Archives - February 2003

February 28, 2003

"Consumer Watchdog: Vinyl Toys Are Just Ducky" - "The Consumer Product Safety Commission did the right thing last week in ruling rubber duckies and other vinyl toys pose "no demonstrated health risk" to children. This should end a long-running controversy contrived by environmental extremists." (Steven Milloy, FoxNews.com)

"The case of the mute scientists" - "Science — today and every day — is under assault. The assailants are members of the media, trial lawyers, self-appointed consumer-activists and environmentalists. The science being mutilated pertains to a wide spectrum of health topics — including "facts" on the purported health hazards around us, including acrylamide (a chemical formed in cooking high-carbohydrate foods), breast implants, PCBs, phthalates (plasticizers), aspartame (Nutrasweet), Olestra (Procter & Gamble's doomed fat substitute). In these instances — and so many more — outright blatant misrepresentations of the available science are made, health hazards that do not exist are claimed and picked up by the news media, and ultimately by lawyers intoxicated with the possibility of a cash reward in court from a corporate deep pocket." (Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan, Washington Times)

"Science on the Rocks" - "The current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) carries a lead article and accompanying editorial that are long on advocacy, short on data. The topic: alcohol consumption in America, who is drinking how much — and how much is too much." (Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan, ACSH)

"Common cleaning chemical linked to male infertility: study" - "KINGSTON, ONTARIO - A chemical used widely in industry and present in ground water supplies in some areas has been found in the semen of infertile men. A study by Canadian and American researchers found trichloroethylene (TCE) in the semen of male mechanics. TCE is a de-greaser used in automotive and metal industries. It is also a common ingredient in lubricants, paints, varnishes, pesticides and cleaning fluids." (CBC News)

TCE is systemically present in high-volume users, hardly a major surprise. Of greater interest is whether it is similarly present in fertile mechanics. If so, is there a definable dose-response curve? If not, why are infertile mechanics demonstrating detectable levels? Is it relevant at all?

"Pesticide poisoning tied to asthma symptoms" - "FOZ DO IGUAÇU, Brazil - Pesticide poisoning substantially increases the risk of developing asthma symptoms, or having existing symptoms worsen, according to a study presented here this week at the 27th International Congress on Occupational Health." (Reuters Health)

"Map Links Healthier Ecosystems, Indigenous Peoples" - "Central America and southern Mexico's forests and marine resources have been dwindling for decades. Now there's evidence that the scope of destruction depends on who uses the land and water. A new map shows that natural ecosystems have a better chance of survival when indigenous people inhabit them." (National Geographic News)

Actually, it seems to map a lack of development, poverty, disease, malnourishment...

"Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute Make Strides in Addressing Mysteries of Ozone in the Human Body" - "La Jolla, CA. February 27, 2003—In what is a first for biology, a team of investigators at The Scripps Research Institute is reporting that the human body makes ozone.

Led by TSRI President Richard Lerner, Ph.D. and Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry Paul Wentworth, Jr, Ph.D., who made the original discovery, the team has been slowly gathering evidence over the last few years that the human body produces the reactive gas—most famous as the ultraviolet ray-absorbing component of the ozone layer—as part of a mechanism to protect it from bacteria and fungi.

"Ozone was a big surprise," says TSRI Professor Bernard Babior, M.D., Ph.D. "But it seems that biological systems manufacture ozone, and that ozone has an effect on those biological systems." (TSRI)

"Fossil Records Show Methane in Seafloor Sediments Released During Periods of Rapid Climate Warming" - "Scientists have found new evidence indicating that during periods of rapid climate warming methane gas has been released periodically from the seafloor in intense eruptions. In a study published in the current issue of the journal Science, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs and colleagues Laura Hmelo and Sean Sylva of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) provide a direct link between methane reservoirs in coastal marine sediments and the global carbon cycle, an indicator of global warming and cooling." (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

"Extreme weather on the rise, likely to get worse, says report" - "LONDON — The world has experienced unusually extreme weather in recent decades, and economic losses from storms and other catastrophes have increased tenfold, an independent research group reported Thursday. The World Water Council said more intense rainy seasons, longer dry seasons, stronger storms, and rising sea levels had helped cause an increasing number of disastrous floods and droughts." (Associated Press)

Compared with... ?

"NSF chooses alternative method to refuel its main Antarctic research station" - "The cumulative effects of at least two years of unusual ice conditions in McMurdo Sound are keeping a fuel tanker from reaching the pier at the National Science Foundation's (NSF) McMurdo Station, where it normally would deliver the fuel to keep the U.S. Antarctic Program operating through the approaching austral winter and into the next research season." (NSF)

"U.S. Seeking Cleaner Model of Coal Plant" - "The Energy Department yesterday announced plans to build an experimental power plant within 10 years that runs on coal but emits no carbon dioxide, the heat-trapping greenhouse gas that makes coal plants major contributors to global warming. The project, called FutureGen, is considered a first step toward creating a generation of coal-fueled power plants that emit no greenhouse gases and cost no more than 10 percent extra to run, department officials said. The technology is essential, said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, if the vast coal reserves in the United States and in many developing countries are to be used without adding to the atmosphere's burden of greenhouse gases." (New York Times)

"Emission credits to curb Denmark's CO2 pollution" - "COPENHAGEN - Denmark said this week it would reach its target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by buying emission credits from central and eastern Europe." (Reuters)

"NY utility to buy 45 fuel cells, some for homes" - "NEW YORK - The Long Island Power Authority this week said it would buy 45 fuel cells this year as part of Governor George Pataki's goal of supplying 25 percent of New York's electricity with alternative energy within 10 years." (Reuters)

"US farmers see ethanol as substitute to foreign oil" - "CHARLOTTE, N.C. - As oil prices continue to rise, legislation that would triple U.S. ethanol production was expected to dominate this week's meeting of two major farm groups. Some 3,000 members of the National Corn Growers and the American Soybean Association will gather yesterday for an annual meeting focused on U.S. renewable fuels as well as traditional topics such as corn and soybean prices." (Reuters)

"UK energy policy could hurt British industry-EIUG" - "LONDON - Britain's big industrial energy users said this week higher gas and power prices, resulting from government measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions, could hit their ability to compete in world markets. Lobby group Energy Intensive Users Group (EIUG) said that unless other countries followed similar policies to those outlined by the UK government in a white paper earlier this week, the impact on British industry could be devastating." (Reuters)

"Thailand to allow GMO field tests" - "BANGKOK - Thailand said yesterday it will allow field testing of genetically modified crops but continue to ban bio-engineered products from being sold. Thailand currently bans the import of genetically modified food and other products and only allows testing of bio-engineered cotton seed in laboratories." (Reuters)

"Govt to set up panels to study GM food" - "NEW DELHI: Taking the first step towards a policy on genetically-modified food, the government had its first inter-ministerial consultations on the issue Wednesday. It's decided to set up sub-committees to examine the different issues. Chaired by Sushma Choudhary, new genetic engineering approval committee (GEAC) chief and additional secretary in the environment ministry, the meeting was attended by representatives from the ministries of external affairs, agriculture, food processing, commerce, industry and biotechnology as well as the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)." (Times of India)

"Public 'not fundamentally opposed' to GM crops" - "The public trust neither the government nor the biotechnology industry over the introduction of genetically modified crops - but they are not fundamentally opposed to the technology, official research has shown. People fear businesses could be the only winners from commercialisation of GM technology in Britain, according to research carried out for the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Council, the official government watchdog for the GM industry." (Financial Times)

"EU States Opposing GM Cite Lack of Crop Mix Rules" - "BRUSSELS - A call by several EU states for tighter rules to prevent gene-modified seeds from contaminating other crops may be their next tactic to delay an end to the bloc's virtual ban on GM food, officials said on Thursday." (Reuters)

"Senators, Organic Industry, Resist New Biotech Corn" - "WASHINGTON, DC, February 27, 2003 - As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approves a new genetically engineered corn for sale, members of Congress and the organic farm industry are working to keep that corn from ending up as feed for animals raised on organic farms." (ENS)

February 27, 2003

"The FDA Puts Acrylamide in Perspective " - "Last spring, über-food-cop Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) complained that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had been "strangely silent about acrylamide." Yesterday the FDA spoke up, but it didn't warn "consumers to avoid or cut back [on] french fries" like Jacobson wanted. Instead, as the Associated Press reports, the FDA counseled Americans: "Don't change your diet." (Center For Consumer Freedom)

"Toxins made by peat" - "Humans have been putting highly toxic chemicals into the environment by burning peat for centuries, scientists say. Today, large amounts of these dioxins are released from waste incinerators, but research shows we have been exposed to these toxins since even before the industrial revolution." (BBC News Online)

"Fears for babies after pesticide found in food" - "Spinach from Asda and six samples of baby food have been found to contain worrying levels of pesticide residues in the latest government tests. But British carrots are now clear of organophosphate residues which have been a major problem in the past. Spanish spinach from Asda tested by the pesticide residues committee exceeded legal and safety limits. Residues of the pesticide methomyl were found at 240% of the safety level for toddlers and 150% of that for adults." (The Guardian)

"Toxic Shock Syndrome" - "Toxicology may sound like the most boring of subjects, but it governs most of the environmental laws and regulations on the books. Thus if it miscalculates, society may spend billions too much to clean up toxic substances. Indeed, it may be possible to save billions without jeopardizing health - and even improving health - by loosening overly strict standards." (Herbert Inhaber, TCS)

"Cannabis can cause 'vanishing lung syndrome', say doctors" - "Regular cannabis smoking was blamed yesterday by doctors for causing a rise in a debilitating disease known as "vanishing lung syndrome". Doctors treating respiratory illnesses in people aged 25 to 40 are increasingly finding the condition, associated with tobacco smoking, in patients who have seldom, if ever, smoked normal cigarettes." (Independent)

"SPECIAL REPORT: Impaired Number-Crunchers " - "If you and your significant other share a bottle of wine during dinner, you are an "excessive" drinker. That's the latest message from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University and its president, former Carter Administration cabinet member Joseph Califano. CASA's anti-alcohol "research" and its laughable conclusions appear in the latest issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association." (Center For Consumer Freedom)

