September

Park Services Asks EPA for Help: "In an effort to improve air quality in America's national parks and wilderness areas, the National Park Service, through the Department of the Interior is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to implement new regulations to protect public lands from air pollution… 'Our main point is that new sources [of sulfur] are getting permits and old sources continue to emit pollutants and it's getting worse,' said John Bunyak of the DOI." ENN, 9/1/00

16.8 MW Foote Creek IV Wind Power Projects Nears Completion: SeaWest WindPower, Inc. announced… construction of its 16.8 MW Foote Creek IV wind power project is almost finished. "The Foote Creek IV windpower project will supply the federal agency with an additional 16.8 MW of wind energy… Each of the 28 new turbines will produce enough electricity for over 350 households, without emitting any greenhouse gases. E-Wire, 9/1/00

Germany and UK Issue Climate Change Challenge: "Two of the European Union's most proactive environment ministers have issued a joint plea to the United States and like minded nations to agree to strong rules implementing the United Nations Kyoto climate protocol at [the upcoming] November conference… in the Hague, Netherlands." ENS, 9/4/00

Texas New Focus for Wildfires: "Drought-stricken Texas has replaced Montana as the focus of wildfires in the United States… [There are presently 35 wildfires burning in Texas, 24 in Montana, 19 in Idaho and two in Wyoming." Xinhua, 9/6/00

Electric Postal Vehicle Delivers 50,000+ Letters to California Governor to Maintain Zero-Emission Program: "A zero-emission electric U.S. Postal truck [delivered] more than 50,000 letters to Governor Gray Davis, [indicating] a broad base of support from California consumers, local governments, businesses, labor unions and public interest groups for the California Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Program," Press Release, American Lung Association, 9/6/00

Blackfeet Indian Tribe to Build Commercial Utility-Scale Wind Power: The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council and SeaWest WindPower Inc. have agreed to construct a 22MW wind energy project on tribal lands which will produce and deliver affordable clean renewable energy. "This wind energy project will allow the Blackfeet Tribe to take advantage of one of our most plentiful natural resources on our Reservation," said Earl Old Person, Chairman of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council. PRNewswire, 9/6/00

Farmers Can Benefit in Many Ways From Global Climate Change Reduction: A new report [by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy] finds that farmers could benefit financially from efforts to reduce global climate change… Policies such as carbon sequestration and development of renewable energies from crops could produce significant befits for farmers. "Addressing climate change not only helps protect the farmer from these changes, it can provide significant financial benefits for innovative farming practices," said Mark Muller, Senior Associate at IATP and lead author of the report." ENS, 9/7/00

President Clinton Strongly Committed to Strengthening Environmental Protections: A statement released by the White House today said "The United States is actively supporting the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment… and would contribute the first complete set of detailed, up-to-date satellite images of the world's forest ecosystems to the Assessment." U.S. Newswire, 9/7/00

MTBE Banned/Clean Fuels Program Established: "The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, chaired by Senator Bob Smith (R-NH)… passed legislation to ban MTBE in four years and create a national Clean Alternative Fuel Program, which could triple the demand for ethanol over the next ten years." ENN/ Renewable Fuels Association, 9/7/00

Puna, Hawaii Geothermal Project Gets Approval From EPA: "The EPA has signed the final underground injection well permit for Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV)… require[ing] immediate safeguards to protect groundwater, ensur[ing] safe operation of the system, and protect[ing] public health and the environment." ENS, 9/8/00

PG&E and Waste Management to Replace 120 Diesel Trucks for New Power Plant Construction: In an effort to offset emissions from a new power plant to be constructed in San Diego County, PG&E Corporation and Waste Management, Inc. have agreed to replace 120 diesel fueled refuse collection trucks with clean burning natural gas new Mack trucks during construction. Tailpipe emissions from the fleet will be reduced by more than 50 percent, offsetting the emissions from the new plant. ENS, 9/8/00

Ozone Hole Largest Yet: "Nasa says this year's hole in the ozone layer [over Antarctica]… measures 28.3 million square kilometers (11 milon square miles)." Dr. Michael Kurylo, BBC, 9/8/00

Drought in Armenia Costs Farmer 40 Million Dollars: "A drought afflicting Armenia will cost farmers about dlrs 40 million this year… the country will seek international aid to mitigate the loss." AP, 9/8/00

Heavy Rains in Honduras: "Four days of torrential rains have left one dead and 300 people without homes in Honduras… A river near Libertad, 90 miles north of the capital, overflowed its banks." AP, 9/8/00

