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AR-NEWS Digest 412
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Aerial spread - deadly zinc phosphide [Australia]
by bunny
2) (TH) Dog Meat
by Vadivu Govind
3) EU on "pig hotels"
by Vadivu Govind
4) FWD: 24 Hour Protest In Front of Canadian Embassy in Austria
on Fores
by David J Knowles
5) FWD: [CA]Greenpeace Blockades Western Forest Products to Save
Great Bear
by David J Knowles
6) FWD: [CA] Coalition Announces NAFTA Challenge
by David J Knowles
7) FWD: [US] Greenpeace Calls for End to oil Exploration in Alaska
by David J Knowles
8) [UK] Children who are lemons over oranges
by David J Knowles
9) [UK]Top beaches still too polluted for safe swimming
by David J Knowles
10) [UK] DNA catches out cheating chimpanzees
by David J Knowles
11) [UK] Breeders pair two males
by David J Knowles
12) Whole Foods live lobsters
by Joy Zakarian
13) (US) House Tuna Import Roll Call
by allen schubert
14) (US) Nature May Help Fight Rice Disease
by allen schubert
15) (US) Poachers Plunder Midwest Mussels
by allen schubert
16) Calls Needed to Recover Baboon
by Debbie Leahy
17) SanFran ACTIVISTS- HELP NEEDED!
by CFOXAPI@aol.com
18) record rise in vegetarianism in Britain - men are catching up!
by Jennifer Kolar
19) Dissection Survey Results
by Debbie Leahy
20) "Computer Cow" Paraded on Stock Exchange
by Pat Fish
21) [UK] BP and Shell take green approach to solar energy
by David J Knowles
22) [UK] Activist ponders anti-hunts Bill
by David J Knowles
23) [UK] Ethical investing reveals many shades of green
by David J Knowles
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 12:52:23 +0800
From: bunny
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Aerial spread - deadly zinc phosphide [Australia]
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970522124740.2b872e92@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Mice bait bombed.
by Joanne Collins (Weekly Times, Victoria, Australia 21st May 1997)
Southern Mallee farmers have become the first in Australia to make an
assault on mice with zinc phosphide.
Bait was dropped south-west of Birchip at Walkur last Wednesday, only a week
after the National Registration
Authority issued permits for farmers to use the poison.
And more than 250 Wimmerra/Mallee croppers have completed a two hour zinc
phosphide course in preparation
for ground baiting.
Twenty tonnes of bait have been distributed to rural suppy centres across
the grain belt but mostly at Birchip - one
of the state's worst mouse infested areas with densities exceeding 1000/ha.
Bait manufacturer Animal Technologies Victoria has produced 40t of bait and
has enough chemical to make 100t,
which would cover 100,000ha.
"It is difficult to tell what the level of demand for the bait really is but
we have made enough to supply the existing
need." managing director Dr Linton Staples said.
A small-scale manufacturing plant has been especially built near Kyneton but
the exact location is being kept under
wraps.
The zinc phosphide bait comprises the chemical combined with vegetable oil,
which is coated to wheat that has been
sterilised to prevent germination and spreading weeds.
The bait is applied at 1kg/ha and ground baiting is done with a special
spreader.
Meanwhile, the CSIRO is back-pedalling slightly from predictions it made six
months ago that a mouse plague was
80 per cent likely in the central Mallee.
CSIRO rodent research leader Grant Singleton said the dry conditions had
helped keep mice numbers at bay. The
most recent trappings in the central Mallee showed 300-400 mice/ha, at the
lower end of the plague spectrum.
"Mice stopped breeding at the end of March, which is very good news for
farmers because if they kept breeding
for another three weeks, numbers could have doubled,"Mr Singleton said.
But he cautioned damage would depend on how hungry the mice were.
Victorian Institute for Dryland Agriculture mouse program leader Clare Dunn
said "hot spots", included Birchip,
Greenlake, and an area north of Warracknabeal.
End
NB Zinc phosphide may kill many more animals and birds than just
mice. The approval of zinc-phosphide was ill-considered in my
opinion and another example of the farming lobby in Australia
exerting its power to overcome the forces of reason.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kia hora te marino, kia whakapapa pounamu te moana, kia tere ai te karohirohi
i mua tonu i o koutou huarahi.
-Maori Prayer
(May the calm be widespread, may the sea be as the smooth surface of the
greenstone and may the rays of sunshine forever dance along your pathway)
("\''/").___..--''"`-._
`9_ 9 ) `-. ( ).`-.__.`)
(_Y_.)' ._ ) `._ `. ``-..-'
_..`--'_..-_/ /--'_.' .'
(il).-'' ((i).' ((!.-'
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 13:54:47 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (TH) Dog Meat
Message-ID: <199705220554.NAA02923@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>Bangkok Post
22 May 97
Slaughtered to order
Despite public outcry, business is
booming for those in the Northeast
involved in the sale of dog meat lo
Chompoo Trakullertsathien
Have you ever wondered why certain genuine
leather handbags are particularly cheap?
Where did the skin come from? What about that
lean, dried meat served with a hot and spicy sauce.
What kind of meat is it?
And the cooking oil used to deep-fry foods, which
animal does that come from?
There is a slim chance all of the above could be the
by-products of dogs.
You may be shocked to hear this, but a visit the
village of Ban Taa-Rae in Sakon Nakhon province
will open your eyes to the Kingdom's dog trade.
Here, the trading of dogs has become a thriving
business, with thousands of the animals slaughtered
daily - except on religious days - mainly for
consumption.
Like other animals, dogs are now a valuable
commodity. Every piece is eaten, from the head to
the tail, from the flesh to the bones and skin, and
even the testicles.
Public sentiment runs high over the consumption of
dog. Most people are against it, although that hasn't
stopped the villagers from choosing to ignore this
disapproval - as long as they can cash in on dog
products.
What's surprising, however, is that the demand for
the products is higher now than ever before.
According to Aim-on Phailai, a master's degree
student at Maha Sarakham University who has
studied the village's trade, dog was initially used for
fresh and dried meat.
Dog carcasses, after butchering, were left to rot,
creating a pollution problem for the village. So,
someone suggested grinding the bones for animal
feed, and then cooking oil.
Then the skins were tanned and sold to be made
into women's handbags.
The village then looked to the export market, and
started exporting a certain part - the testicles - to
Hong Kong, Japan, China and Taiwan.
Thus, the dog trade flourished.
"This trade," Aim-on explained, "is a social
phenomenon in Isan. The people have taken up the
business for economic reasons as dog consumption
is no longer shunned in their society."
In fact, Isan people are quite easy-going when it
comes to eating, she added. They can almost eat
everything - even insects and other creepy crawlies.
So, while other societies may find the thought of
eating dog nauseating, the people of Isan accept it
as a part of life - and a way to survive.
"For them, there is nothing wrong in eating dog,"
Aim-on added.
Many believe eating dog was influenced by the
early Vietnamese immigrants who settled in the Isan
region generations ago.
They brought with them a taste for canine.
The history of trading dog in Ban Taa-Rae, Aim-on
continued, began in 1969 when a woman meat
vendor took a few dogs from her relatives and
slaughtered them for food.
She put some of the dog meat up for sale in the
village market and sold everything almost
immediately.
Realising there was a demand for dog meat, she
rounded up more dogs in the nearby villages using
her bicycle. As her business grew she started to use
a motorcycle and then motor-tricycle.
On her dog-collecting rounds she carried with her
consumer goods such as confectionery, chillies,
salt, clothes and toys which she exchanged for the
dogs.
Occasionally the dogs were given free of charge.
From this small household business, the village dog
trade has grown into a small-scale industry, said
Aim-on.
Exports started in 1975, when a businessman in the
province placed an order for dog testicles.
Used as an ingredient in traditional medicine, the
testicles fetched a handsome price for the traders -
around 80-120 baht a scrotum. They were then
exported to Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Japan.
As the industry grew, more and more people in the
village left their low-income jobs to join the
flourishing business.
As more money was invested in the industry a fleet
of pick-up trucks was purchased to roam Isan
hunting for dogs. In the early hours of the morning,
the trucks set off, each with a team of dog hunters.
Although a variety of consumer goods have been
used to barter for the dogs, nowadays water
buckets are offered because they are, apparently,
more attractive to the people of Isan.
"We discovered that the people of Isan are
attached to water," said Paiwan, a member of a
dog hunting team. "They see it as the most
important thing for them. And they can use the
bucket to carry it. Most of the Isan villagers are so
poor they can't afford a bucket, which costs about
12 baht."
After accomplishing their mission, which may take
two or three days, the team returns to the village,
usually with between 70 and 120 dogs.
The dogs are then slaughtered to order.
The butchers, usually men, work during the night,
getting dog meat ready for the morning market. At
the same time, women slice some meat for drying,
tan the skins and boil the bones to extract the oil.
Oil extracted, Aim-on said, is sometimes mixed
with low-priced pork oil to increase the quantity.
Such cooking oil is then used to deep-fry food or
sweets.
The dog skin fetches up to eight baht a hide. It is
usually sold in bulk - a thousand hides a time -
earning the slaughterhouse owner at least 8,000
baht.