"Jews outraged by ad linking animal slaughter to Holocaust" - "Jewish leaders are appalled by a controversial new ad campaign that likens the slaughtering of farm animals to the calculated execution of six million Holocaust victims. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), a vocal animal rights group notorious for its outrageous publicity stunts, is touring North America with gigantic posters that depict the supposed similarities between Nazi death camps and present-day factory farms. But Jewish organizations say the campaign -- titled Holocaust on Your Plate -- belittles millions of murders in an attempt to shame a few meat eaters into vegetarianism." (National Post)

"PETA Wants Beer As Wis. State Beverage" - "MADISON, Wis.--People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants Gov. Jim Doyle to change Wisconsin's official beverage from milk to beer, saying milk is harmful to humans and is meant for calves. PETA said in a letter to Doyle Tuesday that beer is healthier than cow's milk, which the group argued could cause heart disease, cancer, allergies, diabetes and obesity." (AP)

"Climate change: Somebody's fault" - "Insurance companies take refuge in the term 'act of God' for catastrophes they cannot be expected to have foreseen, and for which nobody is to blame. A local flood cannot be linked via climate trends to a specific power station that provided the CO₂ to tip the global warming balance. But, argues Myles Allen, in theory science could identify the contribution of a single vehicle to an increase in probability of a particular climate event. And the oil companies could be sued for the damage. Could society cope?" (Nature)

"Rivers benefit as global warming pushes large glaciers into retreat" - "South Island rivers are benefiting from melting glaciers caused by global warming, but the extra flows will not last forever, warns a glacier expert. National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research consultant glaciologist Trevor Chinn, who watches the country's 3140 glaciers, said many of the South Island's largest were retreating rapidly." (NZPA)

"Early explorers' journals throw cold water on global warming theory" - "OTTAWA -- Data compiled from the journals of early Arctic explorers casts doubt on the assumption that recent thinning of Arctic ice is the result of human-induced climate change. A Norwegian study using the explorers' ancient logbooks suggests that dramatic shrinkage of sea ice, widely cited as evidence for global warming in recent years, has occurred before. That doesn't necessarily prove that recent disappearance of sea ice is natural, but raises the possibility that it could be, researchers say. Adventurers of the 1700s, who took meticulous notes on their voyages, encountered ice conditions similar to those seen today, researcher Chad Dick said in an interview from Norway. "If you go back to the early 1700s you find that sea ice extent was about the same then as it is now," said Dick of the Arctic Climate Systems Study, an international research program." (CP)

"US legislation due this week on utility pollution" - "WASHINGTON - Legislation that would cut U.S. utilities' air emissions will be introduced in Congress this week, based on the Bush administration's proposal to let power plants trade pollution credits, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said. EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman said she expected broad support in both the House of Representatives and Senate for a White House plan to reduce three pollutants from power plants by 2018." (Reuters)

"Spend more if you want to be green" - "The government must show a more tangible commitment to green power if it hopes to gain the backing of business for its energy white paper, bankers and leaders of the renewables industry warn today. A meeting at Department of Trade and Industry headquarters will be told that the City still attaches significant political risk to "green" projects, despite Tony Blair giving it strong backing on Monday." (The Guardian)

"BELOW-REPLACEMENT FERTILITY EXPECTED IN 75 PER CENT OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES BY YEAR 2050 ACCORDING TO UN POPULATION REPORT" - "NEW YORK, 26 February (UN Population Division) -- The newly released 2002 Revision of the official United Nations population estimates and projections breaks new ground in terms of the assumptions made on future human fertility and the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For the first time, the United Nations Population Division projects that future fertility levels in most developing countries will likely fall below 2.1 children per woman, the level needed to ensure the long-term replacement of the population, at some point in the twenty-first century. By 2050, the medium variant of the 2002 Revision projects that three out of every four countries in the less developed regions will be experiencing below-replacement fertility." (Media Release)

"Activist Gets 10 Months Jail for GM Crop Attack" - "MONTPELLIER, France - A court Thursday ordered radical French farmer Jose Bove to spend 10 months in prison for damaging fields of genetically modified (GM) crops in his battle against junk food and globalization." (Reuters)

"EU: Byrne GM move blocked by EU Member States" - "A move by European Union (EU) health and consumer affairs commissioner David Byrne to kick-start preparations to lift the five year de-facto moratorium on genetically modified organism imports into the EU has been blocked by Germany, France, Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria." (just-food.com)

"The risks of modified wheat" - "Western farmers facing drought and bad prices could lose markets if Monsanto's wheat is allowed." (Stewart Wells and Holly Penfound, Toronto Star)

February 26, 2003

"Liquor Industry and Scientists at Odds Over Alcohol Study" - "A study of excessive drinking that appears in today's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association has started a saloon brawl of its own between the authors and the liquor industry, with each side accusing the other of manipulating the figures.

The study, by an institute affiliated with Columbia University, concludes that half the alcohol purchased in the United States is sold to teenagers or people who drink too much.

The study, which is the journal's lead article, is couched more as a political statement than as a dry recitation of numbers. It ends with an attack on the liquor industry, calling for higher taxes, antidrinking publicity campaigns and tougher sentences for those who sell to minors." (New York Times)

"CASA's alcohol abuse" - "Last we heard from Joseph Califano, it was a year ago and the former health czar under Jimmy Carter was touting a study on under-age drinking conducted by his Columbia University research center. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), fully 25 percent of all alcohol consumed in the United States was by teen-agers. It was stunning news — and wrong. Mr. Califano's organization had more than doubled the statistic. When called on this deception by the New York Times, CASA's director of policy research said it was an "unfortunate" error, "but we think the 11.4 percent number is way too low, since there's so much underreporting." Given CASA's proven disdain for the facts, one would think a self-respecting publication might take pause at running another Califano-led study on drinking. But not so. The Journal of the American Medical Association carries another misleading CASA study." (Washington Times editorial)

"Agent Orange back in court" - "Is a 1984 settlement for vets final? The answer may impact other class-action suits.

WASHINGTON – The legal battle over the dangerous health effects of the chemical defoliant Agent Orange in the Vietnam War was supposed to end in 1984.

That year, ailing war veterans reached a settlement in which Dow Chemical and other companies agreed to pay $180 million into a fund to compensate those exposed to the toxic spray during the Southeast Asian conflict.

But now, 19 years later, lawyers are trying to reopen the massive class-action litigation because there is no money left in the fund to care for war veterans who are only now showing symptoms of diseases believed linked to Agent Orange exposure." (The Christian Science Monitor)

"Bedbugs Develop Resistance to Insecticide-Treated Bed-Nets" - "A team of British and Tanzanian researchers have discovered that bedbugs are developing resistance to the insecticide used to treat the bed-nets that provide protection against malaria-transmitting mosquitoes. The researchers are concerned that the spread of such resistance could reduce the willingness of villagers to use bed-nets, which have been found to be a highly effective and cost-efficient way of controlling malaria, particularly among young children." (New Vision (Kampala))

"Large human mad cow epidemic is unlikely, say scientists" - "LONDON — A major epidemic in Britain of the human version of mad cow disease is unlikely, scientists said Wednesday, reducing their own previous estimates of potential future cases and deaths from 50,000 to 7,000. The new estimates are based on mortality figures for the disease to the end of 2001 and do not include a decrease in 2002 deaths, so the number is likely to be even lower." (Reuters)

"The Future Of Food Lawsuits" - " He has yet to win a single obesity-related lawsuit, but his royal litigiousness John Banzhaf is already planning for the next one -- and the one after that. The Sacramento Bee says Banzhaf has begun a "brainstorming offensive" and is now considering ambulance-chasing exercises against school boards and milk producers." (Center For Consumer Freedom)

Well, it's almost Patagonian sheep... "UV blinds barnacles; Thinning ozone cuts ocean's sunscreen" - "Intensifying ultraviolet radiation is blinding barnacle larvae, researchers have found, threatening their survival and potentially disrupting entire coastal ecosystems." (NSU)

"Experts Fault Bush Plan to Study Climate" - "A panel of experts has strongly criticized the Bush administration's proposed research plan on the risks of global warming, saying that it "lacks most of the elements of a strategic plan" and that its goals cannot be achieved without far more money than the White House has sought for climate research." (New York Times)

"A Tiny 'Early Warning' of Global Warming's Effect" - "A shy, flower-gathering mammal and longtime icon of the West's high peaks may be the first animal in North America to fall victim to global warming. Pikas — tennis ball-sized critters that whistle at passing hikers and scamper over loose, rocky slopes of the High Sierra and the Rocky Mountains — have disappeared from nearly 30% of the areas where they were common in the early parts of the 20th century, according to a study released Tuesday." (Los Angeles Times)

"Russia urged to rescue Kyoto pact" - "February 26: Pressure on Russia to ratify the Kyoto protocol is intensifying amid fears in the European Union that Moscow may scupper the agreement to combat climate change by refusing to sanction it." (The Guardian)

There's hope. After all, Russia has nothing to gain and everything to lose if Kyoto comes into force. Consider, if Kyoto is ratified, Russia's massive proven and largely undeveloped oil reserves lose significant value, a loss that certainly will not be negated by the sale of hot air certificates as the country continues its laboured recovery and industry gathers pace. And even if the Earth-in-a-toaster brigade are even part right Russia stands to gain much from warming (much of the "warming" of the last century is actually that the Siberian super-cold air mass has been slightly less cold - no big deal but raises the mean temperature, hence the world is "warming.") Would Russians really mind having winters less bitter? Would they complain about longer growing seasons? The longer the Holocene persists, the more likely Russia will be able to keep Artic shipping moving year round. In short, why should they help destroy the economies of the very countries to whom they expect to export their increased agricultural bounty - not to mention their oil, while trying to prevent that which would be advantageous to them?

