IN THE NEWS

Week of January 4

Tennessee ash spill prompts Minnesota checks

Three Minnesota dikes that hold vast amounts of coal waste ash will be inspected by state engineers in light of the disastrous ash sludge spill last month in Tennessee, State Dam Engineer Jason Boyle said.

The dikes, which are 18 to 50 feet high and classified as dams, are at three large coal-fired power plants near Becker, Cohasset and Hoyt Lakes. The dikes enclose ponds filled with wet ash left over from burning coal and containing lead, mercury and other compounds.

State regulators and the dams' owners, Xcel Energy and Minnesota Power, said the dikes and ponds have not caused environmental problems. And the Minnesota dikes are made of stronger earth fill -- not ash.

--Star Tribune

Tennessee ash pond was filled with toxic waste

In a single year, a coal-fired electric plant deposited more than 2.2 million pounds of toxic materials in a holding pond that failed, flooding 300 acres in East Tennessee, according to a 2007 inventory filed with the Environmental Protection Ageancy.

The inventory, disclosed by the Tennessee Valley Authority at the request of The New York Times, showed that in just one year, the plant’s byproducts included 45,000 pounds of arsenic, 49,000 pounds of lead, 1.4 million pounds of barium, 91,000 pounds of chromium and 140,000 pounds of manganese. Those metals can cause cancer, liver damage and neurological complications, among other health problems.

And the holding pond, at the Kingston Fossil Plant, a T.V.A. plant 40 miles west of Knoxville, contained many decades’ worth of these deposits.

--The New York Times

Coal ash spill leaves toxins in water

An environmental advocacy group’s tests of river water and ash near the site of a huge coal ash spill in East Tennessee showed levels of arsenic, lead, chromium and other metals at 2 to 300 times higher than drinking water standards, the group said.

The findings far exceed levels reported by the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Environmental Protection Agency or the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. Those agencies have reported elevated levels of thallium, lead and arsenic found near the spill but have not released the full results of those tests.

The T.V.A. and the state have released only the results of tests on water sampled from the Tennessee River just after the spill at a spot six miles away and upstream of the ash flow, which showed that the water at that spot met drinking standards.

The ash spill, which appears to be the largest in the country’s history, occurred Dec. 22 when an earthen dike at the Kingston Fossil Plant, a T.V.A. coal utility, gave way, spreading a billion gallons of wet coal ash, known to contain heavy metals, across about 300 acres and into tributaries of the Tennessee River.

--The New York Times

Iowa regulators plan to postpone coal-ash rules

Iowa state environmental regulators want to shelve for as long as three years new rules intended to keep toxic coal ash out of Iowa's water supplies , largely because of industry protests.

Environmentalists say the state is caving in to industry pressure while putting Iowans' drinking water supplies, and health, at risk.

"Why, if they were willing to pass a whole new rule to protect public health, would they throw it out the window and say, 'You do what you wish?' " asked Carrie La Seur, founder of Plains Justice, a Cedar Rapids-based public interest environmental law center.

--The Des Moines Register

Snow fails to end California water crisis

Despite recent storms, state surveyors reported that snow levels in the Sierra Nevada are below average for this time of year, making water rationing almost certain in 2009 with California's water supply in crisis.

The water content of the snow - the key measurement for how much water will flow into reservoirs - was 83 percent of normal in the survey, officials said, indicating a moderately dry start to the snow season after two consecutive dry years.

"Over the last two weeks, the snow has been good and there have been some strong storms," said senior state meteorologist Elissa Lynn. "But we're certainly not at any point yet in making up for the deficit from the last two years."

--San Francisco Chronicle

Europe fails to meet biodiversity goal

The European Union will fail to meet its goal of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010 unless there is "enormous effort" over the next two years, according to the EU's first comprehensive assessment of progress in implementing its Biodiversity Action Plan.

Despite the further extension of the Natura 2000 network of protected areas and important investments in biodiversity, the integration of biodiversity and ecosystem concerns into other sectoral policies remains a challenge, states the report, released recently. Intensive efforts will be needed, at the level of both the European Community and the member states, if the EU is to even approach its objective.