The dog skins, Aim-on added, are ordered by the
leather goods industry in Bangkok and used to
make women's handbags.
But all this means more dogs are needed.
Anand, one of the industry's operators, told how he
goes about catching dogs.
At first they travelled to neighbouring villages in
Sakon Nakhon, but as they are now catering for an
export market, they have increased their work area
to neighbouring provinces in the Northeast.
According to Anand, the operators use four main
routes from Sakon Nakhon - Udon Thani, Nong
Khai and Loei; Khon Kaen, Kalasin and Maha
Sarakham; Roi Et, Surin, Buriram and Si Sa Ket;
and Mukdahan, Amnat Charoen, Yasothon and
Ubon Ratchathani.
But Anand added they don't visit urban areas for
fear of public outcry.
"We know that many people still detest us," Anand
explained. "Besides, the dogs in their cages would
cause a disturbance if we drove through urban
areas. So we avoid them. It is more convenient for
us to go to rural areas. Besides, we can take a rest,
eat our lunch and stay overnight there."
Only in Khon Kaen are they allowed to catch dogs
with official permission.
Officials there want to be rid of stray dogs, so the
dog hunters offer a perfect service.
Operators, Anand added, don't need any
experience as expert dog catchers can be hired to
guide the team through the remote villages of Isan.
With handsome earnings to be had, a large number
of men have quit their regular jobs to become
operators. Those with money, buy their own
pickups and hire drivers.
Teenagers are also joining in.
Nava, a teenage dog catcher, said it is not always
easy catching the dogs.
"Very often at the start I was bitten by the dogs.
Sometimes I couldn't catch them," the youngster
explained.
"But experience taught me how to do it. The wilder
the dog, the easier it is to catch. When I approach
a wild one, it usually jumps up at me, so I can lasso
it around the neck."
"Sometimes, we waste time running after the dogs.
But, if the dog's owner is with us, our job is easier,"
he added.
A dog catcher is paid around 300 baht a trip.
However, the more experienced catchers can ask
for 400 to 500 baht.
In an effort to persuade the villagers to trade their
dogs, catchers will usually announce their arrival
and the plastic water buckets they have to
exchange.
"Here I come. Those who have dogs can exchange
them for a bucket. Bring any dog that is fierce or
lazy to my car," announced one young catcher.
On each trip the driver and the dog catcher will
make friends with villagers, asking them to find
dogs for the team. This makes their job easier, as
next time they visit the village, their job will be
virtually done for them.
Although government officials have tried in the past
to stop dog trading, nothing has come of it. Instead
more and more villagers are lured into the business,
attracted by high returns.
"As long as there are no other jobs that will pay
them more money, it will be impossible to convince
these people to give up slaughtering dogs. They do
it for their own survival," Aim-on stated.
The economic benefit to the villagers is obvious.
Many have paid off their debts, while others have
accrued savings.
Although Aim-on herself disagrees with the whole
business, she can see their way of thinking.
"Sometimes, we well-educated people in Bangkok
cannot use our own moral standards to judge
people who live here. They have to struggle for a
better standard of living in their own community."
Article copyright Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd 1997
Reprinted for non-commercial use only.
Website: http://www.bangkokpost.net
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 13:54:57 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: EU on "pig hotels"
Message-ID: <199705220554.NAA30260@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>The Straits Times
22 May 97
It's a pig's life: 24 hours' rest after 8 hours on the road
BRUSSELS -- European Union farm ministers on Tuesday struck a political
deal on rules for "pig hotels" -- rest centres for farm animals on marathon
journeys across the continent, diplomats said.
They set a basic eight-hour journey limit for cattle, pigs, sheep and
other farm animals, after which they must be unloaded from their vehicles
and rest for 24 hours before continuing their journeys.
"It was agreed by consensus," a German diplomat said, adding the European
Commission (EC) was asked to examine possible special measures demanded by
Britain, Denmark and Ireland for high-value breeding pigs and to report back
as soon
as possible.
A British official said Britain abstained from the deal, which can only
be finalised,
probably in June, after a legal text is drafted. "We wanted to take it
further forward,"
the official said, adding: "It's less stressful for the animals to remain in
the vehicles."
An EC spokesman said member states would have to implement the
rest-centre rules by the end of next year. Proposals for standards for "pig
pullman" vehicles are due to be presented in the next few weeks. -- Reuter.
Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 23:56:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: FWD: 24 Hour Protest In Front of Canadian Embassy in Austria
on Fores
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970521235658.254f48f2@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Forwarded from the Greenpeace Media Release server.
24 HOUR GREENPEACE PROTEST IN FRONT OF THE CANADIAN EMBASSY
May 20, 1997 Vienna - Since 9 o clock in the morning 30 Greenpeace activists
are positionend in front of the Canadian Embassy for a 24 hour lasting
demonstration in the city of Vienna. With this action Greenpeace Austria
joins the worldwide actions against clearcutting of one of the last great
temperate rainforests of this planet in British Columbia, Canada. Greenpeace
calls for immediate STOP of forest-cutting activities in the Great Bear
Rainforest.
The environmental activists enrolled a big and a small banner with the
slogan Clearcutting kills! Save the spirit bear!" from the top down on the
embassy building. Additionally activists were positioned around the building
holding panels showing slogans like STOP CLEAR CUTTING NOW! SAVE THE SPIRIT
BEAR".
After the big actions in Washington, Los Angeles, Boston and Seattle,
Greenpeace Austria is not only doing a follow up, but also pointing out the
Austrian wood industry s imports of Canadian wood and pulp, which are fairly
huge (80.000 tons in 1995).
The destruction of living areas is the major reason for the [threat to] the
Canadian bears and the threat of extinction of hundreds of other species!"
says Patrick Anderson of Greenpeace International Therefore Greenpeace
calls for immediate stop of clearcutting and an end of roadbuilding
activities in rainforest areas and supports First Nations traditional use of
rain forests".
For more information call Patrick Anderson or Martin Frimmel, Tel.:
++43-663-9208162
Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 23:56:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: FWD: [CA]Greenpeace Blockades Western Forest Products to Save
Great Bear
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970521235700.254f0c40@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Forwarded from the Greenpeace Media List server.
GREENPEACE BLOCKADES WESTERN FOREST PRODUCTS TO SAVE THE GREAT
BEAR
RAINFOREST
Forest Actions Coincide with Austrian Protests and Ottawa Legal Action
(RODERICK ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA) --- May 21, 1997 --- Greenpeace
activists have stopped Western Forest Products (Doman Industries) from
continuing a clearcut logging operation in an area of the Great Bear
Rainforest. The Great Bear Rainforest, which stretches along British
Columbia's mid-coast region, contains some of the world's largest intact
areas of temperate rainforest - a forest type that has been logged to the
brink of
extinction elsewhere in the world.
Eight activists have stopped the operation by locking themselves onto
logging equipment and hung a banner reading: "Protect Canada's Great Bear
Rainforest." In nearby Green Inlet, the thirty member Greenpeace team,
supported by the Greenpeace vessel the MV Moby Dick, have also constructed
a mobile floating base camp which can be used to maintain an ongoing
presence in the rainforest.
"Greenpeace is taking a stand at the frontier of destruction in the Great
Bear Rainforest," said Tzeporah Berman, a Greenpeace forest campaigner at
the site of the blockade. " If logging companies like Western Forest
Products carry through with their current plans, most of this rainforest
will be lost forever in the space of ten short years."
Satellite mapping recently carried out by the World Resources Institute
shows that half the world's temperate rainforests have already been
destroyed and that temperate forests are more endangered than tropical
forests. (1)
Information recently obtained by Greenpeace under the Freedom of
Information Act reveals that Western Forest Products (Doman) has been found
guilty of non-compliance with British Columbia's Forest Practice Code on 96
occasions since 1995. (2) On Roderick Island
Western Forest Products is already active in at least five different
locations, according to observations made by the Greenpeace team. The
company also has plans to move into Green Inlet, as well as the
Mooto/Ingram valleys.
Today's rainforest action coincides with a Greenpeace protest vigil at the
Canadian Embassy in Vienna, Austria where activists have hung banners
outside the embassy reading, "Clearcutting Kills" and "Canada....Save Your
Rainforest". And in Ottawa, Greenpeace,
along with other groups, launched a complaint against the federal
government under the North American Agreement on Environmental
Co-operation for its failure to enact Endangered Species Legislation and
comply with the Convention on Biological
Diversity. British Columbia's temperate rainforest contains a number of
species considered threatened or vulnerable to extinction such as the
grizzly bear and the marbled murrelet. But because neither British Columbia
nor the Canadian government have
enacted meaningful endangered species legislation, companies like Western
Forest Products, are able to continue clearcutting these species' habitat.
NOTE TO BROADCASTERS: Footage of today's action will be flown out of the
area and uplinked to the ANIK SATELLITE. More details to follow when
available. B-roll footage of other threatened areas also available.
Editor's Notes: 1) World Resources Institute, "The Last Frontier
Forests", Washington D.C., 1997
2) More detailed documentation available by calling Greenpeace Vancouver.
