Unmasking Mr. Pombo

This Halloween night, the Sierra Club invites you to go as California Congressman Richard Pombo. Why Pombo? Because as head of the House resources Committee, he's an anti-environmental zealot who is in a position to do real violence to longstanding environmental laws like the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act ... and the list goes on. To quote Jim DiPeso, policy director of Republicans for Environmental Protection:

"The long-range implications of following the path that Pombo is leading us on really haven't gotten the publicity they ought to have. His priorities in the areas of energy, public lands and wildlife conservation are completely at odds with the best interests of our nation. I cannot think of a worse person to be chairman of the Resources Committee."

For more on Mr. Pombo's exploits, we direct you to this editorial in the New York Times, plus a longer piece from High Country News. Among other things, the article illuminates Mr. Pombo's connection with a group called the International Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources -- a group whose funders include many restaurant chains and seafood companies, not to mention the National Trappers Association, the International Fur Trade Association, and the Japan Whaling Association.

Sierra Online (and on newsstands)

The November/December issue of Sierra is now online, featuring the aboreal photo-montages of James Balog, an interview with sociologist Robert Bullard about Hurricane Katrina and environmental justice, and a annotated look at the crocodile tears being shed over the Endangered Species Act.

Climate Q & A

After running an article called "The truth about global warming," the Seattle Times invited readers to ask climate researchers their own questions.

23 and Counting

Tropical Storm Beta becomes 23rd named storm of record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season.

Deer Reality TV

The deer-cam gives an animal's-eye view of deer behavior. It's like reality TV of the deer world. Scientists hope to learn more about deer behavior (including what might contribute to car-versus-deer collisions) and how best to manage chronic-wasting disease. It turns out that deer are more sociable than suspected: "Deer stay in contact with each other almost 24 hours a day."

Fair-Trade Joe for the Asking?

Walk into any Starbucks in the U.S. (and 22 other countries), and you're supposed to be able to request (and get) a cup of fair-trade coffee per company policy. The Starbucks Challenge is one blogger's attempt to encourage people to make that request -- and to report back on the result.

Sea Gypsies

A photo essay in Mother Jones visits the Moken, the incredible "sea gypsies" of Thailand and Myanmar, in a gallery by photographer Andrew Testa. The Moken gained some fame after surviving last winter's tsunami. Whether they can survive the tidal wave of industrial civilization is a question that remains unanswered.

Thanks Hurricane Anything!

Ever wanted to get your way but just couldn't?

Well, ... now you can.

Suzuki

The New York Times profiles Dr. David Suzuki, the "environmental conscience" of Canada. According to the article, when Prime Minister Jean Chrétien found broad popular support for signing the Kyoto Treaty (even in oil-producing regions), he had Dr. Suzuki to thank. David Anderson, Chrétien's environment minister tells the Times: "David Suzuki was very important in that regard. He has clout, he has a strong following and he is a genuine scientist."

Let My Peeps Go

Yvon Chouinard, owner and founder of the outdoor clothing company, Patagonia, Inc., has come out with a new book entitled, Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman. Both memoir and manifesto, the book recounts Chouinard's path from "dirtbag" rock climber to retailing magnate, while laying out his principles for running an eco-conscious business.

Sierra contributor Daniel Duane interviewed Chouinard in the March/April 2004 issue of the magazine. Among other things, Duane asked Chouinard why he gives money to grassroots environmental organizations. Answer:

"If you think about all the gains our society has made, from independence to now, it wasn’t government. It was activism. People think, 'Oh, Teddy Roosevelt established Yosemite National Park, what a great president.' BS. It was John Muir who invited Roosevelt out and then convinced him to ditch his security and go camping. It was Muir, an activist, a single person."

Hard Sell

"Mom, you know how I love being on the water, right? How I love the environment? I can be part of an environmental response team working on oil cleanups and stuff."

