-Caveat Lector-
Hard Green Herald # 1, December 2000
"Unless someone like you cares a whole lot, nothing is going to get better.
It's not."
--Dr. Seuss, 'The Lorax'
--A RadTimes production--
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QUOTE:
"The road to the future leads us smack into the wall. We simply ricochet
off the alternatives that destiny offers. Our survival is no more than a
question of 25, 50 or perhaps 100 years."
--Jacques Cousteau
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Contents:
---------------
--Climate Talks Collapse
--Uproar Disrupts Climate Conference
--Climate Talks Dominated by America Most Anti-Environment Legislators
--Thousands Of Protesters Rally Outside Climate Conference
--Canadian farm group calls for moratorium on GM foods
--Demonstrations in 50 Cities Target CITIGROUP
--Pollution Adds To Global Warming
--Biotech Corn Raises US Farmers' Fears of Contamination
--New kid on the block
Linked stories:
*Frankenfish or Tomorrow's Dinner?
*Plastics fire, toxic cloud close Calif. schools
*Draft report shows world getting even warmer
*Arctic faces ozone damage by 2020, says scientist
*West pays Russia to close ozone destroying plants
*U.K. Understated 'Mad Cow' Threat
*Turning Up Heat on Global Warming
*West Nile Virus Can Spread Without Mosquitoes' Help
*Selling Evolution in a Way Darwin Never Imagined
*Contaminated French beef fed to humans
*Global warming to blame for Israel's monsoon rains
*Debating the Environmental Impacts of the Internet Economy
*Poisoned Legacy
*Many Americans say stop planting gene-altered crops
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Begin stories:
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Climate Talks Collapse
<http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/11/25/climate.conference.02/index.html>
No deal on global warming as climate talks collapse
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- United Nations climate talks have collapsed in
disarray with no deal reached to stop global warming.
"There isn't a deal. That's unfortunate," British Deputy Prime Minister
John Prescott told reporters, saying he was leaving the conference in The
Hague hours before a deadline to reach for a pact.
"I'm gutted," Prescott said.
Delegates said talks had foundered on disagreements between the EU and the
United States over ways to curb emissions of greenhouse gases believed to
be causing climate change.
The talks have been suspended until May 2001, a source in the 15-nation
European Union said.
The conference chairman, Dutch environment minister Jan Pronk, said: "We
have not reached agreement. I am very disappointed." Pronk said he was not
closing the conference but would resume it at a later stage.
"We cannot go home just by stating, by confessing, that we did not reach an
agreement," he said.
"We should be aware that we have been watched by the outside world," he
told the delegates in a closing plenary. "There were extremely high
expectations of us."
A key issue blocking agreement was that of "sinks" -- whether to let
countries count the carbon absorbed by their forests against their
greenhouse gas emissions.
U.S. officials say nations should get credit for existing farmland and
forests because they absorb carbon dioxide and offset some emissions.
Opponents say such programs would reward certain countries for doing nothing.
"Governments have spent two weeks essentially arguing about how they can do
as little as possible to reduce the threat of global climate change," said
Tony Juniper, vice chairman of Friends of the Earth.
Greenpeace said the meeting "will be remembered as the moment when
governments abandoned the promise of global cooperation to protect the
planet Earth."
Delegates had been negotiating throughout the night in an attempt to reach
agreement by a deadline of 1600 GMT on Saturday.
Earlier on Saturday, UK Environment Minister Michael Meacher had said the
"crunch issues" had been resolved, with the basic elements in place.
However, other negotiators warned that the talks were on the brink of
collapse because of widespread opposition to what they see as U.S.
reluctance to limit its own power to pollute.
The U.S. and the 15-nation European Union have argued over ways to clean up
the earth's atmosphere.
Poor nations and green groups warned of environmental catastrophe if the
talks among 180 countries failed to forge the first concrete global steps
against climate change by the deadline.
The talks were to set an agreement on guidelines on how nations may reach
targets they accepted three years ago for reducing emissions of the
greenhouse gases.
The gases are blamed for the abnormal warming of the Earth and bizarre
weather changes.
Conference chairman Jan Pronk had submitted a compromise proposal on
Thursday meant to bridge the differences between the U.S. and the EU, but
both sides rejected it as inadequate.