Contact:
Karen Mahon 604-253-7701; 604-220-7701; Mary MacNutt 604-253-7701
Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 23:56:32 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: FWD: [CA] Coalition Announces NAFTA Challenge
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970521235703.254f525c@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Forwarded from the Greenpeace Media release server
COALITION ANNOUNCES NAFTA CHALLENGE:
Canadian Government to Be Held Accountable for Failure to Pass Endangered
Species Legislation
Ottawa, May 21, 1997 A coalition of environmental and social justice
organizations announced their intent to launch a complaint against Canada
under Article 14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental
Co-operation (NAEEC) for its failure to comply with the requirements of the
Biological Diversity Convention (see Backgrounder for more detailed
information).
Greenpeace, Council of Canadians, Canadian Labour Congress and Animal
Alliance of canada have retained Clayton Ruby as legal counsel for the
complaint.
"Canada has no federal legislation for protecting endangered species," said
Maude Barlow, Council of Canadians. "The government promised in the Throne
Speech to pass endangered species legislation and failed to do so in its
first term in office. We must hold this government accountable for not
passing the legislation as it promised the Canadian people it would do."
"Greenpeace supports the complaint under Article 14 of the NAAEC. We want
to ensure that the Canadian government honour its commitment to the
international community and pass
legislation to protect endangered species," said Jeanne Moffat, Executive
Director.
"Our message to the government, during the consultation process, was that
the protection of endangered species, the maintenance of healthy ecosystems
and the health of the workers and their communities are all connected and
must be taken into consideration in recovery plans," said Dace Bennett of
the Canadian Labour Congress. "Our fear with the death of the Bill is that
endangered species and their habitat will not be protected and environmental
degradation will continue to threaten healthy communities. We need to hold
this government
accountable."
"As a minimum, we have asked this government to pass endangered species
legislation early in the next mandate, strengthen the Bill to ensure
scientific listing and require habitat protection for all species within
federal jurisdiction and not weaken the Bill in other areas," said Liz
White, Animal Alliance of Canada. "Since the government will make no such
commitment, we have no choice but to proceed with the complaint against the
Government
of Canada for non-compliance with the Convention."
For further information please call Liz White, Animal Alliance of Canada,
416-462-9541, Dace Bennett, Canadian Labour Congress, 613,521-3400, Ext.
418, Maude Barlow, Council of Canadians, 613-233-2773, Jeanne Moffat,
Greenpeace Canada, 416-597-8408. Jeanne
Moffat
Telephone (416) 597-8408; Fax (416) 597-8422
Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 23:56:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: FWD: [US] Greenpeace Calls for End to oil Exploration in Alaska
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970521235705.254f4e8e@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Forwarded from the Greenpeace Media Release server
GREENPEACE CALLS FOR END TO OIL EXPLORATION IN ALASKA AS FIRST STEP
TOWARD
PROTECTING THE EARTH FROM CLIMATE CHANGE
WASHINGTON, MAY 14 (GP) -- In a letter to the White House, Greenpeace today
called on President Bill Clinton to stop all new oil exploration in Alaska
and to push for a legally binding treaty to drastically reduce the global
warming greenhouse gases caused by the burning of oil, coal and gas. [1]
Using the science of the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) Greenpeace has calculated a global "carbon budget formula,"
[2] that demonstrates the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) greenhouse gas that
can be emitted to remain within safe limits for human health and the
environment. These limits have been identified by the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP) as:
n a maximum rate of global temperature rise of 0.1 degrees C per decade; n a
maximum rate of average sea-level rise of 20 mm per decade; n a maximum long
term increase of global average temperature of 1 degree C above
pre-industrial levels; n a maximum sea-level rise of 20 cm above 1990 levels.
Noting that fossil fuels - oil, coal and gas - comprise the greatest source
of CO2 emissions, Greenpeace wrote in their letter that "the inescapable
conclusion is that only a fraction of the currently known reserves of oil,
gas and coal can ever be burned if we are to protect the climate, in other
words there needs to be a global phase out of fossil fuels. And this must
begin now with a halt to the search for further oil, gas and coal reserves."
At current rates of fossil fuel energy use the carbon budget to stay within
safe limits will be exceeded in 40 years. However, if we continue to
increase our use of energy at the current
rates (about 2 per cent annually), the budget will be exceeded in 30 years.
Despite a clear imperative for the phase out of fossil fuels, the Department
of the Interior in the last year has opened up five new oil lease sales in
Alaska, repealed the ban on the
export of Alaskan oil and encouraged the opening of the Alaskan National
Petroleum Reserve to oil companies.
"The fact that human induced climate change is happening has now been
established. To simply ignore the obvious and encourage the oil companies to
search for more oil commits us all to a suicide pact," said Kalee Kreider,
Greenpeace Climate Campaigner.
Alaska is not only an area where oil companies are aggressively pursuing new
oil reserves, but scientific models also predict the region will suffer some
of the worst effects of global
climate change. According to these models, by the middle of the next
century, the Arctic will heat up between 4 degrees C (in summer) and 13
degrees C (in winter). Such a temperature change could lead to a collapse
of the entire Arctic ecosystem.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Horsman 202-319-2523, Deborah Rephan
202-319-2492, or Kalee Kreider 202-319-2523.
Notes to Editors:
1. The Third Conference of Parties to the Framework Convention
on Climate Change meets in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997.
Greenpeace is calling for all industrialized countries to commit
to a legally binding CO2 emission reduction target of 20 percent
below 1990 levels by 2005.
2. Using the science of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, Greenpeace has calculated a global carbon budget to
demonstrate how much carbon dioxide can be emitted and to stay
within safe limits for human health and the environment.
Reserves of oil, gas and coal and unconventional sources such as
oil shales are 1,053 billion metric tons of carbon, or GtC.
Reserves are rapidly expanding due to oil, coal and gas
exploration so that the resource base could grow to 4,000 GtC.
At current rates of fossil fuel energy use, 6 GtC are emitted
into the atmosphere each year.
In order to meet the UN Environment Programme safe limits, if no
action were taken to stop the current trends of deforestation
(as forests store CO2 and release it when they are destroyed)
the budget would be only 145 GtC. If action were taken to halt
deforestation and stabilize forests, the budget would be 225
GtC.
At current rates of fossil fuel energy use, the 225 GtC budget
will be exceeded in 40 years globally. If we continue to
increase our use of energy at the current rate (2 per cent
annually) then the budget will be exceeded in 30 years.
President William Jefferson Clinton
The White House
Washington DC
May 13 1997
Dear President Clinton:
I am writing to you to in relation to the US position in the
international climate negotiations and to demand urgent action
to stop the practices, encouraged by your Administration, which
cause global warming and climate change. As you stated, "We
must stand together against the threat of global warming. A
greenhouse may be a good place to raise plants; it is no place
to nurture our children." (22 November 1996, Australia).
Greenpeace agrees.
Last July, at the Second Conference of the Parties to the
Climate Convention, Greenpeace praised your Administration for
proposing the negotiation of legally binding obligations to
limit emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse
gases, caused primarily by the use of fossil fuels - oil, coal
and gas. Greenpeace had hoped that this signaled a major shift
in policy direction by the administration.
Since then, however, we have been disappointed. US greenhouse
gas emissions continue to rise and the US has not put forward
concrete proposals for emission reductions to the international
Climate Convention negotiations now underway and due to conclude
at Kyoto in December of this year.
Furthermore, by encouraging increased oil developments in
Alaska, your Administration is working directly against the aims
of the Climate Convention.
The United States has a special responsibility to act on climate
change - it is responsible for about one quarter of global
emissions from fossil fuels, it is the world's largest economy,
it fosters much of the science that has identified this problem
and, further, has the technological and economic expertise to
deliver the solutions.
Mr. President, in this letter I want to outline our case for
specific action from you domestically and internationally to
protect the climate. Firstly we call on you to take political
action beginning with the forthcoming meeting of the UN General
Assembly Session; secondly we call on you to take action to
halt further exploration and development of fossil fuel
resources.
1. Political Action
In a few short weeks you will be speaking at the UN General
Assembly Session on the occasion of the five-year review of the
Earth Summit of 1992. No doubt you will be reviewing the
experience of the US in meeting its Rio commitments and setting
out an agenda for the future. _/cont'd
Greenpeace USA believes that a real test of our Government's
commitments made at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 would be the
implementation of the agreements on reducing greenhouse gas
emissions. The US is not in compliance with the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC). This treaty
requires that developed country Parties adopt policies and
measures that have the aim of bringing back emissions to 1990
levels by the year 2000. The US has not adopted policies and
measures domestically that would have any chance of meeting this
aim. Although your Administration has not provided the United
Nations with your "National Communications" by the April
deadline, it is clear from the US Department of Energy that US
emissions of greenhouse gases continue to grow, rather than
diminish as would be required to comply with your international
obligations.
Scientifically it is clear that action to reduce emissions is
essential if dangerous, human induced climate change is to be
avoided. Already, the rate at which the world is releasing
greenhouse gases (from human activities such as burning oil,
coal and gas) is alarming and causing measurable impacts - sea
level rise and temperature rise, among others.
