household energy consumption since 1970. Indeed, as we confront the reality of global warming at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg next week, we need look no further than our own living rooms for the cause." (Independent)

"Meacher joins call for 'green taxes'" - "Michael Meacher, the Environment minister, has called for the introduction of "green taxes" as part of a drive to combat threats to the environment. Mr Meacher has co-written a blueprint to save the planet drawn up by Europe's 41 left-of-centre political parties, before next week's United Nations summit on sustainable development in Johannesburg." (Independent)

"Global warming threatens Africa" - "A new report by a conservation group warns that food and water supplies in Africa could be put at risk if global warming continues at the current rate." (BBC News Online)

"Death of ocean organisms may be hitting fish stocks" - "GLOBAL warming is being accelerated by a huge decline of tiny organisms in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans tha