The paper was also denounced by dozens of environmental lobby groups who
said it would give countries too much leeway to wriggle out of
emissions-reduction targets they committed to in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, worldwide emissions of heat-trapping gases must
decline to 5.2 percent below their 1990 levels by 2012.
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Uproar Disrupts Climate Conference
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/ap/20001122/wl/climate_conference_13.html>
Wednesday November 22
By EMMA ROSS, Associated Press Writer
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Demonstrators disrupted a major conference on
global warming Wednesday with dozens of protesters staging a sit-in and a
cake thrower targeting the top U.S. negotiator.
The uproar came as discussion at the U.N. climate conference focused on how
to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases, blamed by much of the
scientific community for global warming.
Key contentious issues include how far countries should be able to use the
carbon dioxide absorbed by forests and agricultural lands against emission
reductions targets and to what extent nations should be able to buy their
way into complying with their targets.
But the high-level talks were disrupted when several dozen environmental
activists entered the high security building, broke into a committee meeting
and staged a sit-in. Conference President Jan Pronk said equipment was
damaged and small fires were set in the building.
In an apparently unrelated incident, a woman pressed a chocolate cream cake
into the face of the chief U.S. negotiator, Under Secretary of State Frank
E. Loy as the American delegation gave its daily press briefing. The woman
then calmly walked out of the room.
A second woman then stood up on a chair and screamed at the delegates before
being escorted out by a conference technician. Her words were
indecipherable. Conference officials said the identity of the women were
unknown.
``On the eve of Thanksgiving, pumpkin pie would have been a more traditional
choice, but what I really want is a strong agreement to fight global
warming. I'm headed back to the negotiating table right now with that aim,''
Loy said after the incident.
He then excused himself and the briefing was called off.
Environmental activists sitting outside the meeting room told The Associated
Press they sneaked into the building to disrupt proceedings because they
believed the goal of the meeting had betrayed the spirit of the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol. The protocol committed the developing world to reduce their
greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels.
The U.N. conference, which involves delegates from more than 180 countries,
has two days left to decide how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
according to the Kyoto agreement.
They environmental activists said they were not connected with the women who
disrupted Loy's briefing, nor with any environmental organization.
Dutch police said they had arrested around 100 protesters Wednesday near The
Hague's central train station. The activists were planning to march to a
number of embassies to protest against nuclear energy, but did not have a
permit.
Protesters in the conference building said they believed the negotiations
were watering down environmental protection.
Conferees are debating different ways that nations can use to meet their
emission reductions targets.
One strategy includes the idea of international trading of emissions
credits, where countries who will have no trouble meeting their goal could
sell their surplus credits to those who are struggling to meet the target.
The United States wants unlimited trading in credits.
Another mechanism involves a voluntary compliance fund, where parties can
pay into a fund that will act as an agent to buy foreign credits to help
them meet their emissions targets.
``They are woefully inadequate at addressing the issues,'' said Kim Webster,
one of the group's protesters from England. Webster accused delegates of
avoiding the ``real'' issues and called on them to increase spending on
renewable energy sources.
``They need to stop talking about how to make money from climate change,''
she said.
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Climate Talks Dominated by America Most Anti-Environment Legislators
From National Environmental Trust
Monday, November 20, 2000
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS - Eight of the 12 members of the U.S. Congress
attending climate negotiations here rank among the most
anti-environment members of the House and Senate, U.S. environmental
organizations said today, based on non-partisan ratings. In addition,
the groups said, the eight split more than $1.7 million in campaign
contributions during the last election cycle from U.S. industries that
are fighting the Kyoto Protocol.
"This isnt a delegation from the U.S. Congress. Its a delegation
representing Americas worst polluting industries," Philip Clapp,
president of the National Environmental Trust, said today.
The report was compiled by the National Environmental Trust (NET) and
the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
"This delegation is way out of step not only with the American public,
but with most of the U.S. Congress," Alyssondra Campaigne, legislative
director of NRDC, said. "Six of the Gang of Eight supported the
pro-environment side on not one single major vote this year. The
average member of Congress voted for the environment 47 percent of the
time."
The ratings are compiled annually by the League of Conservation Voters
(LCV) a non-profit, non-partisan environmental organization. According
to LCV, the average environmental voting score for the "Gang of Eight"
during the 1999-2000 106th Congress is four percent.
Senate members of the "Gang of Eight" include Sen. Larry Craig
(R-Idaho), Sen. Mike B. Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.).