The stated aim of domestic and international policy must be to
prevent dangerous climate change. This objective is enshrined
in international law as Article 2 of the UN FCCC. Achieving
this objective means setting ecological limits and then devising
an emissions path that can meet these limits.
In 1990 the United Nations Environment Programme Advisory Group
on Greenhouse Gases (UNEP AGGG) found that to "protect both
ecosystems as well as human systems" limits must be set both on
the extent and rate of total amounts of global temperature and
sea level rise. Greenpeace believes that these limits, beyond
which the world risks "rapid, unpredictable and non-linear
responses that could lead to extensive ecosystem damage", must
be avoided. The limits include:
- a maximum sustained rate of global temperature increase of
0.1degrees C per decade; - a maximum sustained rate of average
sea-level rise of 20mm per decade; - a maximum long term
increase of global average temperature of 1 degree C above pre-
industrial levels; - a maximum sea-level rise of 20cm above
1990 levels.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its
First and Second Assessment reports has reinforced these
findings.
2. Staying within Ecological Limits
The Chairman of the IPCC, Professor Bert Bolin has made it clear
to the world's governments that to avoid a doubling of CO2
concentrations would require the total CO2 emissions (including
deforestation) over the next century to be less than 610-670
billion tonnes of carbon (gigatonnes of carbon - GtC). This
figure represents much less than the known economically
recoverable reserves of oil, coal and gas (estimated at 1,100
GtC). Further, if you take into account deforestation, the
figure is hardly one third of what the world is likely to burn
in the absence of action on climate change in the next century
(estimated at around 1500 GtC). However, the IPCC has found that
the impacts of allowing atmospheric CO2 and other greenhouse
gases to double could include significant loss of human life
from the indirect and direct health effects of rapid climate
change.[1] Furthermore, economic losses from climate impacts
would increase as witnessed by recent extreme weather events
such as floods, droughts and forest fires.
_/cont'd
As you would be aware Mr. President, the European Union has
already proposed to the international community that global
temperatures should not be allowed to exceed a 2 degrees C
increase above pre-industrial levels.[2] This would require
that only 330-410 GtC are burnt over the next century. Thus far,
the US has not put forward any target or position on this issue.
However, even a 2 degree C warming was identified by the UNEP
Advisory Group on Greenhouse gases as "an upper limit beyond
which the risks of grave damage to ecosystems, and of non-linear
responses, are expected to increase rapidly".[3] Yet this
figure of 330-410 GtC represents only 30-40% of known
economically recoverable reserves of fossil fuels - oil, coal
and gas.
If we are to avoid "wide ranging and mostly adverse effect(s) on
human health with a significant loss of life" then much lower
levels of carbon emission are needed.
3. How Much Carbon?
Mr. President, the fact that the main source of emissions of
CO2 originate from our use of oil, coal and gas leads directly
to the question of how much we can actually use and still
prevent dangerous climate change. At current rates of fossil
fuel energy use, each year over 6 GtC are released each year;
since approximately 1860, a total of 240 GtC has been dumped
into the atmosphere from our use of oil, coal and gas.
In order to meet both the total and per decade limits of sea
level rise and temperature rise outlined by UNEP above, using
the IPCC science, Greenpeace has calculated a total carbon
budget for the burning of fossil fuels over the next century.
The results are alarming. If no action were taken to stop the
current trends of deforestation (as forests store carbon dioxide
and release CO2 when they are destroyed) the budget would be
only 145 GtC. In other words we could only emit 145 GtC into
the atmosphere. If action were taken to halt deforestation and
stabilize forests, the budget would be 225 GtC. These carbon
budgets are greatly exceeded by the carbon in known oil and gas
reserves alone.
The inescapable conclusion, Mr. President, is that only a small
fraction of the currently known reserves of oil, gas and coal
can ever be burned if we are to protect the climate. This is
the carbon logic. In order to protect the climate, limiting the
carbon budget to between 145 - 260 GtC translates into a global
phase out of the use of fossil fuels. The phase out must begin
now and the first action needed is a halt to the search for
further oil, coal and gas reserves. We realise the import of
the action we are demanding, but we also realise that
catastrophic changes are in store for the planet and all its
occupants if we fail to take this action.
4. Halt Further Exploration and Development of Oil, Coal and
Gas
Contrary to the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels and in
addition to failing to adopt the policies and measures required
under international law to limit emissions, your Administration
is encouraging exploration of further fossil fuel resources,
particularly oil. Just in the last year, the Department of
Interior has opened up five new oil lease sales in Alaska alone;
your Administration repealed the ban on the export of Alaskan
oil; and, your Administration encouraged the opening of the
Alaskan National Petroleum Reserve (which lies adjacent to the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) to oil companies. This drive
for further oil extraction will result in more, not less, carbon
dioxide being dumped into the atmosphere. _/cont'd
Further exploration and development of fossil fuels resources
will only make the problem of trying to protect the climate that
much more difficult to solve. Therefore, a phase out of the use
of fossil fuels must begin with an immediate commitment to no
further exploration and development of new fossil fuel resources
by the US. This policy step is the only way to begin the
process of avoiding dangerous human influence on the earth's
climate, thereby satisfying the aims of the Climate Convention.
The question is not if, the use of oil, coal and gas are to be
phased out, but when. Immediate strong and clear leadership is
expected and in fact demanded of the leader of the world's
richest and most profligate economy. In light of the need to
take immediate and convincing action, your Administration should
immediately:
1) Stop all new oil exploration in Alaska. Alaska is not only
an area where the oil companies are aggressively pursuing new
oil reserves, but scientific models also predict the region will
suffer some of the worst effects of global climate change.
According to these models, by the middle of the next century,
the Arctic will heat up between 4 degrees C (in summer) and 13
degrees C (in winter). Such a temperature change could lead to
a collapse of the entire Arctic ecosystem
2) Announce at the UNGASS in June a commitment to secure at
the Third Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention
on Climate Change in Kyoto in December 1997, a legally binding
CO2 emission reduction target for all industrialised nations of
20% below 1990 levels by 2005. . Fortunately, the news is not
all dire. The solution to global climate change is well within
our reach in the form of clean and renewable energy already on
the market. The Clinton Administration could take concrete
steps, in addition to stopping new oil exploration, to ensure
our clean energy future by including a shift of corporate
welfare programs from fossil fuels to research and development
of renewable energy technologies such as solar. Such a regime
would not only begin to address the problem of global climate
change, but also reduce our dependence on foreign oil while
staying within our balanced budget and growing an economy which
could truly build a bridge to the twenty first century.
Sincerely yours,
Barbara Dudley
Executive Director
Greenpeace USA
----------------------------------
Footnotes:
1. Projected impacts, according to the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, include, "wide ranging and mostly
adverse effect(s) on human health with a significant loss of
life."
2. The UNEP AGGG stated that above 1.0 degrees C (or a
330-370 PPM CO2 equivalent concentration) there may be
"rapid, unpredictable and non-linear responses that could lead
to extensive ecosystem damage." A total 2.0 degrees C
increase (or 400-560 PPM) was "viewed as an upper limit
beyond which the risks of grave damage to ecosystems and of
non linear responses are expected to increase rapidly".
3. The global mean temperature already has risen 0.3-0.6
degrees C above pre-industrial levels and current rates of
increase are at or above 0.1 degrees C per decade. Forecasted
emissions are expected to cause a 0.2-0.3 degrees C
temperature rise per decade in the next few decades. The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also indicates that
a doubling of CO2 and equivalent is expected to occur by 2050
(but may occur as early 2030). A doubling of CO2 and
equivalent would result in a 3.5 degrees C temperature change
far beyond what is safe for human health and the environment.
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 01:12:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Children who are lemons over oranges
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970522011259.0b2f76d0@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Thursday, May 22nd, 1997
Children who are lemons over oranges
By David Brown, Agriculture Editor
ONE third of children think that oranges sold in shops and supermarkets are
grown in Britain, while 90 per cent believe that tomatoes are exotic fruits
which are only produced abroad, according to a survey published today.
A quarter of eight- to 11-year-olds questioned by Mori for the National
Farmers' Union did not know that wheat is the main ingredient in bread - and
many believe that it is made from rice or potatoes.
One fifth of children are unaware that cheese is made from cow's milk. But
nearly half mistakenly believe that margarine, manufactured from vegetable
oils, is made from milk, the survey says. And one in 10 does not know know
that ham comes from pigs - some think that it is made from horses.
The NFU is launching a campaign today to teach the public more about food
and the farming industry. More than 120 farms are opening to the public
under The Friendly Farm Fundays initiative.
Children will be invited to join a free "Friendly Farm Club" and be given
"goodie bags" containing puzzles and information sheets. Tony Pexton, deputy
president of the NFU, said: "We really must try to unravel the confusion in
children's minds and that is why we are inviting families down on the farm
this summer. While most children appear to be aware of general farming facts
their depth of knowledge is very patchy to say the least."
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 01:14:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK]Top beaches still too polluted for safe swimming
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970522011523.09c78a86@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Thursday, May 22nd, 1997
Top beaches still too polluted for safe swimming
SOME of the country's top tourist beaches, including one at Blackpool, are
still badly polluted, according to a nationwide guide published today.