"This continuing loss of biodiversity is critical, not just because of the intrinsic value of nature, but also because of the resulting decline in vital ecosystem services," said European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas.

--Environment News Service

Cheapeake Bay crabs threatened

Too much pollution and overharvesting are decimating the Chesapeake Bay's blue crab population, according to a report issued by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

And if action isn't taken, the bay's crab population could plummet so low that diners may no longer be able to enjoy steamed crabs and crabcakes, foundation officials warned.

"If we continue to pollute the Chesapeake Bay, our children and grandchildren may never know the taste of a true Chesapeake Bay blue crab crabcake," warned a serious Will Baker, the foundation's longtime president.

--The Annapolis Capital

Week of December 28

Tennessee coal ash spill larger than first reported

Last week's coal ash spill from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant has released 5.4 million cubic yards of sludge into the surrounding environment, according to TVA officials, a figure that is triple the original estimate.

Authority officials revised their original estimate of 1.7 million cubic yards yesterday, based largely on an aerial survey. TVA spokeswoman Barbara Martocci said the initial estimate of the spill in Roane County, Tenn., was based on "what we thought was there, without any precise measurement being done."

Now, she added, TVA has determined there were 9.4 million cubic yards of wet coal ash in the storage pond, more than half of which broke through the retaining walls and poured into the Emory River and the immediate community beside the plant.

--The Washington Post

Ancient water holds ancient organisms

Deep beneath the surface of northern Minnesota, in the lowest levels of the abandoned Soudan mine, mysterious microscopic creatures abound.

The organisms are in ancient water held by rock formed 2.7 billion years ago, when an early sea covered the region.

What are these bacteria? What stories do they tell?

--St. Paul Pioneer Press

Ecel Energy batteries ‘store the wind’

Winter winds howl off the Dakota prairie through Minnesota, turning the 1,100 megawatts worth of wind turbines in Xcel Energy's system in that state. By 2020, the utility expects to more than triple that amount in a bid to avoid more polluting energy sources. But the wind doesn't always blow and, even worse, it often blows strongest when people aren't using much electricity, like late at night.

So Xcel Energy, Inc., has become one of the first utilities in the U.S. to install a giant battery system in an attempt to store some of that wind power for later. "Energy storage might help us get to the point where we can integrate wind better," says Frank Novachek, director of corporate planning for the Minneapolis-based utility with customers in Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, the Dakotas, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. "The overall cost of electricity might be lower by using energy storage."

The energy storage in question—a series of sodium–sulfur batteries from Japan's NGK Insulators, Ltd.—can store roughly seven megawatt-hours of power, meaning the 20 batteries are capable of delivering roughly one megawatt of electricity almost instantaneously, enough to power 500 average American homes for seven hours. "Over 100 megawatts of this technology [is] deployed throughout the world," Novachek says. The batteries "store wind at night and they contract with their utility to put out a straight line output from that wind farm every day."

--Scientific American

Wayzata students walk for water

Alarm clocks set early, hot apple cider and plenty of warm clothes helped prepare a group of Wayzata High School students to walk 50 miles in the shoes of thirsty children.

The "Wayzata Walk for Water," initiated by three Wayzata High students, kicked off a districtwide effort to raise enough money to provide an elementary school in the Philippines with a water system.

--Star Tribune

Energy treasure threatens water in the Rockies

A titanic battle between the West's two traditional power brokers -- Big Oil and Big Water -- has begun.

At stake is one of the largest oil reserves in the world, a vast cache trapped beneath the Rocky Mountains containing an estimated 800 billion barrels -- about three times the reserves of Saudi Arabia.

Extracting oil from rocky seams of underground shale is not only expensive, but also requires massive amounts of water, a precious resource crucial to continued development in the nation's fastest-growing region.

--The Los Angeles Times

Increased corn acres could benefit soybean pests

As American farmers have grown more corn for ethanol production, concerns about the practice have increased, too. Critics say turning more acreage over to corn to make fuel can lead to higher prices for other crops, increased soil erosion and other negative effects.

