Taking a cue on energy from Europe and Japan
The surge in the price of energy couldn't come at a worse time. The average price of regular gasoline in the United States has shot up to a record $3.28 a gallon.
International Herald Tribune (Bangkok)
-
-
First reported case of rabbit fever in Thailand kills woman
BANGKOK, Thailand: Rabbit fever, a disease that can be lethal if not treated early, has killed a woman in Thailand, marking the country's first reported case, a health official said Wednesday.
-
Oceans at risk: Many studies, little action
There is no shortage of scientific studies documenting the degradation of the world's oceans, the decline of marine ecosystems and the collapse of important fish species.
-
The high price of diverting food into energy
The world's food situation is bleak, and shortsighted policies in the United States and other wealthy countries
-
The global aids fight
Congress and the White House are preparing to ramp up spending on programs to combat AIDS and related diseases around the world while removing some of the ideological blinders that have long undermine
-
Not following through on the global tobacco threat
Three years ago, an international treaty took effect that was designed to help developing countries resist aggressive marketing by big tobacco companies. The idea was that if a large number of countries committed themselves to the same tobacco control policies - including bans on all advertising and promotion - they would be better able to resist pressure from multinational tobacco companies and their own tobacco sellers. Unfortunately, the governments of low- and middle-income countries have not followed through. With tobacco use declining in wealthier countries, tobacco companies are spending tens of billions of dollars a year on advertising, marketing and sponsorship, much of it to increase sales in these developing countries. A new report issued by the World Health Organization offers the first comprehensive analysis of tobacco use and control efforts in 179 countries. It notes that tobacco will kill more people this year than tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria combined. It warns that unless governments do more to slow the epidemic, tobacco could kill a billion people by the end of the century, the vast majority in poor and middle-income countries. There is no great mystery about what needs to be done. The WHO recommends several proven strategies: very high taxes on tobacco products; a total ban on all advertising and promotion; a ban on smoking in all public places and workplaces; large, scary warning pictures on packs; and strong programs to help people quit. Yet few countries are doing any of these things with vigor. Not a single country fully implements all of the measures, and not one of the recommended steps covers more than about 5 percent of the global population. The tobacco companies' vigor to sell is unflagging. As part of a strategy to ramp up its sales in the developing world, Philip Morris International is being spun off from the Altria Group so that it can escape the threat of litigation and government regulation in the United States. The international company is also planning a slew of new products aimed at particular countries, including sweet-smelling cigarettes that have more tar and nicotine. It is impossible to believe claims by many companies that they are not trying to addict new smokers but are only trying to convert adults who are using inferior local brands. The WHO survey contends that the industry is targeting teenagers and women in developing countries. One problem is that many low- and middle-income countries have become addicted to revenues from tobacco taxes, which may lessen their zeal to curb tobacco sales. Such governments need to realize that unless they move now to curb the epidemic, tobacco will cause horrendous health and economic damage. The Bush administration, which reluctantly signed the international treaty, has not submitted it to the Senate for ratification. That means that the U.S. officials will not have a seat at negotiations, begun last week, over a supplementary treaty to combat smuggling, counterfeiting and other illicit trade in tobacco products - a source of funds for criminal gangs and terrorist groups that could threaten this country's security. The White House needs to stop dithering and present the treaty for ratification.
-
U.S. retreats on cleaner coal
The best way to cut down on the greenhouse gases produced by power generation is to reduce America's appetite for electricity. Renewable energy sources like wind power and biomass have a helpful role to play. Yet, dependable base sources will remain necessary, and coal-fired plants will probably be part of the mix for a long time. Minimizing the impact of such plants is vital. That is why it is so discouraging that the Bush administration pulled the plug on a project for using coal to produce power without carbon dioxide emissions. For five years, the Department of Energy, coal and power companies, and several countries, including China, have been partners in developing a plant in Mattoon, Illinois, that would convert coal to gas, allowing its carbon dioxide to be captured and stored underground. The Department of Energy said it withdrew its 75 percent support from FutureGen last month because its cost had almost doubled, from $1 billion to $1.8 billion. Some have suggested the real motive might have been lingering opposition to the choice of Mattoon by administration officials from Texas, which lost out in the selection process. Congress should call on the Government Accountability Office to investigate how the department made its decision to pull out. Five years of work have come to a dead end, and the country and the world are not much closer to knowing if coal can be part of the climate change solution and not just the climate change problem.
-
New fluorescent lights, and new recycling problems
Across the world, consumers are being urged to stop buying dated incandescent light bulbs and switch to new spiral fluorescent bulbs, which use about 25 percent of the energy and last 10 times longer. In Britain, there is a Ban the Bulb movement. China is encouraging the change. And the U.S. Congress has set new energy efficiency standards that will make Edison's magical invention obsolete by the year 2014. Now, the question is how to dispose of these compact fluorescent bulbs once they break or quit working. Unlike traditional light bulbs, each of these spiral bulbs has a tiny bit of a dangerous toxin - around 5 milligrams of mercury. And although one dot of mercury might not seem so bad, almost 300 million compact fluorescents were sold in the United States last year. That is already a lot of mercury to throw in the trash, and the amounts will grow ever larger in coming years. Businesses and government recyclers need to start working on more efficient ways to deal with that added mercury. Ellen Silbergeld, a professor of environmental health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, is raising the cry about the moment when millions of these light bulbs start landing in landfills or incinerators all at once. The pig in the waste pipeline, she calls it. Even when warned, public officials are never great at planning. The Environmental Protection Agency focuses mostly on the disposal of one bulb at a time. If you break a fluorescent bulb, there is no need to call in the hazmat team, the agency says. Just clean it up quickly with paper (no vacuuming or brooms), and open the window for a 15-minute douse of fresh air. Tuck the debris into a plastic sack and, if there is no special recycling nearby, discard it in the regular trash. Interestingly, one of the main reasons to use these bulbs is that when they cut down on energy use, they also cut down on mercury emissions from power plants. And even with their mercury innards, these bulbs are still better for the environment than the old ones
-
Dell chief putting energy into better environment
Michael Dell, who made his name building computers, has a new goal- planting trees. Ina speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Dell urged the electronics industry in foster the
-
U.S. agency acknowledges gases' links to warming
President George W. Bush of the United States and a lot of US government scientists have said it. The statement came in a release that said 2006 was the warmest year in the United States since