Of 763 beaches tested, only 136 met Marine Conservation Society water
quality standards, the 1997 Reader's Digest Good Beach Guide says. Not one
beach in the whole of the North West was considered "good" and this ought to
be considered "a source of national shame".
Blackpool's South Pier beach as well as Morecambe North, Lancs, and two
beaches in Ilfracombe, Devon, were among those "heavily contaminated by sewage".
But the number of beaches recommended as safe for bathing is up by a quarter
on the 1996 figure. The Marine Conservation Society's director, Guy
Linley-Adams, said: "Despite what the water industry may tell us, the truth
is that many UK beaches are still unacceptably polluted by water company
sewage works and sewage overflows."
The Water Services Association, which represents the major water and
sewerage companies, said water companies were investing more than £2 billion
in schemes to comply with the prevailing EC bathing water directive. It
added that this summer holidaymakers would benefit from new schemes worth
more than £200 million. But it said
there were sources of bacteria over which the water industry had no control.
These included animal wastes and run-off from fields into rivers and streams.
"Similarly, litter and waste from ships, leisure craft and the public also
pose pollution problems for bathing waters and beaches," the association said.
The publication of the Reader's Digest guide follows a Brussels report
earlier this week that showed that one in 10 British beaches failed to meet
EU minimum bathing water standards.
Blackpool, Morecambe, Southend and Scarborough were among 50 beaches that
were below standard. Of 472 British beaches tested, fewer than half
qualified for the EU's Blue Flag sign of quality.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 01:14:57 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] DNA catches out cheating chimpanzees
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970522011528.09c76160@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Thursday, May 22nd, 1997
DNA catches out cheating chimpanzees
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
PATERNITY testing has overturned three decades of painstaking observation in
the wild and undermined naturalists' belief that female chimpanzees only
have flings within their social group.
Genetic profiling has shown that half the offspring from a group of West
African chimpanzees were the product of furtive liaisons by females with
males outside their social group, according to a report published today in
Nature. The find has implications not only for the evolution of mating
systems, but also for the management of viable populations of these
threatened primates, said Pascal Gagneux, a Swiss graduate student at the
University of California, who conducted the study with colleagues.
"Most males tend to be disturbed when they realise that females are more
active than they would like to believe. Most females, including human women,
might exercise a lot of mate choice. They are not just a resource that males
compete for."
It has always been assumed that females mate with males from their own
group, but females seem to be good at deflecting researchers as well as
males - who have been known to kill infants sired outside the group.
"The females need to hide what they do from the males, so you can imagine
they hide it from the observers even better."
Dr Gagneux said that it was not necessary to take blood samples for the
study because it was possible to profile traces of DNA in a hair root, skin
or chewed fruit.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 01:17:35 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Breeders pair two males
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970522011807.0b2f9d46@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Thursday, May 22nd, 1997
Breeders pair two males
THE American bald eagle breeding programme instituted by a zoo in Watertown,
New York, has not got off to a roaring start. DNA tests have proved this
week what keepers at the zoo had suspected for some time: the first pair of
birds, which arrived from Alaska last July, are both males. David Sapsted,
New York
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 01:52:38 -0700
From: Joy Zakarian
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Whole Foods live lobsters
Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19970522015238.00699820@rohan.sdsu.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Not only does Whole Foods sell ostriches and emus, but the La Jolla, CA
store also has live lobsters. You may wish to write, call, or e-mail Whole
Foods to let them know that you don't want to shop at a store where live
animals are struggling for their lives right before your very eyes. The
checker told me that the lobsters are put in plastic bags without any water
when they are purchased (he scans them.) While Whole Foods does have a meat
department, they should realize that this extreme barbarism is a big
turn-off to their veg customers.
John Mackey, C.E.O.
Whole Foods Market, Inc.
602 N. Lamar, Ste. 300
Austin, TX 78703
(512) 477-4455
http://www.wholefoods.com
Thank you UPC for posting their address.
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 06:53:34 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) House Tuna Import Roll Call
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970522065331.006c400c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
For those who wanted to know how they're Senators and Representatives voted
on the Dolphin Death Act.
from AP Wire page:
----------------------------------
05/22/1997 05:27 EST
House Tuna Import Roll Call
By The Associated Press
The 262-166 roll call Wednesday by which the House voted to lift the tuna
import embargo.
A ``yes'' vote is a vote to lift the embargo.
Voting yes were 58 Democrats and 204 Republicans.
Voting no were 146 Democrats, 19 Republicans and one independent.
X denotes those not voting.
There are no vacancies in the 435-member House.
ALABAMA
Republicans -- Aderholt, Y; Bachus, Y; Callahan, Y; Everett, Y; Riley, Y.
Democrats -- Cramer, Y; Hilliard, N.
ALASKA
Republicans -- Young, Y.
ARIZONA
Republicans -- Hayworth, Y; Kolbe, Y; Salmon, Y; Shadegg, Y; Stump, Y.
Democrats -- Pastor, Y.
ARKANSAS
Republicans -- Dickey, Y; Hutchinson, Y.
Democrats -- Berry, Y; Snyder, Y.
CALIFORNIA
Republicans -- Bilbray, Y; Bono, Y; Calvert, Y; Campbell, N; Cox, Y;
Cunningham, Y; Doolittle, Y; Dreier, Y; Gallegly, Y; Herger, Y; Horn, N;
Hunter, Y; Kim, Y; Lewis, Y; McKeon, Y; Packard, Y; Pombo, Y; Radanovich,
X; Riggs, Y; Rogan, Y; Rohrabacher, Y; Royce, Y; Thomas, Y.
Democrats -- Becerra, N; Berman, N; Brown, N; Capps, N; Condit, N;
Dellums, N; Dixon, N; Dooley, Y; Eshoo, N; Farr, N; Fazio, N; Filner, N;
Harman, N; Lantos, N; Lofgren, N; Martinez, N; Matsui, Y;
Millender-McDonald, N; Miller, N; Pelosi, N; Roybal-Allard, N; Sanchez,
N; Sherman, N; Stark, N; Tauscher, N; Torres, N; Waters, N; Waxman, N;
Woolsey, N.
COLORADO
Republicans -- Hefley, Y; McInnis, Y; Schaefer, Dan, Y; Schaffer, Bob, Y.
Democrats -- DeGette, N; Skaggs, Y.
CONNECTICUT
Republicans -- Johnson, Y; Shays, N.
Democrats -- DeLauro, N; Gejdenson, N; Kennelly, N; Maloney, N.
DELAWARE
Republicans -- Castle, Y.
FLORIDA
Republicans -- Bilirakis, N; Canady, Y; Diaz-Balart, Y; Foley, Y; Fowler,
Y; Goss, Y; McCollum, Y; Mica, Y; Miller, Y; Ros-Lehtinen, Y;
Scarborough, Y; Shaw, Y; Stearns, Y; Weldon, Y; Young, N.
Democrats -- Boyd, Y; Brown, N; Davis, Y; Deutsch, N; Hastings, N; Meek,
N; Thurman, N; Wexler, N.
GEORGIA
Republicans -- Barr, Y; Chambliss, Y; Collins, Y; Deal, N; Gingrich, X
(the speaker by tradition often does not vote) ; Kingston, Y; Linder, Y;
Norwood, Y.
Democrats -- Bishop, N; Lewis, X; McKinney, N.
HAWAII
Democrats -- Abercrombie, N; Mink, N.
IDAHO
Republicans -- Chenoweth, Y; Crapo, Y.
ILLINOIS
Republicans -- Crane, Y; Ewing, Y; Fawell, Y; Hastert, Y; Hyde, X;
LaHood, Y; Manzullo, Y; Porter, Y; Shimkus, Y; Weller, N.
Democrats -- Blagojevich, N; Costello, N; Davis, N; Evans, N; Gutierrez,
N; Jackson, N; Lipinski, N; Poshard, N; Rush, N; Yates, N.
INDIANA
Republicans -- Burton, Y; Buyer, Y; Hostettler, Y; McIntosh, N; Pease, N;
Souder, Y.
Democrats -- Carson, N; Hamilton, Y; Roemer, Y; Visclosky, N.
IOWA
Republicans -- Ganske, Y; Latham, Y; Leach, Y; Nussle, Y.
Democrats -- Boswell, Y.
KANSAS
Republicans -- Moran, Y; Ryun, Y; Snowbarger, X; Tiahrt, Y.
KENTUCKY
Republicans -- Bunning, Y; Lewis, Y; Northup, Y; Rogers, Y; Whitfield, Y.
Democrats -- Baesler, N.
LOUISIANA
Republicans -- Baker, Y; Cooksey, Y; Livingston, Y; McCrery, Y; Tauzin,
Y.
Democrats -- Jefferson, N; John, Y.
MAINE
Democrats -- Allen, N; Baldacci, N.
MARYLAND
Republicans -- Bartlett, Y; Ehrlich, Y; Gilchrest, Y; Morella, Y.