- From a recruiting ad for "Today's Military"

Sino-the-Times

China is undergoing a transformation unlike any the world has ever seen, expanding existing mega-cities and building new ones at breakneck speed. With a rapidly urbanizing population of 1.3 billion, many fear the toll China's boom will have on the global environment. According to this article in the NY Times, China is currently:

• The world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, after the U.S..
  
  
• The world's largest producer and consumer of steel, cement and coal.
  
  
• Home to 7 of the world's 10 most-polluted cities, according to the World Health Organization.

Origin of the Specimen

Harriet the Tortoise is 175 years old. A longtime resident of Australia, Harriet was thought to have been brought from the Galapagos by none other than Charles Darwin, during the famed voyage of the Beagle. But now some scientists are questioning that claim. Analysis of her mitochondrial DNA by indicates that she is from Santa Cruz island, whereas Darwin collected his specimens from Espanola, Santa Maria and San Salvador. No one seems to question her age, however, nor her rarity. She is thought to be one of perhaps fewer than a dozen members of her particular sub-species.

Tropical Oddities

With Hurricane Wilma becoming the record-tying 20th named storm of the 2005 season, as well as the record-tying 12th hurricane, we thought it worth mentioning a couple other storms that have made the history books recently.

Before Wilma came Vince, which was nowhere near the usual storm track. In fact, Vince, which briefly reached hurricane status but weakened before making landfall, was the first tropical cyclone ever to hit Spain. The storm also formed farther north and east than any other storm on record.

Another recent aberration was Hurricane Catarina, which hit Brazil in March 2004. Catarina was the first hurricane ever recorded in the South Atlantic Basin, where tropical storm systems tend to be broken apart by wind shear.

The nagging question, of course, is whether these storms have anything to do with global warming and the attendant predictions of increasingly severe weather? Search us. It is worth noting that storms have not been accurately monitored in the South Atlantic for a period longer than 30 years, so it's possible that hurricanes formed before then. Also, at least one hurricane had struck Europe before Vince: In September 1961, Hurricane Debbie struck Ireland at Category 1 strength.

The fact is, no one weather event can stand as proof in arguments for or against warming. Each one is an exhibit, however, in what appears to be a preponderance of evidence.

Mileage Ratings

The EPA has released mileage ratings for the 2006 class of vehicles. The Ford Escape hybrid SUV was the only American car to crack the Top Five.

Invidious Distinctions?

The nominees for the National Book Award have been announced. In the non-fiction category, there is one environmental title of note: Alan Burdick's Out of Eden, which examimes the nagging question of invasive species and what to do about them. Richard Conniff reviewed the book for the New York Times. He liked it, but took issue with the authors conclusion that, rather than causing extinctions, "most successful invaders simply blend into the ecological woodwork." Conniff writes:

Henry David Thoreau once defined weeding as the business of ''making invidious distinctions with the hoe.'' But in the science of ''invasion biology,'' the distinctions about what to keep in and what to weed out sometimes really matter. Burdick's account of the researchers who struggle with this largely thankless work is graceful and inviting. He would have written a better book, though, if he had made a more cogent case for why, every now and then, we need to cough up the money to buy those workers a better hoe.

Faith-Based Initiative

From the NY Times: Chevron said on Monday that it was moving ahead with a $900 million development [in the Gulf of Mexico] called, without irony, Blind Faith.

Polling Data

The Wall Street Journal publishes polling data revealing, among other things, that, "Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults agree that protecting the environment is important and standards cannot be too high." Read more.

(Un)Natural Disasters

When Hurricane Mitch stalled over the Central American isthmus in 1998, the heavy torrents of rain it delivered ummoored whole hillsides, burying villages and flooding cities across the region. An incredible 10,000 people died. The event was reported, understandably, as a natural disaster. But while hurricanes are indisputably a force of nature, the incredible death toll seemed to require more explanation. The answer -- no secret among environmental scientists -- had a lot to do with poor land management and especially deforestation. Countries like Honduras have seen half their forests dissapear in recent decades due to a mixture of illegal logging, slash-and-burn agriculture and the widespread practice of cutting wood for fuel.