"We're Kyoto bound, come hell or hot air" - "Anybody remember Kyoto? Considering how hot the rhetoric got last year, the silence since the House of Commons formally approved the Kyoto Protocol is nothing short of deafening. The thing's a done deal in Ottawa, and now it's awfully quiet out there. A key factor in the surreal silence is the recognition that the person who will lead us in actually implementing the treaty is not the current Prime Minister, but rather, someone sitting out a short term as a back-bench MP." (Globe and Mail)

"Most of North America Fails to Board 20th-Century Climate Catastrophe Train" - "Summary: Climate alarmists claim global warming will lead to large increases in deadly hot weather events. They also claim the last hundred years saw the earth warm at a rate that was unprecedented over the past millennium. Hence, there should have been a huge increase in debilitating heat waves over the past century. Right?" (co2science.org)

Subject Index Summaries:
"ENSO (Model Inadequacies)" - "Summary: State-of-the-art climate model simulations of ENSO present a distorted view of reality, which suggests they could well be missing the mark in other important areas as well." (co2science.org)

"Rubisco (Grassland Species)" - "Summary: A review of some of the recent literature demonstrates that increases in the air's CO2 content often cause reductions in the amount and/or activity of the photosynthetic enzyme rubisco found in grassland plants without completely negating CO2-induced increases in their rates of photosynthesis." (co2science.org)

Current Journal Reviews:
"Coastal Southern Greenland Temperature History: 1958-2001" - "Summary: What does it tell us about the potential melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet in a slightly warming world? Geophysical Research Letters 30: 10.1029/2002GL015797" (co2science.org)

"Reconstructions of Spring Precipitation in Southwestern Turkey from 1339 to 1998" - "Summary: What can they tell us about climate-alarmist claims that CO2-induced global warming will lead to more frequent and more extreme droughts and floods? International Journal of Climatology 23: 157-171." (co2science.org)

"Fine green words - but without a curb on car use, the policy is unsustainable" - "As far as the rhetoric goes, the Government's new energy policy is just about as green as green can be. It must be an unfamiliar feeling for Tony Blair to be praised by Friends of the Earth, but yesterday almost the entire environmental lobby found something complimentary to say about Mr Blair's speech and the White Paper on energy policy. What is happening?" (Independent)

"US and China join fusion project" - "China and the US are officially joining the largest international science project of the next decade - excepting the International Space Station. The project is the latest stage in the quest to develop fusion power - the energy source of the Sun and other stars. Advocates say it could be cheap and environmentally friendly, though very expensive and time-consuming to develop." (BBC News Online)

"The tide is high" - "One day, fresh water could be as valuable as oil. Is privatisation the best way to manage the shortage? Next month's World Water Forum will decide" (Maude Barlow, The Guardian)

"Monsanto biotech corn wins regulatory approval" - "KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Monsanto Co. said yesterday it had received final regulatory approval for a new biotech corn designed to fight rootworm, and seed would be marketed in time for spring planting in the United States. Both Monsanto and members of the U.S. corn growing industry have been eagerly awaiting the regulatory approval, with Monsanto seeing the new product as a significant addition to its growing stable of biotech crops." (Reuters)

"E.P.A. Approves the Use of Monsanto's Altered Corn" - "The government announced yesterday that it had approved a type of genetically modified corn that it says could lead to a significant reduction in the use of toxic insecticides.

The approval was granted by the Environmental Protection Agency to a corn developed by Monsanto that is resistant to the corn rootworm. This soil-dwelling pest accounted for one out of seven applications of insecticide to all agricultural crops, according to the E.P.A. The resistant corn would require little or no chemicals." (New York Times)

"GM crops could help alleviate food shortage in Pakistan" - "LAHORE: The inaccessibility of cheap foodstuff means 70 percent of the country’s population faces a daily struggle to feed itself. And the increasing use of pesticides, herbicides and insecticides in agriculture is causing environmental pollution while increasing labour cost and decreasing yields.

A viable way to make agriculture less costly and more labour effective could be the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops. However, there are reservations about GM crops, and concerns that they could have harmful affects on vegetation and the people that consume them." (Pakistan Daily Times)

February 25, 2003

"A Toy Story" - "The Consumer Product Safety Commission did the right thing last week in ruling rubber duckies and other children's vinyl toys pose "no demonstrated health risk" to children. This should end a long-running controversy contrived by environmental extremists." (Steve Milloy, TechCentralStation.com)

"EPA Report Has Good, Bad News For Kids; Pollutant Exposure Falls, but Mercury Is Rising Concern" - "The exposure of American children to several harmful pollutants is declining, but asthma rates among children are increasing, the Environmental Protection Agency said yesterday. It said there is a "growing concern" about exposure to mercury by women of child-bearing age that could lead to adverse health consequences for any children they bear." (Washington Post)

"Bacterial infections alter allergic response" - "Researchers have found that early infection with the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae reduced a mouse's subsequent response to allergens. The results suggest bacteria could help prevent asthma and other allergic diseases if an infection occurs before a person is sensitized to an allergen. The findings provide experimental support for the hygiene hypothesis, a proposed explanation for the worldwide rise in asthma and allergies." (National Jewish Medical and Research Center)

"UK: Cancer risk low decades after nuclear tests" - "LONDON - British veterans of nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific Ocean 50 years ago are no more likely to develop cancer overall than other men, but scientists said on Monday they may have an increased risk of leukaemia." (Reuters)

Gasp! "FDA: Nutritious Foods May Have Carcinogen" - "BELTSVILLE, Md. - French fries and potato chips have been dubbed villains when it comes to a possibly cancer-causing substance, but Americans get a lot of the chemical from everyday nutritious staples, government scientists said Monday. Fries and chips do contain more of the substance, called acrylamide, than other fried or baked foods. But foods with low acrylamide levels that are eaten more frequently than junk food — from vitamin-packed breakfast cereal to toast and coffee — have a big impact on the U.S. population's overall exposure to the possible carcinogens, the Food and Drug Administration concluded." (AP)

Groan... "How safe is our food?" - "YOU PROBABLY KNOW someone who buys only local, organically grown produce. She also prepares food with meticulous care -- washing her hands, scrubbing fruits and vegetables, cooking at the proper temperature, and never, ever, letting a dirty cutting board contaminate food. In other words, she's come to believe that food safety is her responsibility. But what about our government? Haven't we been told that the United States has the safest food supply in the world? Don't be so sure. Read Marion Nestle's new book, "Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism" (University of California, 2003) and those last 10 pounds may just melt away." (San Francisco Chronicle)

"Take a toxic tour of your bathroom" - "Can your hairspray really play havoc with your hormones, or a pot of face cream cause cancer? There are a bewildering array of claims and counter-claims about the life-enhancing or toxic qualities of cosmetics that not only women but men and children, too, are using on a daily basis. While a large number of substances commonly used in toiletries have been found to cause cancer in rodents, disrupt hormones, or damage mucous membranes, the cosmetics industry's publicists insist that the concentrations of such substances fall way below the levels needed to cause us harm." (Diane Taylor, The Guardian)

"Risk to environment poses same dangers as terror, warns Blair" - "The destruction of the environment and global warming are as great a threat to world peace as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, the prime minister said yesterday. In a speech which linked terrorism to global inequalities, Tony Blair took a sideswipe at his ally George Bush for tackling one and not the other. "There can be no lasting peace while there is appalling injustice and poverty," he said." (The Guardian)

Hmm... the cure for poverty is wealth creation, isn't it? Why then, if wishing to cure poverty, is the course a headlong rush to inhibit wealth creation by pursuing the misanthropic Kyoto Protocol? We all know that Kyoto could not significantly (or measurably) affect the rate or extent of climate change even were enhanced greenhouse eventually to prove a problem. There's simply no upside to this nonsense.

They've been given a sign: "Global Warning Signs" - "Global warming has its doubters who think that the concept of a superheated Earth is alarmist. A one-degree increase in temperature over the past century is not, they argue, a sign that the world as we know it is headed for extinction." (Hartford Courant)

"Climate Change, Where and When?" - "LONDON, Feb 24 - In all this talk of climate change, we hear almost nothing about where the climate will change, and how, and when. Difficult questions, but the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) will attempt to answer them as its fourth assessment review gets under way, the panel's chairperson Dr Rajendra Pachauri told IPS in an interview." (IPS)

"Greenhouse gases mean far hotter summers" - "THE world is heating up at the fastest rate for 10,000 years, and in the lifetime of today’s children British summers will be 6C warmer than now, according to scientific evidence of global warming presented by the Government yesterday." (The Times)

"Technically Unsound" - "Question: How can science prove that the apocalypse will happen in a century from now? Answer: Use models, introduce some small biases in the beginning and because of the logic of compounded interest one will surely end up with the apocalypse in due time." (Hans Labohm, TCS)

"Rainforest tree eats up 'pollution'" - "A botanist in Brazil has found a plant that he claims may hold the key to reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere." (BBC News Online)

"£55 a year - the cost of stopping global warming" - "HOUSEHOLDS will have to pay £55 a year more for gas and electricity as the price of curbing global warming under government proposals announced yesterday. The plans included more than doubling the number of windfarms, with around 5,000 more turbines being built. The Government will change planning laws to prevent windfarm plans being undermined by local objections." (The Times)

Each household taxed another £55 a year to fight the phantom menace and install more avian cuisinarts. How quaint.

"Who'd give a black duck for 'renewable' energies?" - "A little black duck living in Carmarthen Bay will be quackers with fear over the Government’s energy White Paper. Although, the Cabinet wisely refused to commit itself yesterday to the much-hyped target of generating a fifth of our energy by 2020 from so-called “renewables”, like waves and wind, it still presented a vision of our little island covered by giant wind-farms. But, the unpalatable truth about most “renewables” is that they are no more “green” than coal, oil, gas, or nuclear, which at least have the merit of working." (Philip Stott, The Times)

"UK unveils greener energy plans" - "The UK Government has unveiled plans for a switch towards cleaner forms of energy, and away from fossil fuels and nuclear power. The long-awaited Energy White Paper, published on Monday, spells out plans for radically cutting the pollution blamed for global warming." (BBC News Online)

"Blair stepped in to block plans for new nuclear power stations" - "Tony Blair intervened personally to block any commitment to building new nuclear power stations in yesterday's energy white paper, according to government insiders.