House members include Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), Rep. Ken Calvert
(R-Calif.), Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), Rep. Joseph Knollenberg
(R-Mich.) and Rep. James F. Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.).
While the "Gang of Eight" has opposed taking concrete action to
address global warming, their colleagues are beginning to take steps
to deal with the problem. In the past 12 months, many leading
Republicans in the Senate have started to move forward with
common-sense solutions to global warming. In the House, a bipartisan
effort defeated anti-Kyoto Protocol language three times this year
sponsored by Rep. Joseph Knollenberg (R-Mich.), a leading critic of
the Kyoto Protocol.
For more information, contact:
Racine Tucker-Hamilton
Deputy Communications Director
National Environmental Trust
202-887-8800
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Web site: <http://www.environet.org>
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Thousands Of Protesters Rally Outside Climate Conference
November 18, 2000
Dow Jones Newswires
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)--Thousands of demonstrators beat bongo drums
and built a mock dike Saturday to symbolize threatened flooding from global
warming, demanding real action at an international meeting on greenhouse
gas emissions.
"Stop Climate Change!" "Stop the Oil Giants!" "Not Everybody Can Swim,"
read banners draped over a 400-hundred-yard-long barrier across the street
from the U.N. Climate Conference.
The crowd of protesters from around the world roared when conference
chairman Jan Pronk, the Dutch environment minister, added a few sandbags to
the shoulder-high barrier.
"We cannot build a dike with words alone," Pronk told the demonstrators
after scaling 15 feet of scaffolding to reach the stage.
"We need to build it with action that is based on words which are agreed
upon," he added, referring to the accord expected at the conclusion of the
two-week conference, which began last Monday.
The protest was largely nonviolent, though noisy, with music blaring from
outdoor concert speakers.
However, police spokesman Rob Kouwenhoven said nine demonstrators were
arrested for allegedly throwing paint bombs against the Municipal Museum
next door.
Inside the conference hall, delegates from some 180 countries were haggling
over draft texts of emissions ceilings, pollution trading schemes and other
inventive proposals aimed at meeting the compulsory targets set in the 1997
Kyoto Protocol.
Under the protocol, worldwide emissions of carbon-based gases must drop to
5.2% below the 1990 levels. Europe must cut 8%, Japan 6%, and the U.S. 7%.
The mock dike highlighted the vulnerability of low-lying nations to rising
sea levels that scientists predict could result from thawing polar ice caps
if the Earth's average temperature rises. Nearly half of the Netherlands is
below sea level, protected by dikes and sand dunes erected over the
centuries by Dutch farmers.
"Climate change is already happening. The water is rising," said Jana
Rizmanova, a college student from Slovakia, as she passed sandbags down a
line of activists.
"A lot of leaders of a lot of countries are trying to duck their
responsibilities and find ways to make it appear as if they are taking real
action," added Frank Pennycook of the U.K., who wore a fish costume as he
worked on the dike.
Environment ministers from 150 countries are due Monday to begin discussing
proposals prepared in the first week by some 2,000 delegates.
Pronk had given the delegates until Saturday to finish their work and
provide him with drafts he could pass on to the ministers.
However, conference spokesman Michael Williams said no agreement was
expected yet on the most controversial issues.
Those include the emissions caps as well as penalties for noncompliance,
proposals for an international market in pollution quotas and allowing
countries credit for trees and flora designated for carbon-dioxide absorption.
"The problem is everything is interlinked. You can't have a decision on one
thing and not another," Williams said. "I expect it will all come together
at once later in the week."
The European Union and environmental groups have harshly rejected a U.S.
plan to cut levels of greenhouse gases. The plan suggests using so-called
carbon "sinks" - forests and lands that absorb carbon dioxide pollution -
to help meet targets of carbon dioxide reduction.
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Canadian farm group calls for moratorium on GM foods
<http://news.excite.com:80/news/r/001204/18/food-canada-ban>
December 4, 2000
WINNIPEG (Reuters) - A major Canadian farm organization has called for a
national moratorium on producing, importing and distributing genetically
modified foods.
"We need to pull back the reins and try to get some common sense and a good
strong footing on the potential problems with this technology," Cory
Ollikka, president of the National Farmers Union told CBC radioMonday.
The NFU, which represents 10,000 farmers in seven of the nation's 10
provinces, has demanded a federal moratorium on genetically modified (GM)
foods until questions regarding consumer acceptance, health, the
environment and ownership of the technology can be addressed.