In a report in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Douglas A. Landis of Michigan State University and colleagues show that increasing the corn acreage can reduce the abundance of insect predators that control aphids, the most significant soybean pest in the United States.

--The New York Times

Chesapeake Bay way of life ebbs away

The Chesapeake Bay is not tar-black and dead. It is not bright-green and toxic. It looks just as beautiful as ever, come a sunrise in Annapolis or a sunset over Tangier Sound.

What the Chesapeake has become is emptier.

It has fewer crabs, oysters and watermen than it did 25 years ago, when government officials first pledged to restore its health.

And without all that, the bay region is sloughing off the culture that made it unique. Fewer women know the intricate signals of a blue crab's molt, that a red-sign crab is two days away from "busting" and becoming a valuable soft-shell. Fewer men know how to find oyster bars, underwater landmarks such as Snake Rip, Turkey Leg or Old Woman.

--The Washington Post

Prescott wins round in ground water battle

Prescott scored an important victory in its fight to draw water from an aquifer that sits above the fragile Verde River, but a judge may have the final say on when, or whether, the city can turn on the pumps.

The Arizona Department of Water Resources decided that water tapped from the Big Chino aquifer will count toward the Prescott area's 100-year assured water supply. Without that decision, the costly import plan would have lost its value toward meeting state-mandated water rules.

At stake are future water sources for both Prescott, which would build a pipeline to use the Big Chino groundwater, and Phoenix, whose Verde River supplies already are threatened by wells in rural Yavapai County.

--The Arizona Republic

Environmentalists come to terms with climate change

Environmental advocates, wildlife officials, and land trusts charged with protecting the natural world are beginning to take a new approach to climate change : rather than focus only on stopping it, they are also thinking about how to adapt to what's coming.

That may mean accepting that certain northern species - such as moose or loon - may not be part of Massachusetts' future ecology. More immediately, it means restoring bogs that could help prevent flooding, or serve as a fallback position for wildlife if sea levels rise - and tearing down dams to give fish access to cooler waters. Both such efforts are under way.

--The Boston Globe

Six states work to clean up Ohio River

West Virginia is working with five other states and the federal government to clean up about 475 miles of the Ohio River that is sometimes unfit for swimming because of sewage.

The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission analyzed more than 14,000 samples taken from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Ill., and found high fecal counts following heavy rains along almost half of the 981-mile river.

The commission is working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virgina to develop a remediation plan required to meet water quality standards of the federal Clean Water Act.

--The Chicago Tribune

Week of December 21

Oceans getting more acidic, study says

Parts of the world’s oceans appear to be acidifying far faster than scientists have expected.

The culprit: rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere pumped into the air from cars, power plants, and industries.

The Southern Ocean represents one of the most high-profile examples. There, scientists estimate that the ocean could reach a biologically important tipping point in wintertime by 2030, at least 20 years earlier than scientists projected only three years ago. Among the vulnerable: a tiny form of sea snail that serves as food for a wide range of fish.

Similar trends are appearing in more temperate waters, say researchers.

--The Christian Science Monitor

Judge finds no proof PFCs harmed anyone

Did pollution by the 3M Co. hurt anyone?

Not for purposes of a lawsuit against the company, a Washington County judge has ruled.

In a victory for Maplewood-based 3M, District Judge Mary Hannon has decided there is no proof anyone has been hurt by tiny amounts of perfluorochemicals, or PFCs, in drinking water.

The ruling does not stop the lawsuit — potentially one of the biggest environmental lawsuits in state history. But it undercuts one of the key arguments raised by the plaintiffs in the 4-year-old case.

--St. Paul Pioneer Press

Ballast water rule set to go into effect

Commercial ships must dump ballast water at sea or rinse their tanks if empty under a new federal policy designed to prevent invasive foreign species from entering the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters.

The Environmental Protection Agency included the requirement in a general permit issued under a court order requiring it to regulate water discharges from ships to protect native ecosystems.

EPA previously exempted ballast and most other vessel discharges from regulation under the Clean Water Act. Environmental groups and a half-dozen states sued the agency over that policy because many invasive species are ferried to U.S. waters in ballast that oceangoing freighters release in domestic ports.