The prime minister - who yesterday hailed a "step change in the UK's energy strategy over the next 50 years" - also lent his backing to a new set of ambitious "green" energy targets.

Those targets could yet rebound on government. The commitment to cut carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 may be principally a headache for ministers not even born yet. But other goals in the white paper could fall short in the foreseeable future, not least the aim of increasing the share of energy from renewables to 20 per cent by 2020." (Financial Times)

"Five years for green power to prove its worth; Ministers throw down gauntlet on alternative to nuclear comeback" - "The government yesterday gave the renewable power industry five years to prove it can meet a growing share of Britain's energy needs - in effect leaving the back door open for the stricken nuclear industry to stage a comeback.

Green energy companies and environmental groups welcomed ministers' clear determination to meet ambitious targets to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050 without a revival of atomic power.

But they cautioned that the Treasury would have to commit substantially more funds if the industry was to gradually fill the energy gap, and warned that the government's decision to turn its target of 20% of power from renewables by 2020 into a mere "aspiration" would deter investment by the City." (The Guardian)

Today's moron feature: "Greenpeace shuts UK Esso stations, HQ" - "LONDON - Greenpeace activists, some dressed as tigers, forced the closure of Esso's British headquarters and 100 petrol stations yesterday as a protest against what it called the firm's "fuelling of the Iraq crisis".

About 300 Greenpeace volunteers began targeting stations from dawn yesterday, removing power switches that controlled pumps and locking pump nozzles together, a spokesman for the lobby group told Reuters.

"This is in response to their fuelling of the Iraq crisis and their funding of groups in Washington that are aggressively advocating an attack on Iraq as well as their stance on global warming." (Reuters)

"Supreme Court adds clean air case to fall docket" - "WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Monday that it would review a clean air case that asks when the federal government can overrule state decisions on environmental rules. The justices could use the dispute involving an Alaska mine to extend a line of rulings favoring states' rights. Alaska had urged the court to overturn an appeals court decision that sided with the Environmental Protection Agency in the regulation of the Red Dog mine." (Associated Press)

"North vs. South" - "While continued European political opposition to genetically modified food may soon cause a trade war with the United States, European policy is already contributing to starvation in Africa. Rejection of American GM food aid is exacerbating the current food crisis in Southern Africa, where over 14 million people are still at risk of starvation.

But the impending starvation is far more than just a battle over GM food; it's a catalogue of African mismanagement. It is worth comparing today's situation with the terrible drought and famine that occurred in Southern Africa in 1991-1992. Although today's drought is not as bad the problems that remain are political and unlikely to be resolved quickly." (Roger Bate, TCS)

"EU's secret plans hold poor countries to ransom" - "The European Union has drawn up secret plans aimed at prising open service sector markets in the world's poorest countries in return for cutting its lavish farm subsidies, it was revealed last night. The demands under the World Trade Organisation's service sector talks target 109 countries, including the 50 least developed, and would allow European firms to charge for providing water to some of the 1.2bn people living on less than a dollar a day." (The Guardian)

"Red tape restricts aid to world's poor" - "Millions of the world's poorest people are suffering because Brussels bureaucracy is slowing the payment of aid, EU officials admitted yesterday. Poul Nielsen, the EU commissioner for development, is urging action to "unblock" €11.2bn (£7.6bn) in response to complaints from charities that money needed for Aids, TB and malaria projects remains unused years after being pledged. But Mr Nielsen insisted that progress had been made, and said the union's 15 member states found it easier to criticise Brussels than to improve their own performance." (The Guardian)

"How the Arms of the Helixes Are Poised to Serve" - "In the 50 years since Dr. James D. Watson and Dr. Francis Crick unraveled the twisted-ladder structure of the molecule responsible for heredity, DNA-based technology has become part of the treatment and diagnosis of disease, the food we eat and the search for criminals and deadbeat dads. Yet for all its scope, the application of DNA is still in its infancy." | A Revolution at 50 (New York Times)

"Genetic engineering question again on town meeting ballots" - "BRATTLEBORO -- For the second year in a row, voters throughout the state will be asked in March to call on their representatives to pursue legislation requiring the labeling and restriction of genetically modified food.

According to information from the Plainfield-based Biotechnology Project, voters in 37 towns across the state will be asked to request their state and federal representatives to require the labeling of genetically engineered foods and seeds. Additionally, the article requests that thorough and independent research be done on genetically engineered foods." (Brattleboro Reformer)

"Protesters arrested at GM crop farm" - "Eleven protesters have been arrested for attempting to halt the planting of genetically modified crops at a Highland farm." (BBC News Online)

February 24, 2003

"Better suing through chemicals" - "Environmental extremists are setting the stage for personal injury lawyers to clean up — and not toxic waste sites, either. The good news is that the Bush administration has a chance to head them off at the pass — if only it wasn't asleep at the switch." (Steven Milloy, Washington Times)

Health Scare Without Shame: "New California Bill Seeks to Ban Medical Devices Containing Chemical DEHP" - "Unprecedented Measure to Protect Patients From Toxic Phthalate Was Chosen as Winner of 'There Oughta be a Law Contest'

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 21 -- Today, Assemblymember Alan Lowenthal introduced landmark state legislation to ban the sale and distribution of medical devices containing the chemical DEHP -- a phthalate linked to reproductive birth defects in babies. DEHP is used to soften PVC plastic medical devices, and the chemical leaches out of the product and into patients' bodies." (PRNewswire)

Ditto: "Erin Brockovich Firm to Sue Over Beverly Hills Oil" - "LOS ANGELES - Environmental pollution crusader Erin Brockovich and partner Ed Masry have a new cause -- cancer-causing gases they say lurk beneath the well-manicured streets of Beverly Hills. The two, subjects of the popular film "Erin Brockovich," said Friday they were preparing a lawsuit against the city of Beverly Hills and three oil companies for allegedly ignoring cancer-causing toxic gases leaking from oil wells on the Beverly Hills High School grounds." (Reuters)

"Wipe that brilliant-white smile off your face, says EU" - "British dentists have been warned that they face criminal prosecution under EU law if they use tooth-whitening treatments to give their patients hollywood smiles." (Daily Telegraph)

"Comment: Vivisecting the anti-vivisectionists" - "Social investors and animal rights activists should accept that some scientific research involving animals really is necessary, argues Jon Entine" (EthicalCorp.com)

"On Rules for Environment, Bush Sees a Balance, Critics a Threat" - "WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 — For two years, it has come in bursts, on issues from arsenic to wetlands: the unfolding of what President Bush, as a candidate, promised would be a new era of environmental protection.

Whether rejecting a treaty on global warming, questioning Clinton-era rules on forest protection or pressing for changes in landmark environmental laws, Mr. Bush has imposed a distinctive stamp on a vast landscape of issues affecting air, water, land, energy and the global climate.

What has emerged is an approach similar to President Ronald Reagan's. It seeks to tie environmental protection to other goals that are not always complementary, like economic growth, protection from regulation, increased energy production and deference to local control.

"Our approach is to maximize the quality of life for America," said James L. Connaughton, chairman of Mr. Bush's Council on Environmental Quality, "and that means balancing the environmental equation with the natural resource equation, the social equation and the economic equation." (New York Times)

"Moderate No More" - "That stint on the Democratic Ticket - and the concomitant six months on the road with "Earth in the Balance" author Al Gore - made quite a mark on Senator and presidential aspirant Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.). Since that time he has, among other things, teamed up with frequent George W. Bush nemesis John McCain to introduce some hard green global warming legislation ("McCain-Lieberman"). The legislation would implement a so-called "cap-and-trade" scheme similar to the Kyoto Protocol designed to reduce energy use.

Episodes of Lieberman erratically donning his green religious vestments have become so common that it now appears the time spent with Mr. Gore has transformed the former Senate moderate." (Christopher Horner, TCS)

"Explorers' charts, logbooks offer new insight into climate for modern scientists" - "OSLO, Norway - Using 500 year-old logbooks and sea charts, scientists are examining the effects of global climate change in the Arctic. The Norwegian Polar Institute and the World Wide Fund for Nature compiled the Arctic Climate System Study Historical Ice Chart Archive to gauge global warming on the ice around the Arctic Sea. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute also took part. The archive contains details of climate change in and around the Arctic from 1553 to 2002." (AP)

"A Pollutant by Any Other Name" - "The pressure on President Bush to abandon his irresponsibly passive approach to global warming was ratcheted up this week. On Thursday the attorneys general of seven Northeastern states announced their intention to sue the administration — in the person of Christie Whitman, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency — for its failure to regulate power plant emissions of carbon dioxide, the main global warming gas, as required by the Clean Air Act." (New York Times)

Note to the Old Gray Lady: water vapor is the main global warming "culprit" responsible for keeping the planet habitably warm. The current situation is that CO₂ remains an essential trace gas at ~370ppm (0.037% of atmosphere), without which the biosphere would collapse and the majority of life would cease on Earth.

Atmospheric CO₂ might be considered a "pollutant" from the perspective of those who desire a near-sterile Earth but, for those that value biodiversity and a vibrant biosphere, atmospheric CO₂ is truly the stuff of life.

Could it be that Ol' Gray has degenerated to such a crusty old curmudgeon as to desire a near-sterile, monochrome world? Is the vibrancy of an exuberant biosphere too much for such a wizened old crone? When the very sustenance of the bulk of life on Earth is viewed as "a pollutant" then one must truly wonder.

Sigh... "Farewell Cool Britannia" - "London will be like Naples. Mediterranean temperatures will be the norm from Brighton to Bristol. Freak weather events will dominate the news as tornadoes and hurricanes crash across the country.

Winter - what's left of it - will be no more than a few days in the middle of January. Snow will be rare, even in the mountains of Scotland. Thousands of square miles of Britain will be at threat from disappearing into the sea as floods wreak havoc.

