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Focus on environment
Chemicals in cosmetics
A growing controversy over phthalates — chemicals frequently used in cosmetics, including nail polish and fragrances — highlights dramatic differences in the way potential toxins are handled by US and European Union regulators.
Phthalates have been shown to cause adverse reproductive effects in laboratory animals, but no harm to humans has been conclusively demonstrated. Acting on the “precautionary principle,” the EU has voted to ban two common phthalates as of September. Despite an appeal by the Breast Cancer Fund to US cosmetics companies to do the same, only two have announced that they will phase out the chemicals.
The US Food and Drug Administration regulates cosmetics only after they are already on the market, often based on consultation with the industry-funded Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel.
Mekong Dams
Across the world, thirst for cheap electricity from hydroelectric dams has strained inland fisheries, and now one of the world’s last relatively wild rivers faces the same fate.
The Mekong River flows some 2,800 miles from the Tibetan ice fields, through the mountains of southern China, and over the floodplains of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, where its highly seasonal flows deposit rich sediment and a bounty of wild fish. Poverty-stricken residents of Cambodia are dependent on wild protein, and if they lose that source of sustenance, their alternative is “working all hours in a textiles factory in Phnom Penh,” says Chris Barlow of the Mekong River Commission. But two massive dams built on the river in energy-hungry China are already draining the fisheries, two more are under construction, and at least four more are planned. Barlow laments the short-sighted policy, saying “a dam has a short life; 30 years or less. Even when the dam is dismantled, the fishery may never come back.”
Amazon deforestation driven by Brazilian beef industry
“The explosive growth of cattle farming in Brazil seems to be the primary culprit behind an increase in destruction of the Amazon rainforest,” says a report.
Soybeans cultivation frequently gets high coverage in newspapers headlines. The Centre for International Forestry Research report says that it is beef exports — driven mainly by European demand for certified foot-and-mouth-disease-free meat — that are behind the loss of some 10,000 square miles of the world’s largest continuous rainforest in 2002. That figure is up 40 per cent from 2001, and researchers expect even higher 2003 figures.
European Union countries import almost 40 per cent of Brazil’s beef; 35 per cent is taken in by Egypt, Russia, and Saudi Arabia; the US, which has tight import controls to protect domestic producers, account for only eight per cent. Once a province of small local farmers, the Amazon rainforest is now being consumed in large chunks by industrial farms connected with large supermarkets. Enviros have called on the Brazilian government to take measures to slow the destruction.
Norway’s eco-friendly project
A windy island off the western coast of Norway is the site for an ambitious demonstration project that aims to power a tiny town solely with renewable energy, without need for a backup power system run on fossil fuels or other eco-icky technologies.
One problem with wind and solar power is that when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine, the kilowatts aren’t produced. Norwegian utility company Norsk Hydro aims to get over that hurdle on the island of Utsira, where two wind turbines will be producing electricity for a small community. Excess wind power will be used to produce hydrogen that can run a hydrogen combustion engine and a fuel cell to provide electricity whenever the breeze stops blowing.
“It is the first full-scale project of this type in the world,” said the project manager. Norsk Hydro hopes it won’t be the last.
Action to save seas
Our oceans are in trouble and we need to do something about it. This was the conclusion of the first comprehensive review of US ocean policy in 35 years, released by the US Commission on Ocean Policy.
The presidential commission spent 2.5 years studying coastal areas, the Great Lakes, and 4.4 million square miles of ocean, an area considerably larger than all 50 states combined. Among the more than 250 recommendations in the commission’s nearly 500-page draft report is the creation of a $4 billion Ocean Policy Trust Fund, to be paid for by oil and gas royalties, the formation of a cabinet-level National Ocean Council, the design of a system of marine education for kids, and a doubling of funds for federal marine research. A final version of the report is expected later this year.
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