--The Associated Press

Mining, drilling threaten Colorado River

The Colorado River has endured drought, large-scale climate changes, pollution, ecological damage from dams and battles by seven states to draw more water.

Now the life vein of the Southwest faces another threat: Energy companies are sucking up the Colorado's water to support increased development of oil, natural gas and uranium deposits along the river's basin. The mining and drilling will likely send more toxins into the waterway, which provides drinking water for one out of 12 Americans and nourishes 15 percent of the nation's crops along its journey from Wyoming and Colorado to Mexico.

Tapping the watershed is enticing because its resources could help reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil. The region could contain more oil than Alaska's National Arctic Wildlife Refuge. It has the richest natural gas fields in the country and plenty of uranium deposits.

But scientists and water managers warn that in the rush to develop more domestic energy, the government is failing to understand that the river's economic and ecological value is as vital to U.S. interests as anything extracted around it.

--San Diego Union-Tribune

Drillers hit molten rock in Hawaii

A geothermal power company drilling a mile and a half deep on one of the Hawaiian Islands has for the first time encountered an undisturbed chamber of magma , or molten rock, scientists reported.

Before the discovery, which was made in 2005, the only access to magma had been on Earth's surface -- in the form of lava from volcanoes.

The 2,000-degree Fahrenheit material in the chamber is undergoing a complicated transformation that may give geologists the first real-time look at how the silicate-rich rock of continents is formed.

"This is Jurassic Park. This is first contact. Here we see this [continental] stuff being produced in its natural habitat," said Bruce D. Marsh, a geologist at Johns Hopkins University. He described the findings at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

--The Washington Post

USGS assesses chances for ‘abrupt’ climate change

The United States faces the potential for abrupt climate change in the 21st century that could pose clear risks to society in terms of our ability to adapt.

"Abrupt" changes can occur over decades or less, persist for decades more, and cause substantial disruptions to human and natural systems.

A new report, led by the United States Geological Survey and based on an assessment of published science literature, makes the following conclusions about the potential for abrupt climate changes from global warming during this century.

Climate model simulations and observations suggest that rapid and sustained September arctic sea ice loss is likely in the 21 ^st century.
The southwestern United States may be beginning an abrupt period of increased drought.
It is very likely that the northward flow of warm water in the upper layers of the Atlantic Ocean, which has an important impact on the global climate system, will decrease by approximately 25-30 percent. However, it is very unlikely that this circulation will collapse or that the weakening will occur abruptly during the 21 ^st century and beyond.
An abrupt change in sea level is possible, but predictions are highly uncertain due to shortcomings in existing climate models.
There is unlikely to be an abrupt release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, to the atmosphere from deposits in the earth. However, it is very likely that the pace of methane emissions will increase.

The new assessment was prepared by a team of climate scientists from the federal government and academia. The report was commissioned by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program with contributions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation.

--USGS News Release

Greenhouse gas rules could apply to farmers

It's not on the books yet, but farmers in Minnesota are worried about a proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that would allow the government to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act — and cost farmers big bucks.

In Washington parlance, the agency has issued an "advanced notice of proposed rulemaking" on its ability to police emissions — an early warning shot demonstrating the government's intent to impose a new regulation. The document is a response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that dealt with a petition to regulate vehicle emissions, and essentially requires the EPA to determine whether greenhouse gases endanger public health.

The EPA's document notes that regulating gases from cars would trigger the regulation of stationary sources as well. Under the new rule, farms that emit more than 100 tons of a pollutant each year could be forced to get a permit, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

--minnpost.com

Eyota ethanol plan put on hold

The controversial ethanol plant planned for tiny Eyota, near Rochester in southeastern Minnesota, has been put on indefinite hold with developers of the proposed 55-million gallon plant citing low investor interest and high startup costs.

"Uncertain economic times and dramatic fluctuations in commodity prices have dampened the public's investing appetite," said MinnErgy President Ron Scherbring in a press release filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. MinnErgy has been working since last May to raise $133 million to advance plant construction.