A similar scenario has played out with Hurricane Stan, which lingered over Central America for days, but dumped only about half as much rain on Guatemala as Mitch had. Even that was catastrophic. Again, whole villages have been lost and scores of thousands are without shelter. In the village of Tacana on the Guatemala/Mexico border (pictured above), residents took shelter in two churches, which were subsequently buried when the denuded hillsides above the town gave way.

What They Don't Want You to See

By "they" we mean the Bush White House. The "what" is a congressionally mandated study entitled "Climate Change Impacts on the United States: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change." Curious? Go have a look. You paid for it.

Reading List

The folks at the Why Files, your guide to the science behind the news, took last week off. To fill the space in their absence, they launched a book club of sorts. Look out, Oprah!

Of the first four selections, three titles -- John McPhee's The Control of Nature, Jared Diamond's Collapse, and David Quammen's The Song of the Dodo -- are must-haves for any environmentalist's bookshelf.

In the wake of New Orleans' flooding, McPhee's book, with its section about the Army Corps of Engineers' neverending struggle to keep the Atchafalaya River from "capturing" the Mississippi, seems especially timely. But in the face of Washington's inaction over global warming and other environmental crises, Diamond's Collapse, which looks at the societal decisions that ultimately make the difference between a civilization's success or failure, is every bit as relevant.

You can learn more about Collapse in an interview with Diamond that appeared in the May/June issue of Sierra.

Wayburn National Park

NASA's Earth Observatory posts satellite imagery from around the world each week. In the latest batch is one of San Francisco's 75,000-acre Golden Gate National Recreation Area, described here as "one of the largest city parks in the world." Proudly, the Sierra Club can take some credit for the existence of that park. In particular, Dr. Edgar Wayburn, former five-time president of the Club, was instrumental in keeping developers at bay and getting the park established in 1972.

San Francisco Chronicle writer Harold Gilliam wrote an ode to Wayburn's efforts in an article called "The Quiet Conservationist."

Probably most of those hikers -- meandering along woodland trails through groves of redwoods and Douglas fir, admiring panoramas of the Bay Area from open hills, watching the surf explode on wave-carved cliffs -- take these privileges for granted and are totally unaware of the decades of toil, sweat, political battles and unflagging leadership that preserved those natural treasures from the bulldozers.

Chief among the unsung heroes of this immense Bay Area playground is the man who first envisioned it in the 1940s and worked for 30 years to bring it about -- Dr. Edgar Wayburn. The GGNRA might well be called Wayburn National Park.

Interested in learning more about Dr. Wayburn? His memoir, Your Land and Mine: Evolution of a Conservationist, is available from Sierra Club Books.

Arm Twisting

To pass the egregiously named Gas for America's Security Act, majority members of the House kept voting open a whopping 50 minutes while they worked the floor, trying to sway their more principled colleagues. Initially, more than two dozen Republicans voted no and the initial tally had it 210 yay, 214 nay. At that point Congressmen Hastert, Barton, Blunt, and even Tom Delay -- the Hammer himself -- moved in, cajoling their colleagues until they could muster a 212-210 vote. At that point, voting was gaveled to an end and another piece of legislation had been rammed down the opposition's throats. Opponents chanted "Shame, Shame, Shame," but the show was over. The House leadership had pulled the same trick when CAFTA was voted on in July. As the Washington Post reported at the time:

The 217 to 215 vote came just after midnight, in a dramatic finish that highlighted the intensity brought by both sides to the battle. When the usual 15-minute voting period expired at 11:17 p.m., the no votes outnumbered the yes votes by 180 to 175, with dozens of members undeclared. House Republican leaders kept the voting open for another 47 minutes, furiously rounding up holdouts in their own party until they had secured just enough to ensure approval.