Tomorrow the Government will release its bleakest assessment yet of the state of the world's environment. In the first review of Britain's seemingly insatiable desire to consume more and more energy, an official report by the Department of Trade and Industry will say that the Earth's temperature will rise by up to 6 C by the end of the century." (The Observer)

"Downing Street to challenge Bush on greenhouse gas emissions" - "Britain will today implicitly challenge George Bush's anti-environment stance by demanding that the world go further than the stalled Kyoto protocol and commit itself to a 50% cut in carbon emissions by 2050." (The Guardian)

"Blair: CO₂cuts would not 'trash' US economy" - "Tony Blair will today send a message to President George Bush that he must play his part to tackle global warming and cannot hide behind the argument that it will damage the US economy." (Independent)

"CLIMATE CHANGE: IPCC Head Urges Greater Effort From Poor Countries" - "India and other developing countries are not active enough in addressing global climate change, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change head R.K. Pachauri, an Indian, said in an interview published yesterday in Le Monde. "Knowledge about the problem is not widespread enough, and there is a real education deficit. We also need partnerships to find new technologies," said Pachauri. He added that the IPCC itself "has not worked enough on technology." (UN Wire)

"Synthetic trees could purify air" - "A scientist has invented an artificial tree designed to do the job of plants. But the synthetic tree proposed by Dr Klaus Lackner does not much resemble the leafy variety. "It looks like a goal post with Venetian blinds," said the Columbia University physicist, referring to his sketch at the annual AAAS meeting in Denver, Colorado. But the synthetic tree would do the job of a real tree, he said. It would draw carbon dioxide out of the air, as plants do during photosynthesis, but retain the carbon and not release oxygen. If done to scale, according to Dr Lackner, synthetic trees could help clean up an atmosphere grown heavy with carbon dioxide, the most abundant gas produced by humans and implicated in climate warming." (BBC News Online)

Uh-huh... does it eat kites too?

"UK 'to drop nuclear power'" - "The UK is to work towards radical cuts in greenhouse gases - a reduction of 60% on 1990 levels by 2050. It aims to achieve this through more efficient energy use and greater dependence on renewable sources like wind power. It plans to build no new nuclear power stations to replace the present generation." (BBC News Online)

"Nuclear power to get EU green light" - "Green measures by the European Union to cut carbon dioxide emissions will boost the prospects of Britain's nuclear industry, says the Government's energy White Paper to be published tomorrow. In an unexpectedly upbeat assessment of the future role for nuclear power, the paper will point to the introduction of a carbon emissions trading system by the EU in 2005, which will for the first time give economic credit to atomic plants for not producing greenhouse gases." (The Observer)

"The future looks greener" - "But the age of cheap fuel must end" (Leader, The Observer)

"Wind power will push up household electricity bills" - "Household electricity bills could rise by 15 per cent by 2020 because of a Government drive to increase the use of renewable energy sources such as wind and wave power." | An energy policy full of hot air (Daily Telegraph)

"The greening of Tony Blair?" - "Online commentary: Tony Blair may promise much on the environment tomorrow. But his record on meeting green pledges to date has been disappointing because the Government has ducked away from difficult decisions at the first sign of unpopularity" (Ian Willmore and Duncan McLaren, The Observer)

"Blair's green scorecard... could do better" - "As Tony Blair commits his government to ambitious environmental targets, The Observer asked campaigners and experts to mark the government's green scorecard to date" (The Observer)

"German green power group sees threat to subsidies" - "FRANKFURT - BEE, an umbrella group of 25 German renewable power associations, has warned that the Berlin government might cap subsidies for the sector as part of a law reform this year." (Reuters)

"Is Bt Cotton a Success in India?" - "Dr. Matin Qaim and David Zilberman recently published a paper "Yield effects of genetically modified crops in developing countries." in the 'Science' journal, as many of you would have known already (See below). This paper examined the yield increases in Bt cotton crop field studies in India and reported substantial yield gains. Dr. Shanthu Shantharam then sent a commentary critical of this paper to AgBioView which is posted below. I forwarded these comments to the Science paper author Dr. Qaim whose response to Shanthu's comments appear below. Dr. Rick Roush, a noted authority on Bt cotton, also responds below.

Activists in India have always been the doubting thomases on any report of success of biotechnology and thus, not surprisingly, have begun to attack the Qaim and Zilberman paper. A news article by Ms.T. V. Padma from Asia Times reports this attack of activists in detail but as Rick Roush tells me that it is sad that this journalist ignored to contact any real scientists. Response from Ms. Ranjana Smetacek, Director - Public Affairs of Monsanto - India along with a latest press release on the Bt cotton performance in India is also posted below along with news stories from Science and Nature." (C. S. Prakash, AgBioView)

"Going for Golden Rice" - "Around the world, the amount of land planted to genetically modified crops keeps on growing. Sixteen countries worldwide now grow GM, and three quarters of GM farmers are in the world's poorest regions. In 2002, India, Colombia and Honduras all approved the commercial growing of GM crops for the first time.

But the environmentalist critics of GM food and technology argue that GM will be catastrophic for the developing world. They accuse the USA of 'dumping' GM grain on Africa, and claim that the spread of GM will tighten multinationals' grip on poor economies while contaminating indigenous plant varieties." (Jan Bowman, sp!ked)

"Syngenta advancing GM wheat research in US" - "KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Syngenta AG is negotiating with several U.S. universities for help in work on a genetically modified wheat designed to fight disease problems that cost U.S. farmers millions of dollars a year, Syngenta's leading wheat biotech official said. The GM wheat, Syngenta's first foray into that controversial arena, is one that has been bred to be resistant to fusarium head blight, a fungal disease that can have devastating consequences for farmers as well as millers and bakers." (Reuters)

"Grasp the nettle" - "This is the year that the government is supposed to make a decision on whether to allow commercial growing of genetically modified crops. The farm trials began three years ago and they had hoped that they'd get away without having to decide one way or the other because there wouldn't be any farms left by now. The immediate problem is remembering exactly which fields the farmers planted the GM crops in. "Was it that one?" "Er, might have been, or it could have been that one, I dunno, us farmers have had a lot on our minds, you know." (John O'Farrell, The Guardian)

February 21, 2003

"Mercury Scare Rising" - "The EPA is trying to use the scare of prenatal mercury damage in kids to force strict new power plant regulations; but most Americans' exposure to mercury in the environment is far too low to pose any risk" (Steven Milloy, FoxNews.com)

"First population study of GM mosquitoes highlights difficulties facing malaria control technique" - "The first laboratory population study of genetically modified mosquitoes identifies issues that need to be faced in the task of turning mosquitoes from disease carriers into disease fighters. Scientists from Imperial College London report in Science today that populations including genetically modified mosquitoes quickly lose their test marker gene when they are bred with unmodified mosquitoes." (Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine)

"'McFrankenstein' returns to haunt fast food chain in new court action" - "McDonald's was last night facing a renewed legal action claiming the fast food chain was responsible for health problems among a group of obese American children. Lawyers representing eight overweight children in New York have seized on comments made by a judge in dismissing an earlier suit, that the world's largest restaurant chain was serving "McFrankenstein" food. The renewed complaint carries a 46-page amendment that argues consumers are not fully aware of what goes into McDonald's food." (The Guardian)

"Are Fast Foods Addictive?" - "A number of studies have emerged recently that try to claim that fast food is "as addictive as heroin." This cancerous cluster caused the once-respectable magazine New Scientist to ask the question on its front cover, "Can Fast Food Alter Your Brain in the Same Way as Tobacco and Heroin?" A four-page article within the magazine came to the conclusion that the science doesn't matter, because the courts would decide the issue anyway. Such is the nature of scientific inquiry today." (Iain Murray, TCS)

"U.S. Losing War on Cancer, Ignoring Prevention" - "WASHINGTON, DC, February 20, 2003 - Leading players in the war on cancer should do more to educate the American public about how to minimize its risk of contracting the disease, according to a new report from the Cancer Prevention Coalition (CPC). Americans face increasing cancer risks from occupational and environmental exposure to industrial carcinogens, the report finds, but established government and nonprofit cancer organizations are fixated on treatment rather than prevention." (ENS)

Hmm... Samuel Epstein

"Men's deaths not due to eating "mad deer" meat: CDC" - "NEW YORK - Three deaths from degenerative brain disease were not caused by eating venison infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD), an illness akin to "mad cow disease," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Thursday." (Reuters Health)

"PETA's warped priorities " - "We told you recently that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) president Ingrid Newkirk had faxed PLO leader Yasser Arafat a misguided plea on behalf of war-zone donkeys (while showing indifference toward war-torn humans). Since then, a growing number of commentators have taken note of PETA's warped priorities." (Center For Consumer Freedom)

"Home Office rejects tougher law on animal rights activists" - "Calls for a change in the law so that animal rights extremists would be treated in the same way as football hooligans have been rejected by the Home Office. It has told the BioIndustry Association, which represents the UK biotechnology sector, that parliamentary time will not be made for the legislation it has demanded. The rejection comes despite an escalation of intimidation against the financial backers of Huntingdon Life Sciences, the drug-testing group." (Financial Times)

"Environmentalist Says Blizzard Consistent with 'Global Warming' Trend" - "The record-breaking blizzard of 2003, which left more than two feet of snow in some areas of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, was "very much in line with the predictions of climate models" that predict human-caused "global warming," according to an environmentalist in Washington." (CNSNews.com)

but "Ski Resorts Get Creative to Battle Global Warming" - "LAKEWOOD, Colorado, February 20, 2003 - The ski resort industry is at risk from global warming as glaciers melt and snowfalls diminish. But the industry has recognized the danger and is taking steps to limit its own emissions of greenhouse gases responsible for climate change. Ski lifts are powered by the wind, energy efficient building techniques are in use, and resort vehicles are running on alternative fuels." (ENS)

World Climate Report Volume 8, Number 12, February 24, 2003 (GES)

"7 States Suing E.P.A. Over Carbon Dioxide Emissions" - "WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 — Seven state attorneys general, mostly from the Northeast, announced a lawsuit today accusing the Environmental Protection Agency of failing to enforce the Clean Air Act by neglecting carbon dioxide emissions. The environmental lawsuit, the third such state action brought against the Bush Administration in seven weeks, highlights the increasingly antagonistic relationship between the states and federal government over environmental regulation." (New York Times)

"CLIMATE CHANGE: IPCC Prepares 2007 Report At Paris Meeting" - "The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change began a three-day meeting yesterday at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, where 350 scientists and country representatives are working on the panel's fourth global assessment, expected to be published in 2007.