MinnErgy apparently is feeling the same economic effects as other ethanol producers, due in part to falling ethanol demand and fluctuating corn prices. VerSun Energy, a large producer based in Sioux Falls, S.D., announced last month that it was filing for bankruptcy protection, and several other Midwest producers have said they were in financial trouble.

That means even small agricultural facilities — such as dairy operations with over 25 cows, hog farms with over 200 hogs, and farms with over 500 acres of corn that emit such pollutants as nitrous oxide and methane — would require a permit, agriculture department officials said.

--minnpost.com

NASA documents decline in arctic ice

More than 2 trillion tons of land ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska have melted since 2003, according to new NASA satellite data that show the latest signs of what scientists say is global warming.

More than half of the loss of landlocked ice in the past five years has occurred in Greenland, based on measurements of ice weight by NASA's GRACE satellite, said NASA geophysicist Scott Luthcke. The water melting from Greenland in the past five years would fill up about 11 Chesapeake Bays, he said, and the Greenland melt seems to be accelerating.

NASA scientists planned to present their findings Thursday at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco. Luthcke said Greenland figures for the summer of 2008 aren't complete yet, but this year's ice loss, while still significant, won't be as severe as 2007.

--Discovery.com

Florida agency approves Everglades deal

Water managers narrowly approved a $1.34 billion deal to buy a sprawling swath of sugar fields -- a landmark purchase with promise to dramatically reshape Everglades restoration and surrounding farming communities.

A deeply divided South Florida Water Management District's governing board voted 4-3 to accept the controversial deal with the U.S. Sugar Corp., supporting Gov. Charlie Crist's appeal to seize a ``historic opportunity.''

The approval came despite an array of questions, topped by concerns about the state's deepening financial crisis and widening criticism from legislators, rival growers and Glades communities that the price tag and economic risks were too high.

The board made one change that could potentially put the deal in doubt -- adding an ''out'' clause intended to protect the agency from bankrupting its budget if state revenues plummet.

--The Miami Herald

FDA to continue studying ingredient in plastic

The Food and Drug Administration, criticized by its own scientific advisers for ignoring available data about health risks posed by a chemical found in everyday plastic , said it has no plans to amend its position on the substance but will continue to study it.

The agency has been reviewing its risk assessments for bisphenol A, a chemical used to harden plastic that is found in a wide variety of products, from baby bottles to compact discs to the lining of canned goods. The chemical, commonly called BPA, mimics estrogen and may disrupt the body's carefully calibrated endocrine system.

BPA is found in the urine of more than 90 percent of the U.S. population, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Scientists believe it is most easily ingested after leaching from plastic containers into food and drink. In September, the first large study of BPA in humans found that people with higher levels of bisphenol A had higher rates of heart disease, diabetes and liver abnormalities.

--The Washington Post

California water diversion slashed to help smelt

Federal biologists issued new rules that will reduce the amount of water pumped to cities and farms from San Francisco Bay's delta by as much as one-third in some years — part of a court-ordered effort to save a two-inch, silvery fish from extinction.

The long-awaited "biological opinion" from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could have a significant impact on Silicon Valley, which receives roughly half of its drinking water from the delta and the other half from local underground aquifers.

"It feels like a double whammy. We've had two dry years and we've had reduced imported water from the delta," said Susan Siravo, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara Valley Water District.

--San Jose Mercury News

EPA lauds Orange County water re-use

The Orange County Water District is being awarded the prestigious Water Efficiency Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in recognition of the district’s leadership in wastewater purification for groundwater replenishment.

The southern California district supplies water to more than 20 cities and water agencies, serving more than 2.3 million Orange County residents. Since 1933, the agency has replenished and maintained the groundwater basin at safe levels while more than doubling the basin’s annual yield. This important source of water provides local groundwater producers with a reliable supply of high-quality water.

Water efficiency is critical to the growing U.S. economy and quality of life. The EPA’s Water Efficiency Award honors agencies and institutions that reduce, reuse and recycle water through leadership, innovation and water saved.

