Bisphenol-A in baby bottles . . . and in Sigg bottles (!)
The chemical bisphenol-A (BPA), commonly found in polycarbonate plastics and other household containers, is the subject of a new bill in California because of its potential adverse health effects. BPA hasbeen linked through animal testing to serious health problemsinvolving behavior, brain development, reproduction and heart function. Environmental advocacy groups such as the Environmental Working Group, have been campaigning for a banon the chemical's use in bottles i...
CONTINUE READINGPavley-Waxman Hearing at UCLA
As Cara posted yesterday, California State Senator Fran Pavley and Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) hosted a joint Climate Change forum today at UCLA. As predicted, protesters gathered outside the event but the anti-cap and trade crowd was quite small. Here are photos showing a few protesters: In contrast to the small number of Waxman opponents, a larger crowd turned out to support a public option for health care. Here's a photo of the public option c...
CONTINUE READINGAll Natural Gas Is Not Created Equal
In a recent blog, Dan Farber reports on a deal between ExxonMobil and a division of the China Natural Petroleum Corporation to bring Australian natural gas to China. Dan expresses the hope that the introduction of so much natural gas will produce multiple benefits – carbon reductions since natural gas is better than coal, less air pollution in China and the U.S., and a potential boost to the U.S. economy, since some of the profits will come back to the U.S. While w...
CONTINUE READINGStill more on climate engineering
There's a lot of enthusiasm in some circles for "geo-engineering" as a response to anthropogenic climate change, and a lot of skepticism about it in others. The appeal is obvious -- controlling greenhouse gas emissions looks difficult, since our economies and many of our daily habits (at least in the developed nations, which are providing role models for the developing world) have been built on profligate fossil fuel use. For those with faith in human ingenuity, a techno...
CONTINUE READINGA prospective time-out on Arctic fisheries
Just as it did with krill in the Pacific, NMFS has gotten ahead of the curve in regulating potential new commercial fisheries in the U.S. arctic. Global warming, by reducing the extent of sea ice, promises to open new areas to fishing vessels. At the same time, changing ocean temperatures and currents are expected to affect the distribution and abundance of fish stocks in ways that are not easily predictable. Its clear that there will be pressures on the newly avai...
CONTINUE READINGNanoparticles Potentially Linked to Factory Worker Deaths in China
This week Reuters reported what are billed as the first documented clinical cases of human health effects from exposure to nanoparticles. Seven young women, two of whom died, suffered severe permanent lung damage following months of largely unprotected exposure to fumes and smoke containing nanoparticles in spray painting operation in China. The women all worked in the same small, windowless room without windows or ventilation. Their lung tissues and fluids found i...
CONTINUE READINGRep. Waxman, Sen. Pavley, and Mary Nichols talk climate change
For those of you interested in the relationship between federal climate legislation and California's landmark global warming laws, tune in tomorrow 10am-noon PDT for a public forum at UCLA. It will be live webcast here, and yes, we are apparently even twittering it. Rep. Henry Waxman will talk about his work in passing the American Clean Energy and Security Act through the House earlier this year; Sen. Pavley and Mary Nichols, Chair of the Air Resources Board, wi...
CONTINUE READINGWant more mercury? Eat fish
The US Geological Survey yesterday issued a report on mercury contamination in fish and stream beds across the US. The news is not good -- at more than one quarter of the sampled sites, mercury levels in fish exceeded EPA's acceptable standard, which means that it is unhealthy to eat an average amount of those fish. As Catherine O'Neill points out at CPRBlog, that standard itself grossly understates the risk to those people whose fish consumption practices differ from ...
CONTINUE READINGTime for Fundamental Water Reform in California?
Yesterday was a most interesting, and potentially-momentous, day for water policy in California. Taking center stage at the state Capitol in Sacramento was a joint hearing of California State Senate and Assembly environmental committees to consider a package of bills addressing the chronic environmental ills that have befallen the California Delta and failures in state water policy generally. The day-long legislative hearing possessed a sense of urgency: after three...
CONTINUE READINGRight whales may need more room
The North Atlantic right whale is critically endangered. The National Marine Fisheries Service pegs its current population at roughly 313 individuals, unchanged over the last 25 years. (Early this year there were hopeful reports of a potential rebound, or at least a very good calving season.) Right whales migrate from winter calving grounds off Florida to summer feeding grounds in New England and north. Because their migratory route hugs the busy eastern seaboard, ship...
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