Democrats -- Cardin, Y; Cummings, N; Hoyer, Y; Wynn, N.
MASSACHUSETTS
Democrats -- Delahunt, N; Frank, N; Kennedy, N; Markey, N; McGovern, N;
Meehan, N; Moakley, N; Neal, N; Olver, N; Tierney, N.
MICHIGAN
Republicans -- Camp, Y; Ehlers, Y; Hoekstra, Y; Knollenberg, Y; Smith, Y;
Upton, Y.
Democrats -- Barcia, N; Bonior, N; Conyers, N; Dingell, Y; Kildee, N;
Kilpatrick, N; Levin, Y; Rivers, N; Stabenow, N; Stupak, N.
MINNESOTA
Republicans -- Gutknecht, Y; Ramstad, Y.
Democrats -- Luther, N; Minge, Y; Oberstar, N; Peterson, Y; Sabo, N;
Vento, N.
MISSISSIPPI
Republicans -- Parker, Y; Pickering, Y; Wicker, Y.
Democrats -- Taylor, N; Thompson, N.
MISSOURI
Republicans -- Blunt, Y; Emerson, Y; Hulshof, Y; Talent, Y.
Democrats -- Clay, N; Danner, Y; Gephardt, N; McCarthy, N; Skelton, Y.
MONTANA
Republicans -- Hill, Y.
NEBRASKA
Republicans -- Barrett, Y; Bereuter, Y; Christensen, Y.
NEVADA
Republicans -- Ensign, Y; Gibbons, Y.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Republicans -- Bass, Y; Sununu, Y.
NEW JERSEY
Republicans -- Franks, N; Frelinghuysen, Y; LoBiondo, Y; Pappas, Y;
Roukema, Y; Saxton, Y; Smith, Y.
Democrats -- Andrews, X; Menendez, N; Pallone, N; Pascrell, N; Payne, N;
Rothman, N.
NEW MEXICO
Republicans -- Redmond, Y; Schiff, X; Skeen, Y.
NEW YORK
Republicans -- Boehlert, Y; Forbes, N; Gilman, Y; Houghton, Y; Kelly, Y;
King, Y; Lazio, Y; McHugh, Y; Molinari, Y; Paxon, Y; Quinn, Y; Solomon,
Y; Walsh, Y.
Democrats -- Ackerman, N; Engel, N; Flake, Y; Hinchey, N; LaFalce, Y;
Lowey, N; Maloney, N; Manton, Y; McCarthy, N; McNulty, N; Nadler, N;
Owens, N; Rangel, Y; Schumer, N; Serrano, N; Slaughter, N; Towns, N;
Velazquez, N.
NORTH CAROLINA
Republicans -- Ballenger, Y; Burr, Y; Coble, Y; Jones, Y; Myrick, Y;
Taylor, Y.
Democrats -- Clayton, N; Etheridge, Y; Hefner, Y; McIntyre, Y; Price, Y;
Watt, N.
NORTH DAKOTA
Democrats -- Pomeroy, Y.
OHIO
Republicans -- Boehner, Y; Chabot, N; Gillmor, Y; Hobson, Y; Kasich, Y;
LaTourette, Y; Ney, Y; Oxley, Y; Portman, Y; Pryce, Y; Regula, Y.
Democrats -- Brown, N; Hall, Y; Kaptur, N; Kucinich, N; Sawyer, Y;
Stokes, N; Strickland, N; Traficant, Y.
OKLAHOMA
Republicans -- Coburn, Y; Istook, Y; Largent, Y; Lucas, Y; Watkins, Y;
Watts, Y.
OREGON
Republicans -- Smith, Y.
Democrats -- Blumenauer, Y; DeFazio, N; Furse, N; Hooley, Y.
PENNSYLVANIA
Republicans -- English, Y; Fox, Y; Gekas, Y; Goodling, Y; Greenwood, Y;
McDade, Y; Peterson, Y; Pitts, Y; Shuster, Y; Weldon, Y.
Democrats -- Borski, N; Coyne, N; Doyle, N; Fattah, N; Foglietta, N;
Holden, N; Kanjorski, Y; Klink, N; Mascara, N; McHale, N; Murtha, N.
RHODE ISLAND
Democrats -- Kennedy, N; Weygand, N.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Republicans -- Graham, Y; Inglis, Y; Sanford, N; Spence, Y.
Democrats -- Clyburn, N; Spratt, N.
SOUTH DAKOTA
Republicans -- Thune, Y.
TENNESSEE
Republicans -- Bryant, Y; Duncan, Y; Hilleary, Y; Jenkins, Y; Wamp, Y.
Democrats -- Clement, Y; Ford, N; Gordon, Y; Tanner, Y.
TEXAS
Republicans -- Archer, Y; Armey, Y; Barton, N; Bonilla, Y; Brady, Y;
Combest, Y; DeLay, Y; Granger, Y; Johnson, Sam, Y; Paul, N; Sessions, N;
Smith, Y; Thornberry, Y.
Democrats -- Bentsen, N; Doggett, N; Edwards, Y; Frost, Y; Gonzalez, Y;
Green, Y; Hall, Y; Hinojosa, Y; Jackson-Lee, N; Johnson, E. B., Y;
Lampson, N; Ortiz, Y; Reyes, Y; Rodriguez, Y; Sandlin, Y; Stenholm, Y;
Turner, Y.
UTAH
Republicans -- Cannon, Y; Cook, Y; Hansen, Y.
VERMONT
Others -- Sanders, N.
VIRGINIA
Republicans -- Bateman, Y; Bliley, Y; Davis, Y; Goodlatte, Y; Wolf, Y.
Democrats -- Boucher, N; Goode, Y; Moran, N; Pickett, Y; Scott, N;
Sisisky, N.
WASHINGTON
Republicans -- Dunn, Y; Hastings, Y; Metcalf, N; Nethercutt, Y; Smith,
Linda, Y; White, Y.
Democrats -- Dicks, Y; McDermott, N; Smith, Adam, Y.
WEST VIRGINIA
Democrats -- Mollohan, Y; Rahall, N; Wise, N.
WISCONSIN
Republicans -- Klug, N; Neumann, N; Petri, Y; Sensenbrenner, Y.
Democrats -- Barrett, N; Johnson, Y; Kind, N; Kleczka, N; Obey, N.
WYOMING
Republicans -- Cubin, Y.
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 07:04:32 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Nature May Help Fight Rice Disease
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970522070430.006db6a0@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Genetically engineered foods in the news.
from AP Wire page:
-------------------------------
05/22/1997 01:26 EST
Nature May Help Fight Rice Disease
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Rice farmers who have relied upon
fungicides and other chemicals to stop a damaging disease called rice
blast could soon have a natural alternative.
Benlate has been the chemical of choice to stop the fungus, which attacks
the crop worldwide. Researchers at Texas A&M University and in New York
say they've confirmed that a specific yeast pheromone can keep the fungus
from infecting rice.
The researchers say the pheromone inhibits production of a specialized
cell in the fungus -- an appressorium -- which allows the disease to
penetrate host plant cells. Now they are looking for ways to take the
technology into the rice fields.
In Wisconsin, the fight has been stepped up against another destructive
pest, the gypsy moth. The state sprayed insecticide on the first of
40,000 acres to destroy gypsy moth infestations that required inspections
and new restrictions at many nurseries, Christmas tree farms and pulp
wood plants this spring.
During the next three weeks, areas of 13 counties in the eastern part of
the state are to be sprayed with B.t.k., an organic bacterial solution
that kills caterpillars, preventing moths from swarming and defoliating
trees this summer.
There are so many moths in four eastern Wisconsin counties bordering Lake
Michigan and Green Bay that spraying efforts were abandoned this year and
replaced with a quarantine. It affects tree, shrub and plant growers as
well as pulp and log mills that ship products out of state.
``Once an area becomes quarantined it's considered beyond the point where
normal eradication spraying is useful,'' said Christopher Batio,
spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer
Protection.
The Wisconsin program also is taking an education campaign to
campgrounds, where drivers of recreational vehicles could unwittingly
take home an infestation.
In Mississippi, farmers have received permission to use nonlabeled
pesticides Pirate and Confirm to fight beet armyworms and tobacco
budworms for the next four months. Agriculture Commissioner Lester Spell
had sought emergency-use exemptions for four nonlabeled pesticides.
He has also received approval for Quadris on rice, but the EPA is
considering his request for use of Furadan on aphids in cotton.
``Our cotton and rice farmers now have a fighting chance against these
tenacious pests,'' Spell said.
The findings on rice disease, published in the weekly journal Science,
were made by Texas A&M Professor Daniel Ebbole, A&M graduate student
Janna Beckerman and Professor Fred Naider of the College of Staten
Island.
``This work represents a new approach to fighting rice blast,'' Ebbole
said.
He said between 11 percent and 30 percent of the world's rice was wiped
out by the fungus between 1975 and 1990.
The researchers found the yeast extract inhibited formation of
appressorium in newly germinated spores of the fungus.
Although the pheromone could be directly applied to rice, it would be
expensive to manufacture and deteriorates quickly. So researchers will
seek similar but simple, inexpensive chemical compounds that will allow
direct applications in the field.
