alo novo

• EPA must regulate water discharges from ships, says court.

• Studies warn of toxic chemicals in air fresheners and laundry products and cars and car seats.

• Golf carts hit the road.

• FEMA seeks immunity from toxic-trailer lawsuits.

• Panama's gourmet coffee leading to deforestation.

Hurricane Dolly hit land in Texas Wednesday as a Category 2 storm. No deaths have been reported and the storm had a minimal impact on oil and gas operations; it largely missed offshore oil and gas facilities, but did cut production 10 to 20 percent at some refineries and by 5 to 8 percent overall. Oil futures hardly budged, and a collective sigh of relief went up from those who had feared Dolly would have a stronger impact on the shaky oil market. (The hurricane did have an impact on Sen. John McCain, who cited Dolly's presence in the Gulf as the reason for canceling a planned trip to New Orleans, during which he had planned to helicopter to an oil rig and talk up offshore drilling.) With hurricanes Bertha, Cristobal, and Dolly, July 2008 has already been the third-most active hurricane-season month on record, and meteorologists are expecting a continuing busy summer for storms. More frequent hurricanes are, of course, also in line with what scientists expect to see as the climate continues to change.

sources: Bloomberg, Reuters, National Geographic News, The Washington Post

Trends, Access, Quality, and Presidential Candidate Policies to be Studied in Aspen, CO August 9-12.

One Day Workshop Attracts Nonprofits and Social Entrepreneurs

Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the internet…

Every day, communities across America choose to side with Wal-Mart, the world’s largest corporation, rather than local workers and small businesses.

A Brand New Online international community dedicated to Better World business

Some 420,000 gallons of fuel oil spilled into the Mississippi River early Wednesday, after a 600-foot chemical tanker collided with a fuel barge. The collision split the barge in half; thick, slow-to-evaporate fuel has traveled at least 12 miles downriver. The Coast Guard closed a 29-mile stretch of the river around New Orleans, and residents have been asked to conserve water as drinking-water intakes are closed or diverted. Cleanup is expected to take days. Full environmental impact is yet unclear, but, notes a spokesperson for the Louisiana environmental agency: "We have a lot of wildlife in the southern delta." To look on the bright side, the spill pales in comparison to the millions of gallons of oil that the Coast Guard estimates were dumped in the river following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Yes, folks, millions -- not zero.

sources: Reuters, Associated Press, WDSU, WWLTV, CNN
see also, in Grist: A special series on the Army Corps and the Mississippi River, Three cities on the Mississippi reimagine their waterfronts and themselves

Trees have emerged victorious in a California dispute that pitted redwoods against solar panels. Six months ago, Silicon Valley residents Richard Treanor and Carolynn Bissett were criminally convicted because their redwoods shaded the 10-kilowatt solar system on neighbor Mark Vargas' roof. Ultimately, Treanor and Bissett were forced to trim their trees and paid $37,000 in legal fees. To avert future disputes, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday signed a new law that holds that if trees were planted before solar panels were installed, the solar-panel owner cannot force the trees to be trimmed or chopped. If the solar panels came first, a civil lawsuit can be filed, but the law disallows criminal prosecution of folks with foliage. The original incident ain't over yet, though: Vargas has sued Treanor and Bissett again, alleging not only that their trees shade his solar panels, but that the trees' roots damage an underground storm drain and that their row of redwoods violates state laws that disallow spite fences.

sources: Sacramento Bee, The Mercury News, Palo Alto Online, The New York Times

The Bush administration is trying to push through a new workplace safety rule to weaken workers' protections against toxic chemicals before Bush's term ends, according to The Washington Post. The rule, which has not been made public, would mandate a reevaluation of the methods used to measure risks to workers from toxic exposure in the workplace. The rule would also require the U.S. Department of Labor to entertain additional challenges to its risk assessments before establishing new limits on exposure to chemicals. So far, work on the proposal has reportedly been fast-tracked and has been conducted largely in secret, drawing sharp criticism from worker advocates. "This is a guarantee to keep any more worker safety regulation from ever coming out of [the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration]," said workplace safety professor David Michaels. "This is being done in secrecy, to be sprung before President Bush leaves office, to cripple the next administration," he said. Once it's published, the rule will be open to public comment for 30 days.

source: The Washington Post

The Bush administration proposed rules [PDF] for U.S. oil shale development Tuesday that include charging lower royalty rates for oil-shale production on public lands than it does for other oil and gas drilling. The lower royalties are meant to encourage oil-shale production since, as it turns out, the energy- and pollution-intensive process of cooking rocks before pumping out the resulting oil is still up to three times more expensive than extracting already-liquid oil. "It is basically recognition that in the beginning there has to be a lower royalty to recognize the pioneering nature of this business," said the executive director of the National Oil Shale Association. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne had a different take on the economics of oil-shale development, saying the high costs of production are finally beginning to make sense. "For years, the cost of extracting oil from shale exceeded the benefit, but today that calculus is changing." (Thanks, high oil prices!)

source: Associated Press
new in Muckraker: Bush admin's effort to spur oil shale production won't do much for consumers in short run
see also, in Gristmill: It's a 1980 flashback, as energy price spikes make oil shale economical once again

In a 36-page response to a class action lawsuit over excessive fees in its 401(k) plan, Wal-Mart said disclosures about such things as how investments options were selected or revenue sharing arrangements are “demonstrably immaterial to any investment decision faced by participants.”

Green’ campus minimizes environmental impact, maximizes sustainability

HERproject Outlines Key Actions for Global Companies, Factories and NGOs

• British eco-town plan could be illegal.

• Climate change could mean more kittens!

• Women exposed to high levels of PCBs are less likely to birth boys.

• Ford shifting to smaller cars.

• Wildfire smoke could ease warming in Arctic.

• General Motors and utility group will collaborate for electric-car infrastructure.

• California adopts solar loan law.

Taking another step toward complete indispensability, Google Maps on Tuesday became the first service of its kind to add walking directions. In addition to searches for car and transit travel, pedestrians -- and, hell, Segway-ers too -- can now find the most direct and flat route from Point A to Point B. The function works for trips up to 6.2 miles long, and recognizes that one-way streets only apply to the car-encased (suckas!). Searchers are advised to "use caution when walking in unfamiliar areas" as the directions, still in beta form, potentially lack information about pedestrian bridges, roads without sidewalks, or impassable intersections -- but they'll only improve from here. Now if Google would just add biking directions, we'd be set.

source: Google Lat Long Blog
straight to the walkin': Google Maps
see also, in Grist: An interview with Google's green energy czar