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Blue Planet: Paradise lost -- again
UPI Science News - Most of the thousands of American soldiers crossing the desert of southeastern Iraq on their way toward Baghdad probably don't know they are crossing the location of the biblical Garden of Eden -- and the site of a present-day environmental tragedy.

As soon as the war ends and humanitarian relief begins, a band of scientists and environmentalists is poised to attempt to save a priceless ecosystem and a treasure of human history.

Mesopotamia -- literally, the "Land Between the (Tigris and Euphrates) Rivers" -- is the cradle of civilization. The area is thought by archaeologists to be the spot where agriculture was first practiced, allowing humans to abandon hazardous hunting and gathering for the more stable pursuit of farming. As far as scholars can tell, it is the traditional land where Adam and Eve dwelt.

The area of southern Iraq bordering Iran -- the "Fertile Crescent," as it is known still -- was not always the trackless desert waste now seen on TV and described in news reports. In fact, as recently as 1991, according to the United Nations Environmental Program, the marshlands extended over their original area of 15,000 to 20,000 square kilometers (5,800 to 7,700 square miles).

"When the soldiers crossed the bridge at An Nasiriyah, 15 years ago, you would have seen an endless sea of water, green and blue," Suzie Alwash, project director of the Eden Again Project of the Iraq Foundation, told UPI's Blue Planet. "On TV today, you see an endless sea of desert -- it's heartbreaking."

Extensive damming by Iran and, especially, by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has led to the drying of over 90 percent of these ancient marshes, leading to what UNEP has described as "one of the world's greatest environmental disasters."

posted by West 9:22 AM

 

Insects thrive on GM 'pest-killing' crops
indepedent.co.uk - Genetically modified crops specially engineered to kill pests in fact nourish them, startling new research has revealed.

The research � which has taken even the most ardent opponents of GM crops by surprise � radically undermines one of the key benefits claimed for them. And it suggests that they may be an even greater threat to organic farming than has been envisaged.

It strikes at the heart of one of the main lines of current genetic engineering in agriculture: breeding crops that come equipped with their own pesticide.

Biotech companies have added genes from a naturally occurring poison, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which is widely used as a pesticide by organic farmers. The engineered crops have spread fast. The amount of land planted with them worldwide grew more than 25-fold � from four million acres in 1996 to well over 100 million acres (44.2m hectares) in 2000 � and the global market is expected to be worth $25bn (�16bn) by 2010.

Drawbacks have already emerged, with pests becoming resistant to the toxin. Environmentalists say that resistance develops all the faster because the insects are constantly exposed to it in the plants, rather than being subject to occasional spraying.

posted by West 8:44 AM

 

Senate Votes Against Superfund's Polluter Pays
WASHINGTON, DC, March 26, 2003 (ENS) - The U.S. Senate voted down a measure to reinstate Superfund polluter pays fees, which force polluters to pay the bill for toxic cleanups at Superfund sites.

The measure was presented as an amendment to the Budget Resolution by Senator Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat and would have reinstated all of the original Superfund taxes and fees on polluters and increased funding for the program.

Six Democrats joined the 50 Republican Senators to defeat the measure 56 to 43 on Tuesday. These Democratic Senators were Evan Bayh of Indiana, John Breaux and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

The decision adds to the concern many environmentalists have about the Superfund program. The Bush administration has cut funding and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's clean up at the nation's toxic waste sites has slowed by some 50 percent in the last two years.

"Reinstating Superfund's polluter pays fees would provide more money for toxic waste cleanups and shift the burden of paying to run the Superfund program from taxpayers to polluting industries," said Julie Wolk, environmental health advocate with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

posted by West 6:37 PM

 

Shock and Awe Means Shame and Death
ENS - The television and radio network reporters who are �embedded� with U.S. troops that are currently invading Iraq are telling us a lot about the wondrous military might of America. The world has heard a lot about the columns of tanks, cruise missiles, buildings being destroyed, and oil wells, but we have heard little of the human cost. Robert Fisk, in Baghdad for �The Independent,� reported today that one of the first Iraqi casualties was a taxi driver who was blown to pieces in the first American raid on Baghdad yesterday morning.

Detailing the first day of the U.S. �Shock and Awe� campaign against Baghdad, Fisk said, �The sheer violence of it, the howl of air raid sirens and the air-cutting fall of the missiles carried its own political message; not just to President Saddam but to the rest of the world. We are the superpower, those explosions said last night. This is how we do business. This is how we take our revenge for 11 September.�

posted by West 9:39 PM

 

Iraqi Environment Defenseless Before Warring Forces
DOHA, Qatar, March 21, 2003 - The air campaign of coalition forces against the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein went into high gear today, as hundreds of aircraft and cruise missiles targeted select regime leadership and military targets in Baghdad and other cities, U.S. Central Command officials said at their headquarters on the outskirts of Doha.

By midday Friday, as many as 30 oil wells were on fire in southern Iraq near Basra, according to British Defense Minister Geoff Hoon, who did not name a source for the information. A black haze from the fires billowed over Kuwait City and surrounding areas.

As coalition forces labored to secure the oil facilities, cruise missiles pounded Basra, considered the first major target of the advancing armies.

Once the current conflict is over, the environment in Iraq will pose many environmental challenges to those involved in post-conflict humanitarian relief and reconstruction.The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced today that its Post Conflict Assessment Unit has begun a desk study of Iraq's environment that is intended to provide a quick and timely overview of key issues to assist those attempting to heal the country.

The study team will identify and suggest possible responses to environmental hazards arising directly from the ongoing military conflict. It is likely to identify priorities related to the management of freshwater and waste, as well as means of preventing further ecosystem degradation in the country.

Drawing on information available from the media, government and NGO reports on the conflict, the UN agency will prepare a preliminary assessment with recommendations for avoiding, minimizing or mitigating risks to the environment and human health in Iraq.

During the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq set on fire 730 of the 1,000 oil wells in Kuwait, and released millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf, creating a set of environmental problems that are still being addressed by cleanup action.

posted by West 9:36 PM

 

There's an environmental villain loose in America.
This criminal has leaked radioactive waste into drinking water, dumped sewage into national parks, poured PCBs into rivers, and contaminated at least 61,155 sites around the USA. Who is this environmental villain? Is it Exxon? DuPont? General Motors? No. It's the federal government. According to the Boston Globe, the federal government has become "the worst polluter in the land." Experts say the cost of cleaning up the damage done by federal agencies and the military could exceed $300 billion. That's five times the cost of environmental harm done by all private businesses combined.

Even more chilling, many federal agencies are exempt from environmental laws, individual bureaucrats are immune from criminal prosecution, and Congress even passed a law that protects the military from having to pay environmental fines. As a result, the Boston Globe noted, the federal government "has a license to pollute." If you've never heard about these violations, you're not alone. Environmental activists like to criticize private companies, while pretending that only government can "save" us from polluters.

Government officials should be personally liable for the environmental damage they do. Government officials should pay a price if they endanger our health with radiation, chemicals, and other toxins. We need to make polluters pay for their crimes. When corporations act irresponsibly� by dumping poisons on others' property or by risking people's health with toxins�they should face strict civil liability. Same goes for the government.

posted by Hal 6:38 PM