The NFU requested the moratorium following its annual convention in
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on the weekend.
Many Canadian farmers are doubtful of the economic benefits of genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) and are disconcerted by the push toward
biotechnology, Ollikka told CBC radio in Winnipeg.
He said farmers are particularly concerned about the possibility of GM
crops being rejected by food companies and importers, and they are also
alarmed by the potential of genetic pollution.
"We see a lot of these types of products systematically shutting us out of
markets in the world," said Ollikka, citing the examples of Japan and parts
of Europe where there is growing skepticism about GMOs and a rising
government resistance to importing them.
In May of this year, Canadian-grown canola was embroiled in a scandal after
genetically modified seeds, banned within the European Community, were
discovered in seed stocks during routine inspections in Germany.
Advanta Seeds, the British company that produced the seeds, said the most
likely source of contamination was pollen blown from GM canola crops grown
in Canadian fields.
The NFU is asking the Canadian government to launch a formal commission of
inquiry, or at least initiate broad public debate, over the merits and
risks of producing genetically modified foods.
An August survey of 1,000 people by the Canadian Health Food Association
found 95 percent believed they should have the right to choose whether or
not they buy foods containing genetically modified ingredients.
The government said it continues to work on the issue of producing and
labeling GM products.
"Canada must continue to assure that the products and processes of
biotechnology are subject to the highest standards of scientific testing
for health, safety, and environmental impact," the government stated in a
recent report.
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Demonstrations in 50 Cities Target CITIGROUP
RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK * INNER CITY PRESS
For Immediate Release: October 17, 2000
Contacts:
Ilyse Hogue, Rainforest Action Network: 415-398-4404, 415-726-5487;
Matthew Lee, Inner City Press/Community on the Move: 215-888-8833;
Katherine Legomsky, Yale Student Activist : 203-376-9419
Demonstrations Target CITIGROUP in 50 Cities as Corporation Announces Record
Earnings
Groups Demand an End to Company Profits at the Environment's Expense
New York, NY - As Citigroup announced its $3.1 billion third quarter income
and record year to date earnings today, in more than fifty cities concerned
citizens held protests targeting the corporation, demanding that Citigroup
stop reaping financial gain at the expense of local communities and the
environment. Groups protesting Citigroup from coast to coast called for an
end to the corporation's financing for environmentally and socially
destructive projects. Today's events kicked off an international campaign
aimed at transforming Citigroup's funding practices.
"The record $9.7 billion year to date income Citigroup announced today came
at the unacceptably high cost of environmental devastation and economic
injustice," said Ilyse Hogue of the Rainforest Action Network. "Citigroup
continues to operate without basic environmental or social standards despite
the American public's demand for responsible financial services."
Across the U.S. and in foreign countries including South Africa, Canada and
Brazil groups joined in protest, proclaiming Citigroup "the World's Most
Destructive Bank." In New York City, students cut up a giant Citibank
credit card to represent the thousands of students across the nation who
have refused to do business with Citi until the company cleans up its act.
In New Haven, students announced the divestment of $100,000 by Yale
professors and staff from their Citigroup accounts in protest of the bank's
funding practices. Demonstrations were held in other U.S. cities including
Seattle, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Boston, Washington D.C. and on campuses
across the country.
Students, environmentalists, human rights activists and economic justice
advocates who have been at the forefront of the growing, non-violent
movement protesting corporate-led globalization, are now turning their
attention towards Citigroup and its contribution towards bankrolling
environmental destruction around the globe.
"Students are outraged that Citigroup is using our money in an irresponsible
fashion. When I agreed to pay back my student loan from Citigroup, I did
not agree to fund oil pipelines through African rainforest and mining in the
Amazon basin," said Katherine Legomsky of Yale University.
Demonstrators drew attention to Citigroup's connection to egregious projects
around the world such as the controversial Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline, China
's Three Gorges Dam which will displace 2 million people, and the
destruction of orangutan rainforest habitat in Indonesian for palm
plantations. Speakers at events around the U.S. also highlighted Citigroup's
policies of sub-prime or 'predatory lending' in urban areas that
disproportionately affect people with lower incomes and communities of
color, as well as the corporation's sale of World Bank Bonds that strap
developing nations with increasing debt.