Another possibility, Ebbole said, would be using the pheromone in
genetically engineered plants or to have the pheromone produced by
bacteria naturally inhabiting the leaf surface.
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 08:21:38 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Poachers Plunder Midwest Mussels
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970522082135.006d3964@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from AP Wire page:
-------------------------------
05/22/1997 07:06 EST
Poachers Plunder Midwest Mussels
By PAUL SOUHRADA
AP Business Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- When the Ohio River and its tributaries recede
from the high levels of the spring thaw, wildlife officers from Ohio and
West Virginia prepare for the annual onslaught of unwanted visitors --
poachers who plunder riverbeds of millions of pounds of freshwater
mussels.
The poachers, often outfitted with diving gear and maps of mussel beds,
slip across the border under cover of darkness. They can scoop up
thousands of dollars worth of the clamlike creatures in one night and
smuggle their take to buyers in states where mussel harvesting is legal.
Eventually, the mussels wind up at one of the handful of exporters in
Tennessee, Alabama and Iowa before being shipped to Japan and other Asian
countries for use in the $3 billion-a-year cultured pearl industry. The
shells are processed into pieces the size of a match head. The pieces are
then inserted into oysters to shorten the production time for pearls.
Some types of mussels are protected by the government as endangered
species. In Ohio, there is a daily limit of 15 mussels per person, and
they can be used only for bait. A bill passed by the state House and
pending in the Senate would outlaw the taking and selling of mussels
entirely.
Andrew Pierce, a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in
Delaware, Ohio, said poachers started moving into Ohio and West Virginia
in 1991, looting the waters of the Muskingum River near Marietta and
other areas of the Ohio River basin.
Since then, the Ohio Division of Wildlife has put two or three full-time
officers on mussel enforcement throughout the summer and fall. They scour
seldom-traveled roads, boat launches and motel parking lots for trucks
with out-of-town license plates.
``Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky and Arkansas have been depleted of
commercial shells,'' Pierce said. ``What's left are too small to
harvest.''
An average night's work can bring a poacher $1,000, though some haul in
$4,000 worth of shells in one shift. Shells generally sell for $2 to $4 a
pound, but prices have shot up as high as $13.
A few poachers who have been taken to federal court have been given jail
time. But a typical sentence is probation and a fine of a couple of
hundred dollars.
North America is home to about 300 species of mussels. About 20 percent
of them are on the federal endangered species lists. Mussels can live for
decades and grow as large as a foot wide and weigh several pounds.
``Freshwater mussels are probably the most endangered animals in North
America,' said Cindy Chaffee, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service in Bloomington, Ind.
About 8,000 tons of mussels are pulled from streams each year, and
roughly 6,000 tons are shipped to Japan, Korea and China, said Lonnie
Garner, president of exporter U.S. Shell Co. in Hollywood, Ala. The
others are lost or die en route.
In addition to the damage by poachers, mussels have been hurt by
pollution, vanishing habitat and the arrival of foreign zebra mussels
that overwhelm the native species.
So, what are mussels good for?
Determining water pollution, for one thing, Ms. Chaffee said.
``They are probably the best indicator we have for water quality. When
they start dying off or become unable to breed, we know there are
problems with other wildlife and humans in the area.''
Tom Watters, a mussel expert with the Ohio Biological Survey at Ohio
State University, offered another reason for protecting mussels:
``They've been here for 500 million years, and they have a right to
remain here.
``We don't understand ecosystems enough to say ... what kind of domino
effect their disappearance might have.''
But Garner, while not supporting the poachers, thinks the
environmentalists' concerns are overblown.
``Shells are a renewable resource,'' he said.
He said the state could stop poaching if they legalized musseling. He
estimated that Ohio alone could support a mussel industry worth $5
million to $8 million a year, employing 1,500 people.
Since that is not likely to happen, enforcement efforts are on the rise.
The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, which is responsible for
enforcing wildlife regulations on the Ohio River, has worked closely on
anti-poaching efforts with officers from Ohio. But only last month did
the state begin routine mussel enforcement operations, said Lt. Terry
Dunn, head of the division's law enforcement section.
``It was a little bit out of guilt or shame,'' Dunn said. ``Ohio was
carrying the ball, and we wanted to pick up our end.''
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 10:36:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: Debbie Leahy
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Calls Needed to Recover Baboon
Message-ID: <01IJ613EULV69NAPL3@delphi.com>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
CALLS NEEDED ASAP TO RECOVER BABOON FROM MONKEY MILL
Today's Chicago Sun-Times reported on the confiscated baboon who
Chicago Animal Control turned over to monkey breeder Dana
Savorelli.
Please call Chicago City Hall ASAP in response to this article and
ask the mayor's office to retrieve this animal from the Savorelli
monkey mill so he may be transferred to a legitimate sanctuary that
does not breed, buy, and sell animals. You can leave your name and
comments with the switchboard at 312/744-4000.
Time is of the essence!
-------------------------------------------------------
Illinois Animal Action
P.O. Box 507
Warrenville, IL 60555
630/393-2935
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 13:40:45 -0400 (EDT)
From: CFOXAPI@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: SanFran ACTIVISTS- HELP NEEDED!
Message-ID: <970522133859_-496601925@emout03.mail.aol.com>
****ACTION ALERT****
May, 1997
YOUR PRESENCE IS URGENTLY NEEDED
TO ENSURE ANIMAL FRIENDLY PEOPLE ARE APPOINTED TO THE SAN
FRANCISCO ANIMAL CONTROL & WELFARE COMMISSION
What: Public hearing before the Rules Committee of the San Francisco Board
of Supervisors to appoint four people to the 11-member Commission of Animal
Control & Welfare. (This is the same Commission which voted 7 to 3 to ban
most live animal market sales for human consumption. The Board of
Supervisors has failed to act upon the recommendation.)
Where: San Francisco City Hall, 401 Van Ness Avenue, 4th floor, S.F., CA
94102
Tel: (415) 554-5184Fax: (415) 554-5163
Take BART to Civic Center station, or park in Civic Center garage (entrance
on McAllister, between Polk and Larkin).
When: Tuesday morning, May 27, 10:00 a.m. (Try to arrive by 9:00 a.m., if
possible.
The opposition is expected to try to pack the room, as they've done
in the past.)
Your presence at this meeting is sorely needed to see that the four
Commissioners up for re-appointment to this Commission are re-appointed, as
they truly deserve. All four voted in the majority for market reform. Now
there's a move afoot by the live animal market supporters to replace all four
with people who have no real concern or experience regarding animal welfare,
but have other political agendas. WE CANNOT LET THIS HAPPEN! THIS IS AN
ANIMAL WELFARE COMMISSION. Anything else would be a mockery.
The four Commissioners up for re-appointment are RICHARD SCHULKE, pres.;
VICKY HO LYNN; LORRAINE LUCAS; and ALTHEA KIPPES. (A new applicant, EVA
HUE,
would also be an excellent choice, should any of the other four be booted.)
Please also write/ call members of the Rules Committee (supervisors Tom
Ammiano, chair; Amos Brown; and Gavin Newsom) to express your concerns, as
well as your support for the above-mentioned Commissioners.
ALL CAN BE REACHED AT THE ADDRESS AND PHONE/ FAX NUMBERS ABOVE
For further information on this issue, please contact Eric Mills at ACTION
FOR ANIMALS at (510) 652-5603 or THE FUND FOR ANIMALS, (415) 474-4020.
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 12:33:32 -0600 (MDT)
From: Jennifer Kolar
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, ar-views@envirolink.org
Subject: record rise in vegetarianism in Britain - men are catching up!
Message-ID: <199705221833.MAA04374@monsoon.colorado.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-MD5: 8nuTPXKUFWKRTx2xV/yv6w==
------------- Begin Forwarded Message -------------
Michael Hornsby, the agricultural correspondent of "The Times" reported
on Tuesday 20th May 1997:
The number of adult British vegetarians increased by 20% over the past 2
years!
[what makes me particularly happy:] For the first time the trend has
risen faster among men than women! The number of men increased by 37%
while the number of women increased by 12%.
0.45% of the adult population of Britain is vegan! [over 16 years]
[if they all came to sab hunts there would be no hunting possible!]
An additional 5.4% is vegetarian, with about 60% women and 40%
men!
An ADDITIONAL 14.3% does not eat any red meat, but still poultry and
fish!
Chris Dessent, of the Vegetarian Society, said: "This is fantastic news
and shows that people have been switching to vegetarianism even faster
than we thought or hoped!"
Based on a Gallup poll for over 16 year olds conducted between March 5
and March 18 1997.
------------- End Forwarded Message -------------
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 15:47:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: Debbie Leahy
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Dissection Survey Results
Message-ID: <01IJ6BYI65OY9NC357@delphi.com>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Results of yesterday's dissection survey from the Chicago Sun-Times:
"Should biology students be required to dissect animals?"
Yes: 18%
No: 82%
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 20:55:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: Pat Fish
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: "Computer Cow" Paraded on Stock Exchange
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
MSNBC reports that computer seller Gateway2000 brought a cow into the New
York Stock Exchange to celebrate their posting on the NYSE. GW2K has a long
history of using cows to promote their computers.