The panel's global assessments are a worldwide reference in climate science. In its third assessment, released two years ago, the IPCC predicted global average temperature would rise by between 1.4 and 5.8 degrees Celsius by 2100, compared with 1990 levels, and that sea levels would rise by between 9 and 88 centimeters over the same period. The panel also said there is a link between the global warming observed over the past 50 years and emissions of greenhouse gases." (UN Wire)

"Germany unlikely to meet CO2 reduction targets - DIW" - "FRANKFURT - Germany is unlikely to deliver on its pledges to curb emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), despite a further reduction last year, the Berlin-based German Institute for Economic Research DIW said." (Reuters)

"Our New Hydrogen Bomb" - "MESA, Ariz. - To understand how we might bolster our national security aside from invading Iraq, I'm on a General Motors test track here in Arizona, driving the coolest car you've never seen. It's called Hy-wire, and it's a one-of-a-kind prototype: a four-door sedan fueled by hydrogen, capable of speeds of 100 miles an hour, whisper-quiet, and emitting no pollution at all — only water vapor as exhaust. It looks like a spaceship, with glass all around and no pedals or steering wheel." (Nicholas Kristof, New York Times)

Excellent! Um... just one minor drawback - utilising hydrogen has never really been a problem (efficiency is another matter). What is a problem, however, is sourcing sufficient free hydrogen in a manner that is at least energy-neutral - while hydrogen is certainly abundant it's an affectionate little element that is only naturally available bound to other elements from which it must be separated - processes that currently expend more energy than we can recover from using the resultant free hydrogen. Adding in such logistical practicalities as storage and distribution infrastructure to the existing problems of pitiful performance and horrendous expense, it becomes obvious that the "hydrogen economy" is decades away, if ever.

"Opinion: Restructuring the Energy Economy" - "WASHINGTON, DC, February 20, 2003 - The key to restoring climate stability is shifting from a fossil fuel based energy economy to one based on renewable sources of energy and hydrogen. Advancing technologies in the design of wind turbines that have dramatically lowered the cost of wind generated electricity to the point where it can be used to produce hydrogen from water, along with the evolution of fuel cell engines, have set the stage for a dramatic restructuring of the world energy economy." (Lester Brown, ENS)

"Power for the Sun" - "For the last four billion or so years the Sun has been producing energy from the simplest of elements, hydrogen. It is a powerful energy source and it is abundant here on Earth. But is it the answer to our growing energy needs? Some people believe so, and are pushing the U.S. to spend billions on research. President Bush now proposes to allocate $1.2 billion in federal funds for research in the development of "clean, hydrogen powered automobiles." (Larry Weitzman, TCS)

"Aquaculture growth now outpaces other food production industries, UN reports" - "20 February – Aquaculture - the farming and stocking of aquatic organisms including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants - is growing more rapidly than all other animal food producing sectors, according to a report compiled by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)." (UN News)

"French activist Bove seeks jail pardon from Chirac" - "PARIS - French radical farmer Jose Bove, who became a worldwide celebrity for his fight against junk food and globalisation, is at the centre of a new battle - for a presidential pardon to save him spending over a year in jail." (Reuters)

"Study: Bio-Food Research Increasingly Concentrated" - "WASHINGTON - The high costs and uncertain pay-off from genetically altered crops are major factors behind the increasing concentration of research into a handful of firms, a study of the industry said on Thursday." (Reuters)

"US halts plan to foist GM food on Europe" - "Washington has backed away from threats to bring the European Union before the World Trade Organisation over the EU's refusal to allow the sale of genetically-modified produce." (The Guardian)

"Development of Biotech Crops Is Booming in Asia" - "CHIANG RAI, Thailand, Feb. 16 — Worried about falling behind its global competition, much of Asia is rushing forward with the development and cultivation of genetically modified crops.

The three most populous countries in Asia — China, India and Indonesia — are already planting millions of acres of genetically modified cotton. Several other large Asian countries, including Japan, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia, are earmarking billions of dollars for private and government-sponsored research on biotech crops.

Given that there are already 145 million acres planted with genetically modified crops worldwide, mostly in North and South America, these developments in Asia could pave the way for bioengineered crops to dominate the world's food production.

"This is a significant development in the acceptance of genetically modified crops," said Nicholas Kalaitzandonakes, a professor of agribusiness at the University of Missouri at Columbia. "This is not only a region where most of the population growth is, it's a region where most of the food growth is." (New York Times)

"Corn-belt farmers find modified crops tough to sell" - "GARRETSON, S.D. - Jim Solheim's fields are sown with technology, and that makes him nervous.

Like most corn-belt farmers, Solheim expects to plant much of his 1,000-acre spread with genetically modified corn and soybeans come spring. His soybeans have DNA implanted that makes them resistant to a popular herbicide, and his corn contains a gene that makes it toxic to a common pest.

The altered crops make farming easier, and he's sure they're safe. But with European countries placing a moratorium on approving genetically modified crops and some concern among American consumers about potential health and environmental risks, Solheim is worried he won't be able to sell his produce." (Boston Globe)

"UK sugar beet farmers could turn to GM to compete" - "LONDON - Genetically-modified sugar beet could prove a godsend to British farmers hit by EU farm reforms, and should provoke less controversy than other GM crops." (Reuters)

February 20, 2003

"How the scientists are making monkeys of themselves" - "Years ago, I was sent a voting form by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on which one of the candidates was listed as “William J. Wiley (deceased)”. I was proud to be a member. An organisation which has found a way of conducting committee business by seance, I thought, is clearly at the forefront of human endeavour and its meetings would be unmissable." (Ross Clark, The Times)

"Study Finds Vaccine Doesn't Lead to Child Bacterial Infections" - "There is no evidence that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine overloads children's immune systems or makes them more vulnerable to bacteria infections, researchers in Britain have found.

The researchers, from the British Public Health Laboratory Service, said they undertook their study because some British parents' groups contend that the M.M.R. vaccine gives children more viruses than they can cope with, weakening their immune systems. The findings were reported yesterday in The Archives of Disease in Childhood, a medical journal." (New York Times)

"McDonald's sued again in kids' obesity" - "McDonald’s Corp., the world’s largest hamburger chain, was sued for hiding the health risks of Chicken McNuggets and other foods high in fat, salt and cholesterol, just weeks after a judge dismissed a similar lawsuit by obese children.

In dismissing the complaint brought by two New York City children on behalf of all youngsters in the state, U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet invited the plaintiffs’ attorney, Samuel Hirsch, to file a new suit emphasizing deceptive advertising claims. The original suit, the first of its kind, sought billions of dollars in damages.

Hirsch today filed an amended complaint targeting "deceptive practices" in McDonalds’s promotion and distribution of its food. "They’re speaking out of both sides of their mouth" when the company claims its food is healthy, though it should be eaten in moderation, Hirsch said in an interview. (Bloomberg News)

Gasp! "Most diets don't work" - "Just one in every 100 people who go on a diet succeed in shedding weight permanently. However, the high chance of failure did not stop 34 million Britons trying to lose weight last year, spending more than £10 billion in the process. Independent market analysts Datamonitor, who conducted the research, says that the diet industry is guilty of raising expectations unrealistically." (BBC News Online)

"Better Child Health Is Seen as Environment Ills Decline" - "WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 — A new government report concludes that children's health has improved in areas where the government has taken aim at environmental hazards, White House and Environmental Protection Agency officials said today.

On the other hand, the report raises new questions about the need for new areas of study, such as the link between mercury and childhood development and the rising rates of childhood asthma even as air quality has improved over the last 15 years." (New York Times)

"Environmentalist apologizes for e-mail encouraging 'tormenting" fish farmers" - "CAMPBELL RIVER, B.C. -- A prominent B.C. environmentalist has said she is sorry for sending an e-mail suggesting "tormenting fish farmers" was fun. "I apologize without reservation for my comments contained in a private communication," said Lynn Hunter, fisheries and aquaculture specialist at the Vancouver-based David Suzuki Foundation, in an apology addressed to the executive director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association." (CP)

"Is Europe Returning to the Dark Ages?" - "What's going in Europe? Are we witnessing another historic retreat into scientific barbarism?" (Patrick J. Michaels, Cato Institute)

"Worrying about El Niño" - "The first El Niño of the 21st Century began unfolding last year, and is partly blamed for warm surface temperatures, floods and droughts. Will El Niño events intensify or increase in frequency if surface temperatures were to rise from continued human fossil fuel use?" (Sallie Baliunas, TCS)

"$2-billion dedicated to emission targets" - "OTTAWA -- Ottawa cut a $2-billion cheque in yesterday's federal budget to meet its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, but left decisions on how to spend the majority of the cash for another day. The government said it's considering spending the cash on energy-conserving retrofits to buildings and on alternative-energy projects such as ethanol, wind power and fuel cells -- but offered no specifics." (Globe and Mail)

"EU energy tax stalls over Italian truck concerns" - "BRUSSELS - The European Union failed again this week to forge a common energy tax policy to help fight global warming, as Italian demands for tax breaks for truckers scuppered proposals that are five years in the making." (Reuters)

"Businesses told of fossil fuel tax plan" - "Environment Minister Shunichi Suzuki on Tuesday officially told the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) of the ministry's plans to introduce a tax on fossil fuels that generate greenhouse gases. Suzuki met with top Nippon Keidanren officials, including chairman Hiroshi Okuda, in Tokyo. "Based on the schedule for taking countermeasures to combat global warming step by step, we asked them to understand the need to start working on an environment tax so as to promote a thorough debate on the issue," Suzuki told a news conference after the meeting." (The Japan Times)

"Urging renewed battle against hunger, Annan calls for ‘green revolution’ in Africa" - "19 February – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged increased global partnership across geographic and ideological borders to fight hunger and called for a “green revolution” in Africa to enable the continent to move towards self-sufficiency in food." (UN News)

"How to feed the world" - "With the Earth poised for a population spurt, a debate ensues over the future of farming." (The Christian Science Monitor)

"Global trade in GM crops reaches $4.25 billion in 2002" - "LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – World trade in biotechnology or genetically modified (GM) crops reached $4.25 billion in 2002. The volume of GM or transgenic crops traded last year was $450 million more than the $3.8 billion in 2001, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA)." (The Philippine Star)

"Genetically modified and healthy" - "STANFORD, California The Bush administration wisely backed away this month from formally challenging Europe's ban on genetically modified foods. It made no sense to antagonize Europeans over the food they eat when they are pivotal to more weighty matters, such as a new resolution on Iraq.