"In holding Citigroup accountable, our work and movements around different
issues are naturally converging. This is the next step of the civil rights,
consumer and community movements, as well as the wider human rights and
environmental movements," stated Matthew Lee, Executive Director of the
Bronx-based Inner City Press.
Organizations endorsing or participating in today's events include : N.Y.
Direct Action Network, Free The Planet!, Ruckus Society, Global Exchange,
Student Environmental Action Coalition, CitiAction, Democratic Socialists of
America, Ecopledge.com, Critical Resistance, Just Act, The Prison Moratorium
Project, STARC, Project Underground, Neighborhood Economic Development
Advocacy
Project and the World Bank Bonds Boycott
For more information on the Beyond the Bottomline campaign to confront
Citigroup and transform the global financial system please see <www.ran.org>
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Pollution Adds To Global Warming
October 27, 2000
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
WASHINGTON (AP)
New evidence shows man-made pollution has
``contributed substantially'' to global warming and the earth is
likely to get a lot hotter than previously predicted, a United
Nations-sponsored panel of hundreds of scientists finds.
The conclusions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, the most authoritative scientific voice on the issue, is
expected to widely influence climate debate over the next decade.
The report's summary, a copy of which was obtained by The
Associated Press, was being distributed to government officials
worldwide this week.
It is the first full-scale review and update of the state of
climate science since 1995 when the same panel concluded there is
``a discernible human influence'' on the earth's climate because of
the so-called ``greenhouse'' effect caused by the buildup of
heat-trapping chemicals in the atmosphere.
Today, the panel says in its new assessment that ``there is
stronger evidence'' yet on the human influence on climate and that
it is likely that manmade greenhouse gases already ``have
contributed substantially to the observed warming over the last 50
years.''
And the scientists, in revised estimates, conclude that if
greenhouse emissions are not curtailed the earth's average surface
temperatures could be expected to increase from 2.7 to nearly 11
degrees Fahrenheit by the end of this century, substantially more
than estimated in its report five years ago.
It attributes the increase _ from a range 1.8 to 6.3 degrees
Fahrenheit warmer in the 1995 assessment _ mainly to a reduced
influence now expected to be played by sulfate releases from
industry and power plants. Such releases, which tend to have a
cooling influence, will likely dramatically decline in industrial
countries because of other environmental concerns, the scientists
maintain.
``What this report is clearly saying is that global warming is a
real problem and it is with us and we are gong to have to take this
into account in our future planning,'' said Kevin Trenberth, head
of climate analysis section at the National Center for Atmospheric
Research.
``It definitely reinforces what we were able to say in 1995,''
added Tom Wigley, a climate scientist at the center in Boulder,
Colo. ``It shows the previous projections (in 1990 and 1995) were
conservative.''
Wigley, who did not participate in crafting the latest findings,
was a key author of the 1995 report's section about the human
impact on climate.
Others were less certain.
Michael Schlesinger, a climatologist at the University of
Illinois at Champaign-Urbana said despite the new information there
is still insufficient knowledge about natural climate variables
such as solar radiation that could change the assessment.
Comparing studies of climate to listening to noise radio
transmissions, Schlesinger said in an interview:
``Science has moved closer to the radio transmitter, so the
signal is higher and more apparent against the background noise.
But the background noise has not diminished. There are still
uncertainties and there may be very large surprises ahead.''
The IPCC's third assessment report is expected to get final
approval at a United Nations conference early next year. While some
wording will certainly be changed by government policy-makers, the
central scientific conclusions may not be altered, several
scientists who have been involved in the process said Wednesday.
Michael Oppenheimer, an atmospheric physicist at Environmental
Defense, said the latest assessment ``reinforces the mainstream
scientific consensus'' about global warming. Its new estimates of
warming poses ``a risk of devastating consequences within this
century.''
Three years ago industrial nations tentatively agreed to curtail
the release of greenhouse gases _ mainly carbon dioxide from
burning fossil fuels _ to below 1990 levels as a first step to
address global warming.
But none of the major industrial countries has yet ratified the
agreement, crafted in Kyoto, Japan in 1997. Skeptics argue that the
science has yet to be conclusive and that computer models used to
predict future climate is not reliable enough to warrant a
dramatic, and possibly very expensive, shift in energy use to
curtail carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
The issue also has crept into the presidential campaign. Vice
President Al Gore has argued the science is clear and steps need to
be taken soon to begin reducing greenhouse emissions. His
Republican rival, Gov. George W. Bush, has not dismissed global
warming, but urges a cautious approach and believes the science
still needs to be proven.