Pat Fish
CPEA
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 20:16:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] BP and Shell take green approach to solar energy
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970522201635.2ee776ee@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, May 23rd, 1997
BP and Shell take green approach to solar energy
By Charles Clover, Environment Editor
BP AND Shell have split from the rest of the oil industry by agreeing with
environmentalists that oil companies must recognise the threat of man-made
climate change by shifting towards alternative sources of energy such as
solar power.
John Browne, chief executive of BP, said this week: "There is now an
effective consensus among the world's leading scientists and serious
well-informed people outside the scientific community that there is a
discernible human influence on the climate."
While there were uncertainties in the prediction of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change that world average temperatures might rise 3.5C over
the next century, "it would be
unwise and potentially dangerous to ignore the mounting concern", he told an
audience at Stanford University, California. "If we are all to take
responsibility for the future of our planet, then it falls to us to begin to
take precautionary action now."
Mr Browne promised that BP would develop alternative fuels such as solar
power. The company plans to boost solar power sales to £650 million a year
in the next decade. It will commission a solar panel plant in California by
the end of the year.
This week Shell predicted a shift towards renewable energy sources - wind
biomass and solar - growing to five per cent of the global market by 2020, a
much faster expansion than oil achieved a century ago.
Heinz Rothermund, managing director of Shell's oil exploration and
production, said Greenpeace had raised "a key question" by campaigning
against any expansion of oil exploration into the Atlantic because of the
climate implications of burning fossil fuels released.
Mr Rothermund said fossil fuels would face ever-increasing demand from
renewable energy sources. "I believe that over time surpluses will arise and
we may, ultimately, leave oil and gas in the ground, as we are leaving most
of the coal in the ground."
Chris Rose, deputy director of Greenpeace, said: "This is quite
extraordinary. It is like turkeys saying that Christmas is coming.
Rothermund has actually accepted the logic of what we have been saying -
that there are too many fossil fuel reserves already to [need to] go looking
for more."
He said the two companies had split from the "stonewall alliance" against
action on climate change run by their former fellows in the Global Climate
Coalition, the alliance of fossil fuel producers. BP has comparatively few
reserves, so may see value in shifting towards
alternative energy but Shell, which has many reserves, stands to gain if
governments start to call time on oil exploration, said Mr Rose.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 20:34:19 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Activist ponders anti-hunts Bill
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970522203453.2ee7777a@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, May 23rd, 1997
Activist ponders anti-hunts Bill
By Jon Hibbs, Political Correspondent
LABOUR was faced with an awkward dilemma last night after a prominent
anti-hunting campaigner topped the ballot for private members' legislation
in the new Parliament.
Government business managers sought to dissuade Michael Foster, the MP for
Worcester, from bowing to pressure to introduce a Bill to ban fox hunting.
Labour has long been committed to allowing a free vote in the Commons on the
principle of outlawing hunting to hounds. But ministers are anxious not to
antagonise peers so early in the parliamentary session when they have
contentious devolution legislation to get through the Lords.
Mr Foster, a keen angler, said he was considering taking up an anti-hunting
Bill among a number of different offers. But he insisted that he would not
rush into a decision: "I shall be taking time over the next week or so to
discuss what is in the best interests of the City of
Worcester and the people of this country because that is what I was elected
here to Parliament to perform."
Mr Foster is the only Labour MP to achieve a place in the top six of the
ballot, thus guaranteeing enough Parliamentary time to get his chosen
measure on to the statute book provided that the Government does not object.
Cynog Dafis, the Plaid Cymru[ Welsh Nationalist] MP for Ceredigion, who came
fifth in the annual ballot, said he would introduce a "green" measure to
reduce pollution. The Road Traffic Reduction (National Targets) Bill, which
is backed by Friends of the Earth, would impose binding reductions in the
volume of traffic from 1990 levels.
Other ballot winners were Dr Julian Lewis (C, New Forest E), Teresa Gorman
(C, Billericay), Sir George Young (C, Hants NW) and John Burnett (Lib Dem,
Devon W & Torridge).
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 20:34:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Ethical investing reveals many shades of green
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970522203450.2ee7d26a@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
[Just came across this from a linked page on the Telegraph site. Hope it may
be of interest for those wishing to invest ethically. Although most of the
information is British, it may also be relevant to North Americans too.
Please note that "unit trusts" are the same as mutual funds in the UK]
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Monday, May 19th, 1997
Ethical investing reveals many shades of green
By Alison Eadie
THE extraordinary scenes at Shell's annual meeting last week demonstrated
the growing power of ethical investors. A motion for the international oil
company to accept external monitoring of its environmental impact was
defeated - but only after it attracted the support of 10pc of shareholders.
Before they could get into the meeting at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference
Hall in London, investors had to run the gauntlet of about 100 demonstrators
with causes ranging from human rights to global warming.
Unit trust managers realised that ethical or environmental issues were
important for some investors more than 10 years ago when the first funds
aimed at these groups were launched. However, most have paid a big price for
their ethics in the form of reduced returns. Only a couple have beaten the
all-share index.
Shell is under fire from pressure group Pensions Investment Research
Consultants for its human rights and environmental record in Nigeria.
Earlier this month ICI was publicly called to account by the Environment
Agency after separate chemicals leaks within hours of each other from two
ICI plants. BAT Industries is facing a class action suit in Florida against
the entire US tobacco industry.
Falling foul of the environmental lobby can damage a company's share price
as well as its image, as BAT's experience testifies. Investors anxious to
avoid such risks and keen to promote a cleaner, better behaved world can buy
from a selection of more than 20 ethical and ecological unit and investment
trusts.
Their investment criteria typically exclude companies with interests in
oppressive regimes, nuclear power, armaments, tobacco, vivisection,
gambling, alcohol and pornography. Companies that pass these tests -
sometimes described as negative screening - are then vetted positively for
signs that they make useful products and treat their staff, customers and
the public properly.
However, the "profit with principle" philosophy has struggled over the past
year. Over five years the combined ethical unit also underperformed,
producing an average gain of about 79pc against 97pc on the all-share index.
The limited universe of ethical funds confines them mainly to small
companies as it is harder for the various subsidiaries of big companies to
pass through all the screening hoops, and it means that they can miss out on
gains in whole sectors of the market.
Crédit Suisse Fellowship, for example, is underweight in financials and
oils, where much of the recent market strength has been seen.
Bill Mott, head of UK equities at Crédit Suisse, describes the fund, which
has outperformed the all-share index over three and five years, as "light
green". He said: "Mucky industries are not ruled out. The world must have
chemical companies and we buy those following best
practice."
Porvair is one such holding - a company whose approach to pollution control
goes beyond that required by European Union legislation, Mr Mott said.
Framlington Health, the best performer over three and five years, is not
strictly an ethical fund. It avoids most of the nasties by investing only in
health care companies, but it does not exclude those involved in animal testing.
This underlines the important point that ethical investment means different
things to different people. What is acceptable to one may not be acceptable
to others. Jupiter Ecology Fund, which has almost level-pegged the all-share
over five years, has a rigorous investment policy ruling out so-called "sin
stocks" and buying only companies that pass a stringent green audit.
Fund manager Simon Baker looks for companies with a beneficial product or
service, such as recycling waste or wind farming-although, once again, you
might feel differently about either of these activities if they were carried
out in your immediate neighbourhood.
One of his star performers is Go-Ahead bus company, whose research and
development budget is spent finding cleaner fuels and better emission controls.
Amanda Davidson, partner at independent financial adviser Holden Meehan,
says the ability of ethical fund managers to pick stocks that will perform
is the key to success. She advises investors to examine the mission
statement of funds to assess their room for manoeuvre, to look at past
performance and to take a view on the commitment of fund managers to the
ethical sector.
She said: "The funds are very different. There are geographical differences,
with some being UK-only and some international, and there are differences as
well as overlap between ethical and green funds."
Holden Meehan publishes a free guide to the sector, which assesses the
investment policy of each fund and rates the track record or pedigree of the
manager. Those with the purest pedigree are Friends Provident, Crédit
Suisse, Abbey Life, Scottish Equitable, Commercial
Union, NPI and Henderson.
Saintliness, unfortunately, costs more than sinning. Ethical and green funds
are at the top end of the unit trust charging structure because of the extra
layers of research and governance required. Annual management charges of
1.5pc are common. Friends Provident is among the cheapest at 1.125pc. The
average front end charge is also between 5pc and 6pc, with Scottish
Equitable at the low end charging 3pc.
Financial advisers vary in their enthusiasm for ethical funds. Holden
Meehan, a founding member of GIFA (Green Independent Financial Advisers), is
strongly committed but accepts that ethical funds may provide only part of
any client's investment solution.
Kean Seager, managing director of Whitechurch Securities, considers ethical
funds only if they merit it from an investment point of view. "They broadly
follow the swings and roundabouts of small companies," he said. "On that
basis, I like them at the moment because I like small companies. If you
invest with a moral view, you will do no worse in an ethical fund than you
would in a small company fund."
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
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