Still, Washington's threat that it would file a case against the European Union at the World Trade Organization had palpable benefits. Even the countries with the most hostile policies on engineered food - France and Germany among them - took steps toward allowing the European Union to work on replacing the blanket ban with a new system for tracing and labeling engineered food." (David G. Victor and C. Ford Runge, IHT)

"More time for public say on GM crops" - "The government has extended by three months the period for a public debate on genetically modified crops and whether they should be grown in Britain. The budget for the consultation process is also being doubled, to £500,000, and the Department of Environment will pay for staff time at the central office of information." (The Guardian)

February 19, 2003

"U.S. study finds no new links to Gulf War illness" - "WASHINGTON, Feb 18 - Studies show long-term exposure to certain pesticides and solvents can damage a person's health, but there is not enough evidence to show whether such chemicals are linked to Gulf War Syndrome, U.S. scientists said on Tuesday." (Reuters)

"Scientists debunk 'alarmist' myths about cancer" - "The head of the B.C. Cancer Agency said he agrees with the thrust of a new book that says environmental "alarmists" have fuelled public fear about cancer rates and misconceptions about the overblown role of synthetic toxins and pollutants as causes of cancer." (Vancouver Sun)

"Animal rights group gets Deloitte details" - "A mole at Deloitte & Touche has turned the big four accountancy firm into a new target for animal rights extremists. The insider has handed over the phone numbers and e-mail addresses of 135 staff to Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, the protest group that has been targeting Huntingdon Life Sciences. Deloitte is auditor to the drug-testing group, which has struggled to survive as a campaign against banks, stockbrokers and marketmakers has scared away many of its commercial and financial supports. Deloitte on Tuesday refused to comment. However, workers said they had begun this week to receive letters, e-mails and telephone calls from protesters." (Financial Times)

"Greenpeace USA aims to be a 'credible threat'" - "In John Passacantando's world, environmentalism comes with a loud heartbeat. The executive director of Greenpeace USA, in Pittsburgh earlier this month to lecture at Chatham College, is passionate about his 32-year-old organization, which made its name getting between whales and whaling ships. "There are many organizations out there that value credibility, but I want Greenpeace first and foremost to be a credible threat," Passacantando said, his lanky frame perched on the edge of a chair in a Shadyside restaurant. "Of course we have to be credible and use good science, but if we can be a credible threat then we can do better things. "To paraphrase Thoreau, I regret only our good behavior." (Post-Gazette)

"Bad economy causes drop in greenhouse gases, for one year anyway" - "WASHINGTON — A poor economy and high electricity costs in the West have produced an unusual environmental bonus, the government says: In 2001, emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases declined for the first time in a decade. Still, the trend of annual increases in such gases -- mostly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels -- is expected to continue under future economic growth." (Associated Press)

"Will Global Warming Shut Down the Thermohaline Circulation of the World's Oceans?" - "Summary: This idea is one that climate alarmists have been trying to push for some time, now, and a recent publication in Science is touted as giving them some backing for it. When the data upon which the paper is based are even cursorily reviewed, however, they are found to provide absolutely no support for this decidedly baseless scarenario." (co2science.org)

"Subject Index Summary: Decadal-Scale Climate Cycles (Solar Influence)" - "Summary: Cyclical climatic variations of small period and amplitude appear to be driven by similar variations in solar activity, suggesting that cyclical climatic variations of larger period and amplitude may be driven by similarly-enhanced variations in solar activity." (co2science.org)

"Current Carbon Sequestration Commentary: CO2-Enhanced Carbon Sequestration in Africa and Asia Helps the Rest of the World As Well ... and in More Ways Than One" - "Summary: Can you guess what they are? The answers may surprise you." (co2science.org)

Current Journal Reviews:
"Temperature Trends in Antarctica" - "Summary: What are they doing? And why? Geophysical Research Letters 29: 10.1029/2002GL015415." (co2science.org)

"Dates of Ice Break-Up of Lakes and Rivers in Northern Europe" - "Summary: What can they tell us about the climate-alarmist theory of CO2-induced global warming? Journal of Hydrology 268: 100-112." (co2science.org)

"A Thousand Years of Precipitation in the Southwestern USA" - "Summary: What can the data tell us about climate-alarmist claims of impending "mega" wet and dry periods that can cause super floods and droughts? International Journal of Climatology 22: 1645-1662." (co2science.org)

"A cooling dip for Australia's hothouse CO²" - "Scientists say power station carbon dioxide could be safely locked up in undersea rocks" (The Guardian)

"Australia to target India with green power turbine" - "MELBOURNE - Australia will target mining companies and power producers in India this week with a turbine designed to generate electricity from waste coal and methane, which could slash greenhouse emissions." (Reuters)

Oh dear... "Roundup Unready" - "One of the most pervasive chemicals in modern agriculture is a herbicide called glyphosate, which is better known by its trade name, Roundup. When it was first introduced in 1974, by Monsanto, no one could have predicted its current ubiquity or the way it would change farming. Roundup was safe, effective and relatively benign, environmentally speaking. It became one of the essential tools that made no-till farming — a conservation practice in which farmers spray weeds rather than plowing the ground — increasingly popular.

But nature, in turn, has been developing some Roundup Ready plants of her own, weeds that can tolerate being sprayed with Roundup.

In a very real sense, nature has been given an enormous advantage by the sheer ubiquity of Roundup, just as some bacteria are given an edge by the ubiquity of agricultural antibiotics. The logic of industrial farming is to use your best tools until they're worthless, and to hasten their worthlessness by using them as much as you can." (New York Times)

Looks like the Ol' Gray Lady is getting ready to sentimentally promote third world agriculture techniques. Wonder if they realise that "industrial farming" is environmentally friendly while low intensity (read: poor productivity) or "organic" agriculture is highly destructive, horrendously wasteful and completely unsustainable? Conversion of global agriculture to primitive methods and still feeding the global population would require the conversion of all remaining wild lands to agriculture, with the resultant decimation of forests and mass extinction of the majority of land-borne wildlife. Good trade? I think not.

"Biotechnology gap between poor and rich countries widening, UN warns" - "18 February – The promises and potential of biotechnology are not equally shared between developed and developing countries, the United Nations said today. "The gap between rich and poor farmers, between research priorities and needs, and between technology development and actual technology transfer, is widening," Assistant Director-General, Louise Fresco, of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, warned in a statement issued in Rome." (UN News)

"INDIA: Report on 'Success' of GE Cotton Sows Seeds of Confusion" - "NEW DELHI, Feb 19 - Civil society groups have been taken aback by a new scientific report that sings praises of the superlative yields of genetically engineered (GE) cotton in India, at a time when ground realities speak of massive failures. It was left to leading voluntary agencies to point out that the report in the leading international journal 'Science' in February was outdated and based on data from field trials carried out in 2001 by the Maharashtra Hybrid Company (MAHYCO), a subsidiary of the U.S. seed giant Monsanto Corp." (IPS)

February 18, 2003

"Journal Editors to Consider U.S. Security in Publishing" - "More than 20 leading scientific journals have made a pact to censor articles that they believe could compromise national security, regardless of their scientific merit." (New York Times) | World’s leading journal editors urge self-governance and responsibility ... (AAAS)

"AAAS 'goes Hollywood' to dramatize the perils of communicating science in a pressure cooker" - "It may look like just another Saturday Night Live episode, but it's really a symposium at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Instead of actors, these skits will feature academics, a congresswoman and a journalist, arguing on stage to illustrate the problems of scientific publishing. Science Editor Donald Kennedy will participate in the symposium "HYPE! The Greatest Symposium Ever!! - Communicating Science in a Pressure Cooker." (Stanford University)

"Attack on nuclear plant 'could kill 3.5m'" - "More than three and a half million people could be killed by a terrorist attack on a British nuclear plant, concludes a series of three reports so alarming that even Greenpeace – which commissioned them – is unwilling to publish them." (Independent)

"NEI criticizes fear-mongering by authors of used fuel paper" - "The Nuclear Energy Institute criticizes the fear-mongering of the authors of a paper on used nuclear fuel storage that theorizes about the possible effects of a terrorist attack. The paper intentionally misleads the public." (Nuclear Energy Institute)

"Fears over tuna health risk to babies" - "Pregnant women and mothers who breastfeed have been advised to limit their consumption of tuna fish. The UK Food Standards Agency is concerned that mercury found in the fish could pose a health hazard." (BBC News Online)

"Unhealthy food is everywhere, 24 hours a day, and inexpensive" - "The case of Pelman v McDonald's looked like one of those stories destined to burn brightly for a while, then fizzle out. The attempt by Ashley Pelman, aged 14 and weighing 170lb (85kg), and Jazlyn Bradley, her 270lb (135kg) co-plaintiff, to sue the fast-food giant for making them fat provoked outrage and ridicule among commentators for weeks. McDonald's called for it to be thrown out and, last month, a judge duly did so.