The IPCC panel's summary of a voluminous technical report
covering 14 chapters attempts to provide the most current state of
scientific understanding of the climate system and potential for
future warming.
While there are still uncertainties, the IPCC scientists say
that there is an ``increasing body of observations'' that provide a
``collective picture of a warming world'' that cannot be solely
explained by natural forces.
``Emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols due to human
activities continue to alter the atmosphere in ways that affect the
climate system,'' the report says.
Various findings of the last five years have reinforced the
IPPC's 1995 determination that climate change warrants top-level
attention by government policy makers.
On the Net:
National Center for Atmospheric Research:
<http://www.ncar.ucar.edu>
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Biotech Corn Raises US Farmers' Fears of Contamination
Anxiety is sweeping across farm communities throughout the Midwest because
of fears that large amounts of this year's corn crop may have been
contaminated with a genetically engineered grain that was approved only for
animals. (10-25-00) From the Washington Post.
<http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5625-2000Oct24.html>
GMO Corn Turns Up in Exports to Japan From the New York Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/25/world/25WEB-CORN.html>
Industry Seeks OK for Biocorn for Human Consumption From the LA Times
<http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20001025/t000101811.html>
Europe Widens Search to Stop US Biotech Corn From the ENN Newswire
<http://www.enn.com/news/wire-stories/2000/10/10252000/reu_aventis_39553.asp>
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New kid on the block
<http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=393271>
Oct 12th 2000
From The Economist
THE surefooted, wiry bucardo mountain goat must have been a delight to
those lucky enough to catch a glimpse of its lithe frame hoofing around the
mountain-tops of the Spanish Pyrenees. Especially, one supposes, to those
who systematically blasted it to the point of extinction even after it was
declared an endangered and protected species in 1973. The last bucardo
lived out its days in the Ordesa National Park in northern Spain. In
January of this year, the line was brought to an abrupt and ignominious end
when this 13-year-old female was crushed to death by a falling tree.
And that, as they say, would have been thatif it were not for the wonders
of modern technology. For plans to resurrect the bucardo by cloning stored
cells from the unlucky female are now being hatched by the Spanish
government, with the help of an American company called Advanced Cell
Technology (ACT).
The plan is based on ACT's success with a technique known as interspecies
cloning. Standard cloning involves taking the DNA from an adult cell
belonging to one animal and putting it into an egg from another animal from
the same species, after first removing the original nucleus from that egg.
The result is then implanted into a surrogate mother, also of the same
species. But, as ACT is about to demonstrate, the recipient egg and the
surrogate mother can come from a different species to the donor of the
nucleus. In effect, one species can be made to give birth to another. In
this month's issue of Cloning, ACT outlines the first case of such an
interspecies nuclear transfer. The company's scientists have taken nuclei
from an endangered wild ox called a guar and implanted them into the eggs,
and uteruses, of domestic cows.
It is not entirely clear what ACT will gain from cloning the guarand the
company reluctantly concedes that the experiment has cost about $40,000.
According to Robert Lanza, the firm's vice-president of medical and
scientific development, his boss, Michael West, has a strong belief in such
altruistic efforts. Nevertheless, in the current issue of Scientific
American Dr Lanza and his colleagues say that of the eight guar pregnancies
they have achieved, "two were removed for scientific analysis". It must be
hoped that some benefit was reaped from thus eliminating 2% of the world's
population of 100 guars.
Dr Lanza says that interspecies cloning will prove a valuable way of saving
endangered creatures such as the panda and the mountain gorilla, although
he concedes that it will have restricted application since too many clones
of the same individual would upset a species's genetic balance. The
technique would only really come into its own, therefore, where the loss of
a single animal would represent a severe blow to the integrity of a
breeding population.
Where does this leave the bucardo? ACT could certainly produce a clone of
the hapless last female inside a surrogate mother. But, as Noah knew,
animals go two-by-two. Either that single female clone would have to be
crossbred with a male from a related species, or Y-chromosomes (which carry
the genes for maleness) would have to be transplanted from a related
species into some of the renucleated eggs, making them genetically male.
But as neither technique would yield a 100% bucardo male, strictly speaking
it is not yet possible to bring the bucardo back from the dead.
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Linked stories:
********************
Frankenfish or Tomorrow's Dinner?