--EPA News Release

Opinion: Go slow on genetically modified crops

As the Bush administration nears its final weeks, officials are hastily loosening key rules in workplace safety, environmental protection — and soon, perhaps, on American farmlands. This month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began finalizing its oversight rules for genetically modified crops: artificial plant strains with the potential for doing humans great good — and serious long-term harm.

The USDA needs to resist any industry pressure to rush these new rules into effect.

To create genetically modified crops, scientists swap the genes from one microorganism or plant to another plant, in combinations that could never occur naturally. The result might be corn immune to weedkillers; cotton that automatically fends off pests; even "pharma-plants" that are tiny, green laboratories for cultivating powerful medicines.

--Houston Chronicle

EPA seeks comment on Indiana injection wells

Duke Energy Indiana of Plainfield, Ind., has applied for federal permits to construct eight underground injection wells at its plant just south of Edwardsport, Ind. EPA has determined the disposal wells do not pose a threat to underground sources of drinking water and proposes to approve the permits. EPA asks the public to comment on them by Jan. 15, 2009.

The draft permit is available for review at Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library, 201 W. Second St. or online at www.epa.gov/region5/water/uic/uicpub.htm .

The company plans to install eight wells initially to inject fresh water into geologic formations deep below the surface. The company plans to use the same wells in the future to dispose of liquid waste called "blowdown waste" that is a byproduct of the process known as "gasification," which essentially burns coal in order to create a gas. The gas then fuels turbines that generate electricity.

EPA is reviewing information to determine if liquid blowdown waste is a hazardous waste. If EPA determines it is not, it plans to modify the permits to allow its disposal in the wells and will hold a public comment period on that proposed modification. If EPA determines the waste is hazardous, Duke Energy will need to apply for new permits to inject the waste.

Duke Energy's Edwardsport plant is called an "integrated coal gasification combined cycle plant." It is considered an example of clean coal technology, which uses coal to produce electricity without releasing harmful greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

To submit comments or request a public hearing, contact William Bates, EPA Region 5 (WU-16J), 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604-3590 or e-mail him at bates.william@epa.gov

--EPA News Release

Week of December 14

Scientific group urges action on Gulf’s ‘dead zone’

Scientists have issued a report urging immediate government action to reduce urban and Midwest farmland runoff blamed for feeding an 8,000-square-mile dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, an oxygen-deprived pool of water that has grown alarmingly off the mouth of the Mississippi River.

A report by the National Research Council, a scientific and technology non-profit institution created by Congress, exhorted the federal government to take quick steps to avoid a tipping point and avert an ecosystem collapse similar to what has happened in the Chesapeake Bay and Denmark's coastal waters.

The report called for the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture to join in creating a Mississippi River Basin Water Quality Center to coordinate efforts. Pilot projects should be directed at reducing nitrogen and phosphorous runoffs seen as one culprit. To read a National Research Council news release on the report, click here .

--The Associated Press

Monsanto funds Mississippi River runoff study

Four conservation and agriculture groups said they'll launch a new three-year partnership to study reducing agricultural runoff into the Mississippi River.

The Nature Conservancy will study four upper Mississippi watersheds, including the Root River in Minnesota, the Pecatonica River in Wisconsin, the Boone River in Iowa and the Mackinaw River in Illinois. The group also will work with farmers to reduce agricultural runoff.

The Iowa Soybean Association will conduct research on the Boone and Raccoon rivers. Delta Wildlife will work to reduce runoff on about 1,000 farms in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta region, which includes 4 million acres in northwestern Mississippi. The National Audubon Society will encourage people throughout the Mississippi watershed to improve water quality and habitat for birds and other wildlife.

St. Louis agricultural company Monsanto will back the project with $5 million. About $3 million will go to the Nature Conservancy. Another $1.5 million will go to Delta Wildlife.

--The Associated Press

Concern for climate change defines Energy nominee

The man tapped to be the next secretary of energy, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu , recently compared the danger of climate change to a problem with electrical wiring in a house.

Suppose, he said, you had a small electrical fire at home and a structural engineer told you there was a 50 percent chance your house would burn down in the next few years unless you spent $20,000 to fix faulty wiring.