Flood Threatens Mekong Delta: "Seasonal flooding hit southern Vietnam early this year, engulfing the country's rice bowl since July." AP, 9/8/00

Revolutionary Development in Separation of Oil From Water: Environmental Applied Research Tech House-Earth Canada (EARTH) has announced a revolutionary technological breakthrough in the de-emulsification of oily water, such as is needed in oil spills, oil pipeline cleanouts, steel production, and petroleum tank clean outs, among others. EARTH's new technology is designed to treat "substantial flows" of highly emulsified oily water, simultaneously removing and recovering oil from water while enabling the cleaned water to be discharged at level of very low PPM… "[T]he technology is economical and requires virtually no maintenance." Business Wire, 9/10/00

France's Jospin Urges Energy Conservation: "French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin announced… a massive new program of energy conservation… 'Saving consumption of fossil fuels constitutes not just a major contribution to fighting the greenhouse effect but is also a major contribution to maintaining strong and durable growth,' he added." UPI, 9/11/00

New Energies Come of Age Amid Fuel Crisis: The recent fuel crisis has acted as a catalyst in the development of new alternative energy sources such as hydrogen technologies, solar energy, fuel cells and wind power. "All of us want, if possible to quickly introduce hydrogen technologies and reap their benefits, environmental and financial," said Mark Moody- Stuart, chairman of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group and chairman of the G8 Renewable Energy Taskforce. BP Amoco, another oil giant has been diversifying its energy interests away from fossil fuels, with a new campaign "Beyond Petroleum," allocating enough funds to assure its position as "the world's [largest] producer of solar energy." Ballard Power continues to team up with the likes of DaimlerChrysler AG and Ford to develop fuel cells for use in ground transportation vehicles. Wind power is becoming commercially competitive and investment is pouring in now so that the United States and some Western European countries have set specific targets for a market share for renewable energy. According to Robin Batchelor of Merrill Lynch, promoting a new fund to invest in pure energy technology companies "This is forcing people's attention, particularly on the renewable side where it's all indigenous… As that grows, you're taking some of that power back from OPEC… All of which inspired Saudi Arabia's former oil minister Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani to say: "The stone age came to an end not for a lack of stones, and the oil age will end, but not for a lack of oil." Andrew Callus, Reuters, 9/12/00

Himalayan Ice Reveals Climate Warming, Catastrophic Drought: "Both the last decade and the last 50 years were the warmest in 1,000 years, a new analysis of centuries old ice has found." According to Lonnie Thompson, professor of geological sciences at Ohio State University and leader of the expedition,"[I]t clearly shows a serious warming during the late 20th century, one that was caused, at least in part, by human activity." Cat Lazaroff, ENS, 9/15/00

Landmark Report Validates Widespread Decline in World's Ecosystems: "A landmark assessment… called for a new approach to managing ecosystems in order to stem [their] widespread decline. 'Every measure used… to assess the health of the world's ecosystems tells us that we are drawing on them more than ever and degrading them at an accelerating pace,' said Dr. Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment program." PRNewswire, 9/18/00

Southern California Aims to Reduce Bus Pollution: "[T]he South Coast Air Quality Management District is expected to soon propose rules that would force school districts to buy only the cleanest-burning buses. Diesel industry leaders are advocating the use of low-sulfur fuel and the installation of particulate traps in diesel buses as an alternative measure. Many environmentalists oppose this, saying technology is "failure-prone and not as clean as natural gas." Leon Drouin Keith, AP, 9/19/00

Drought Followed by Heavy Rains Hurts Southern Farmers: The recent heavy rains in the South have added insult to injury for farmers preparing to harvest their barely surviving crops, hit by a recent severe drought. Not only does the rain interrupt the harvest, but has the potential of drowning, degenerating or destroying what little crops are left. CNN, 9/22/00

Monsoon Floods Submerge Mekong Basin: "Flood levels on rivers in Vietnam's Mekong Basin, already at 40 year record heights, are still rising… Heavy monsoon rains since early July have inundated alarge part of the Mekong River watershed areas, covering nearly 800,000 square kilometers of land in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, affecting millions of people." ENS, 9/22/00

China to Launch Project to Turn Coal into Oil: "China will invest heavily in two projects which can turn coal into petroleum to ease the shortage of petroleum resources, said sources from the State Development Planning Commission." Xinhua, 9/25/00