<http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5198-2000Oct13.html>
FORTUNE, Prince Edwards Island Amid the winding coves and family
farms that grace this northern island sits an unassuming, dimly lit
warehouse. Inside, dozens of large plastic tubs roil with fish as water
pumps hum and the smell of the ocean fills the air.
See also:
Test Tube May Yield new Salmon Breed [From the Anchorage Daily News]
<http://www.adn.com/business/story/0,2641,189746,00.html>
********************
Plastics fire, toxic cloud close Calif. schools - USA
<http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8714>
********************
Draft report shows world getting even warmer - USA
<http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8705>
********************
Arctic faces ozone damage by 2020, says scientist - UK
<http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8711>
********************
West pays Russia to close ozone destroying plants - RUSSIA
<http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8710>
********************
U.K. Understated 'Mad Cow' Threat
<http://tm0.com/sbct.cgi?s=80180978&i=270480&d=538756>
LONDON - An official investigation of Britain's ''mad cow'' crisis
criticized government officials Thursday for misleading the public
with a ''campaign of reassurance,'' saying they played down potential
risks to human health for years in order to prevent consumer panic and
protect the country's beef industry.
********************
Turning Up Heat on Global Warming
<http://tm0.com/sbct.cgi?s=80180978&i=270480&d=538758>
Greenhouse gases produced mainly by the burning of fossil fuels are
altering the atmosphere in ways that affect the Earth's climate, and
it is likely that they have ''contributed substantially to the
observed warming over the last 50 years,'' an international panel of
climate scientists has concluded. The panel said temperatures could go
higher than previously predicted if emissions are not curtailed.
********************
West Nile Virus Can Spread Without Mosquitoes' Help
<http://ens-news.com/ens/oct2000/2000L-10-26-06.html>
RESTON, Virginia, October 26, 2000 (ENS) - For the first time, scientists
have confirmed that the West Nile Virus can be transmitted from bird to
bird, without a mosquito intermediary. The new finding suggests that
controversial attempts to control the spread of the disease with pesticides
may be ineffective.
********************
Selling Evolution in a Way Darwin Never Imagined
<http://tm0.com/IHT/sbct.cgi?s=80180978&i=271260&d=542823>
Novo Nordisk is designing better enzymes for laundry detergents. Dow
Chemical is trying to cut the cost of food processing. Pioneer Hi-Bred
is aiming for better crops, and MedImmune is seeking a stronger
version of its main drug.
********************
Contaminated French beef fed to humans
<http://www.envirolink.org/environews/reuters/articles/Environment/10_30_2000.reulb-story-bcfoodbeeffrance.html>
Fresh doubts were cast on the safety of France's beef
supply on Monday after a newspaper said meat from
around 30 cows that consumed high amounts of heavy
metals wound up in the human food chain.
********************
Debating the Environmental Impacts of the Internet Economy
<http://www.tidepool.org/features/webeis.cfm>
Just how 'green' is the Internet economy? Now that the Web is
fundamentally changing the way we live, learn, and especially
conduct business, researchers are starting to sit up, take notice,
and try to quantify how the Internet is affecting our environment,
energy consumption, and waste regimes. A lively debate during
the annual Society of Environmental Journalists conference.
See also:
How Green is E-Commerce?
<http://www.tidepool.org/features/eecommerce.cfm >
********************
Poisoned Legacy
<http://www.motherjones.com/news_wire/artifacts.html>
Museums across the US, which collected thousands of
sacred Native American artifacts in recent centuries, are
required to return the relics to their rightful tribal owners.
There's just one problem -- the artifacts are now toxic
because of the chemicals used to preserve them.
********************
Tanker Carrying Toxic Cargo Sinks in Channel
<http://ens.lycos.com/ens/oct2000/2000L-10-31-11.html>
ALDERNEY, Channel Islands, United Kingdom, October 31, 2000 (ENS) - A
tanker carrying 6,021 tonnes of toxic chemicals sunk this morning in
ferocious storms 18 kilometers (10 miles) northwest of the Channel island
of Alderney.
********************
Many Americans say stop planting gene-altered crops
<http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8800>
********************
======================================================
"Treat the Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents.
It was loaned to you by your children."
-Kenyan Proverb
======================================================
"We cannot solve the problems that we have created with the same
thinking that created them."
-Albert Einstein
======================================================
"The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders."
-Edward Abbey
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