"You can either continue to shop for additional evaluations until you find the one engineer in 1,000 who is willing to give you the answer you want -- 'your family is not in danger' -- or you can change the wiring," Chu said in a presentation in September.

--The Washington Post

Dairy farmers win conservation award

While organic milk and food products have become increasingly popular at local grocery stores, dairy farmers Jerome and Julie Walch of rural Rochester will tell you the transition from conventional farming to certified organic farming is a learning experience.

After going three years chemical free, pesticide free, antibiotic free and hormone free, their crop and hay land was officially certified organic in April 2007 and their dairy herd was certified in September 2007.

"We've always tried to use the most environmentally friendly practices we can, and finally we got to the point where becoming certified just fit in," Jerome said Tuesday. "We decided to make the commitment."

Jerome said he has always farmed with as few chemicals as possible, because he just didn't like working with them. To show stewardship to their land, the couple took 30 acres of their most erodable land and created several paddocks.

--Rochester Post-Bulletin

Minnesota duck hunters decline

For the first time in 20 years, Minnesota has sold fewer than 100,000 state duck stamps . The Department of Natural Resources has sold 95,467 licenses in 2008, and the duck season is over. Last year, it sold 100,134. In 1999, it sold 128,000.

Pheasant stamp sales and small game license sales also are down. Officials say all three declines could be part of the larger nationwide drop in people participating in outdoor recreation.

The decline in duck stamp sales reflects a recent downward trend in duck hunter numbers in Minnesota, from an estimated 122,000 in 1999 to 87,000 last year -- a drop of 35,000 in eight years. Those estimates don't include young hunters under age 16.

--Star Tribune

California adopts sweeping climate change plan

California regulators adopted the nation's first comprehensive plan to slash greenhouse gases and characterized it as a model for President-elect Barack Obama, who has pledged an aggressive national and international effort to combat global warming.

The ambitious blueprint by the world's eighth-largest economy would cut the state's emissions by 15% from today's level over the next 12 years, bringing them down to 1990 levels.

Approved by the state's Air Resources Board in a unanimous vote, the 134-page plan lays out targets for virtually every sector of the economy, including automobiles, refineries, buildings and landfills. It would require a third of California's electricity to come from solar energy, wind farms and other renewable sources -- far more than any state currently requires.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been a vigorous advocate of the plan, vowed that it would "unleash the full force of California's innovation and technology for a healthier planet."

--Los Angeles Times

Minnesota moose herd declines dramatically

Is climate change killing off Minnesota's moose ?

That appears to be the case, according to scientists and wildlife managers meeting in Duluth to talk about the dramatic decline in the state's moose population in recent decades. State wildlife biologists estimate the population has dropped 25 to 50 percent in 20 years, with a near-collapse in northwest Minnesota, now estimated to have fewer than 100 moose, down from 4,000 in the mid-1980s.

They said that while disease, parasites, predation and other factors all contribute to moose mortality in northern Minnesota -- on the extreme southern fringe of this historic moose range -- heat stress from a documented rise in temperatures appears to be the root cause of the decline.

--Star Tribune

15,000 Zimbabweans struck by water-borne cholera

Nearly 775 people have died in Zimbabwe from the recent cholera outbreak, an official from the World Health Organization said, refuting the government's claim that the situation is under control.

The number of overall cholera cases is also on the rise, hitting 15,141 on Wednesday, said Dr. Eric Laroche, who heads the WHO unit addressing health action during a crisis.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said the country's widening humanitarian crisis could only be addressed once a "legitimate government" was in place.

--CNN.com/world

Is it supernatural, or just karst geology?

All day, people crunched through the frost-encrusted woods, in snowsuits, leather jackets and perilous heels, until they came to the spot where the water was churning. According to legend, the witches of Tuhala were taking a sauna underground, beating each other vigorously with birch branches, oblivious to the commotion they were creating on the surface.

--The New York Times

Greenhouse gases blamed for coral demise

Almost a fifth of the planet's coral reefs have died and carbon emissions are largely to blame, according to an NGO study.