But the case is far from dead. Rather than dismissing it as frivolous and warning the plaintiffs not to waste his time, Robert Sweet, the judge, provided detailed guidance on how it might be redrafted to give it a better chance of getting to trial. Ms Pelman's lawyers, he said, had not shown McDonald's products posed any health risk beyond what any ordinary consumer would be expected to know. If they could show that, he would look again." (Financial Times)

"Preparing for The Big One" - "Should we be told if a monster rock is heading our way? Researchers wrestled with this question on Friday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Denver. Some suggested there was no point worrying the global population about its imminent demise. "If there is absolutely nothing you can do about it - you can't intercept it, you can't move people out of the way - then it makes no sense to incur social costs from whatever panic or overreaction there will be," argued Geoffrey Sommer, of the Rand Corporation, who has been studying how policymakers should react and prepare for Armageddon. "If an extinction-type impact is inevitable, then ignorance for the populous is bliss." (BBC News Online)

"Isn't there a chemical spray for Meacher blight?" - "Crackpots declaring that “the end of the world is nigh” are nothing new. But that notion is no longer the preserve of religious zealots or sci-fi fantasists. It now seems to be the position of a government minister — Michael Meacher. And the weapons of mass destruction that Mr Meacher is most worried about are you and I." (Mick Hume, The Times)

"Alien abductees show real symptoms" - "People who claim to have been kidnapped by aliens have a tendency to believe in fantasies and suffer disturbing experiences in their sleep, scientists have found. But the researchers say "abductees" also believe in their experiences so deeply that they display real stress symptoms similar to those of traumatised battlefield veterans." (BBC News Online)

'Everything must change' - "He might be a parrot-loving ecologist, but as the new director of Friends of the Earth, Tony Juniper knows that his cuddly environmental organisation must toughen up and get political if it is going to help save the planet." (The Guardian)

"Meacher at odds with pro-business Labour" - "Michael Meacher, the environment minister, was at logger heads with government colleagues last night after launching a comprehensive assault on sustainable development policies." (The Guardian)

"Up with animals, down with humans" - "It's a shame European functionaries don't care as much about Africans as they do about pigs." (National Post)

"Reducing soot pollution could trigger more surface ozone" - "Cutting particulate pollution could see surface levels of ozone unexpectedly rising in some parts of the world, according to a US study." (Edie.net)

"Tufts civil engineer predicts Boston’s rising sea levels could cause billions of dollars in damage" - "Scientists presented their research on the impact of rising sea levels due to climate change on the Boston metro area to the annual AAAS meeting, showing that over the next century, flood damage to residential, commercial and industrial buildings in metropolitan Boston could exceed $20 billion, depending on how the city responds to rising sea levels. Costs could run as high as $94 billion, if climate weather conditions are more severe than expected." (Tufts University)

"Researcher warns on climate change: Effects said already here in form of more extreme weather" - "DENVER, Feb. 14 — An outspoken climate researcher said Friday that the ill effects of global climate change are already appearing, and current levels of carbon dioxide emissions may have crossed the threshold for "dangerous interference" with future climate. He acknowledged, however, that the effects haven't yet crossed the threshold for changing the minds of climate skeptics." (MSNBC)

Meanwhile, back in the real world: "Research reveals use of tree rings and ocean temperature shifts in anticipating megadroughts" - "Not long ago, conventional wisdom was that you couldn't predict the climate for more than a few days in advance. Then came the awareness of El Niño and La Niña and the forecast window increased to as much as 6 to 9 months, depending on the region and season. But a forthcoming study in the Geophysical Research Letters suggests that opposing shifts in Tropical Pacific and North Atlantic Ocean temperatures may foretell persistence of disastrous, multiyear droughts across the North American continent." (USGS)

"As El Niño fades, a reality check for East" - "With the Eastern seaboard buried in up to 50 inches of snow, the hassles - and havoc - of clearing set in.

Actually, despite the snowdrifts and the sight of neighbors dressed up like Eskimos, meteorologists say this winter has not been "exceptionally cold." Rather, it has been "persistently cold."

In fact, the mild winters of recent years may have been influenced by some relatively strong El Niño events - where the waters in the Pacific are warmer than normal. But this winter, El Niño is fading. This may have allowed the weather patterns to return to normal - as in cold.

"This is really a reality check from Mother Nature," says Fred Gadomski, a meteorologist at Penn State at University Park. "The winters in the last five years have been exceptionally mild with a lack of snow - that was extraordinary." (The Christian Science Monitor)

"Warning over loss of Amazon forest" - "One of the world's leading experts on climate change has predicted that rising global temperatures could destroy the Amazon rainforest, which in turn would cause a catastrophic build-up of carbon dioxide further accelerating global warming." (Independent)

"Global warming endangers Amazon" - "February 17: A warmer world could mean the loss of the Amazon rainforest and yet more global warming as levels of carbon dioxide increased in the atmosphere." (The Guardian)

"Ecological effects of climate change include human epidemics" - "The link between climate and cholera, a serious health problem in many parts of the world, has become stronger in recent decades, according to a University of Michigan scientist who takes an ecological approach to understanding disease patterns." (University of Michigan)

"Computer Models Forecast Sharp Increase In Temperature If Heat-trapping Emissions Continue To Rise" - "DENVER, CO –- Powerful computer models predict that winter temperatures in the polar regions of the world could rise as much as 10 degrees centigrade in the next hundred years, if no efforts are made to control production of carbon dioxide, methane and other gasses.

“With projections to the year 2100, we can show what will happen if we continue with business as usual—if we don’t do anything to curb emissions of greenhouse gasses,” said Warren M. Washington, senior research scientist for the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and a speaker at the AAAS Annual Meeting.

Noting that concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane did not start to increase significantly until the 20th century, Washington demonstrated with charts and graphs worldwide projections for average temperature in 2050 and 2090, and compared the data to the relatively stable temperature pattern in the 1000 years that preceded the growing presence of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere." (Science Daily)

"Global Warming Trends" - "Global warming has to be one of the strangest policy debates the country has ever seen. Sure there are always two or more competing sides, pandering, demagoguery and outright dishonesty in every policy debate. But in the case of global warming the contrasts are so stark and the political statements so divorced from reality, that informed persons are left shaking their heads in disbelief.

On the one hand, you have politicians stating categorically: "The science is settled!" On the other hand, one can dig up a half dozen National Academy of Sciences reports from the last five years that argue that not only is the science not settled, but that scientists are operating in almost complete ignorance on many of the most basic and key assumptions behind the theory." (Paul Georgia, TCS)

"Offsetting Environmental Damage by Planes" - "A few groups have devised ways for environmentally concerned travelers to mitigate their role in the output of carbon dioxide." (New York Times)

"Companies fail to act on climate risk" - "Most of the world's top 500 companies are failing to take action to deal with the risks of global warming, according to research on the impact of climate change on the corporate world. Some companies in the heavy industries could see their value tumble by as much as 40 per cent - equating to billions of dollars - if they ignore the threat to their business. Even financial services groups could suffer collateral damage through bad loans. The researchers estimate that banks exposed to high-risk companies - which operate where regulation is being introduced - could face share price falls of up to 29 per cent. The findings appear in a report, published today, commissioned by the Carbon Disclosure Project, a group of 35 institutional investors. Tessa Tennant, head of the project, said it should be "a wake-up call" for investors." (Financial Times)

"Kyoto good for the nation" - "The Premier, Bob Carr, will today commit NSW to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with targets set down in the Kyoto Protocol, further highlighting the Federal Government's refusal to ratify the international agreement." (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Bob Carr, population panicker, Suzuki acolyte and Premier of New South Wales.

"Oil producers demand Kyoto compensation" - "Energy ministers of the 13 Arab oil-producing states are questioning the role of burning hydrocarbons in climate change, and are calling for compensation from industrialised nations for any economic or social damage to Arab countries that depend on oil and gas export revenues." (Edie.net)

"Greenhouse gas problem buried" - "UP to one million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) could be buried in a deep underground reservoir as a solution to greenhouse gas pollution, scientists have said. Carbon dioxide is widely blamed for global warming and Australia is trying to cut its greenhouse gas emission levels as part of a worldwide attempt to ease climate problems. Scientists from Co-operative Research Centres (CRCs) believe carbon dioxide could be buried in a saline reservoir deep underground, as part of a national experiment to show how emissions can be eliminated." (AAP)

"Can carbon sequestration solve global warming?" - "The U.S. Government is spending millions of dollars to research the feasibility of stuffing carbon dioxide into coal seams and fields of briny water deep beneath the Earth. But, a scientist at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting argues that the government isn't thinking big enough in its plans to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere." (AAAS)

"Idea to connect gas stations to natural gas supply to fuel hydrogen powered cars" - "Researchers at the University of Warwick's Warwick Process Technology Group are leading a programme called "Hydrofueler" to develop technology to connect petrol/Gas stations to the normal natural gas supply to fuel hydrogen powered vehicles. The 2.8 million euro EC funded three year research programme has already drawn interest from Exxon Mobil, and BMW." (University of Warwick)

Hmm... fossil hydrogen should be used as transport fuel, sourced from natural gas (methane [CH₄]). Assuming the reaction is methane/steam reformation [think of it as CH₄ {natural gas} + energy {heat} + H₂O {water}], which recombines the carbon content with readily-available oxygen in order to liberate the hydrogen, the by-product will be, um... CO₂.

So, to get less energy bang for our fossil hydrocarbon buck, we strip hydrogen from natural gas and produce the same amount of allegedly greenhouse-enhancing CO₂ in the process. That we should expend energy in order to extract less energy from a non-renewable fuel source, and still produce the same supposedly icky, nasty CO₂ in the process, actually makes sense to some people? That's really scary!

Would it do any good to explain that "sustainable use" requires us to do more with less, do you suppose? Could these people see that extracting less energy from more fossil fuel is actually a step in the wrong direction? One certainly hopes so although latent cynicism suggests otherwise.

"PM scraps renewable energy targets" - "Tony Blair has blocked plans to produce a fifth of Britain's electricity from renewable sources, in revenge for his failure to push through a programme of new nuclear power stations. The Prime Minister has removed a target for generating 20 per cent of the nation's power from the wind, tides and waves by 2020 from the Government's energy White Paper to be published in the next few weeks. Last month he lost a battle for it to include plans to build six nuclear power stations. Britain has the greatest renewable energy resources in Europe – with 40 per cent of the entire continent's potential for windpower and some of the world's greatest supplies of wave power – but does less to exploit them than any other EU country." (Independent)

"Nuclear energy's place usurped by wind and waves" - "No more nuclear power stations will be built in the foreseeable future as the Government turns to wind and wave energy to provide Britain's future electricity needs. In a seismic shift in policy, Ministers have agreed to back renewable energy as the best way of meeting the