The report, released by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, warned that on current trends, growing levels of greenhouse gases will destroy many of the remaining reefs over the next 20 to 40 years.

"If nothing is done to substantially cut emissions, we could effectively lose coral reefs as we know them, with major coral extinctions," said Clive Wilkinson, the organization's coordinator.

--Discovery News

New ‘Soo’ lock under consideration

Congress is considering the possible funding of the construction of a new lock at Sault Ste. Marie , Mich., a half-billion dollar undertaking that would rank as the largest navigation infrastructure project on the Great Lakes in a generation. Construction of a new lock at “the Soo” would bring up to 250 jobs annually to northern Michigan and continue for a decade. Estimated cost of the lock is about $475 million. One economist has likened the economic impact of lock construction to opening an automobile plant in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Funding could come either through a massive stimulus bill or appropriations bills that will be considered by Congress as early as January. The new lock has been in the planning stage for two decades, but now is ready to move forward once funding is secured.

--BusinessNorth.com

EPA to Vermont: Never mind

What a difference six months can make.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, bluntly critical of Vermont’s Lake Champlain cleanup effort in April, is now full of applause for the same state programs it earlier said fell short.

“EPA recognizes the significant efforts that staff at the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation have made to improve water quality in Lake Champlain,” Stephen Perkins, director of Ecosystem Protection in EPA’s Boston office wrote to the state in late October.

The letter goes on to outline point after point on which EPA now agrees with the direction and pace of Lake Champlain cleanup.

--Burlington Free Press

Officials probe pollution in Brooklyn neighborhood

At least five Greenpoint companies are accused of dumping toxic chemicals - and now neighborhood residents may be breathing dangerous vapors in their own homes.

It could be years before the giant underground "plume" filled with cancer-linked chemicals is cleaned up and the polluters forced to pay for it - if they ever are, officials conceded.

The chemicals, TCE and PCE - used in dry cleaning and metalworking and linked to birth defects and infertility - were found in soil and ground water under the tidy rowhouses and streets of the historically industrial neighborhood.

A 165-acre area and nearly 450 homes are being probed for contamination, officials said.

--New York Daily News

Human actions help invasive fire ants

Fire ants love a disturbance. Plow up some ground just about anywhere in the South, and chances are the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, will take over from native ant species. That’s why S. invicta, a major invasive pest, is found in subdivisions, shopping centers and other areas where the natural environment has been disturbed.

A large study by Joshua R. King and Walter R. Tschinkel of Florida State shows that for fire ants, at least, human disturbance of the environment is the main force behind their negative impact.

--The New York Times

Genetically modified Hawaii

Just beyond the defunct Koloa Sugar Mill on the Hawaiian island of Kauai's south shore are acres of cornfields that have sprouted over the past decade in a state made famous by its pineapples, bananas and sugarcane crops. Slightly out of place in the Aloha State, they otherwise look quite conventional, although in fact they are not: The crop is among a bounty of others in the state that are grown from seeds that have been genetically engineered or modified (GM) to produce sturdier plants able to withstand weather and disease as well as thrive in the face of insects and chemicals sprayed on them to kill destructive weeds.

In front of one plot of corn stalks is a red and white sign warning, "Danger: pesticides. Keep out." Tacked to it is a list containing 15 chemicals that may have been applied to the crop. In this case, the chemicals circled are the herbicides pendimethalin (brand name: Prowl), dicamba (Banvel) and atrazine, the latter of which is banned in the European Union (E.U.) because of its link to birth defects in frogs that live in groundwater contaminated with it.

--Scientific American

Week of December 7

Subsidies spur cropping of fragile land

The ducks arrive in early April, zeroing in on thousands of shallow ponds fed by melting snow amid a vast prairie. As the pintails, mallards and blue-winged teal make nests in the grass and feed their young on abundant aquatic insects and freshwater shrimp, a 276,000-square-mile area reaching across five states and into Canada is transformed into one of the world's greatest habitats for migrating birds.

Now this swath, known as the Prairie Pothole Region because of the depressions formed long ago by r