May

The Associated Press
May 22, 2003
INEEL research could free nation's dependence on oil
By Dan Gallagher

U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced the FreedomCAR initiative to speed the production of these hydrogen-fueled vehicles. The administration proposed $1.7 billion in funding for the FreedomCAR program over the next five years.

The CAR in FreedomCAR is Cooperative Automotive Research. The test-drives are being done by Francfort's federal Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity office and the automobile industry.Some environmental groups have criticized GM's fuel cell demonstration as designed to distract lawmakers' attention from problems like the low fuel efficiency of many current cars and trucks.

"We oppose FreedomCAR," said Eric Pica, Friends of the Earth policy analyst. "It lacks any types of benchmarks. Fuel cells are seen as the Holy Grail for oil independence, but they're used as an excuse to avoid any efficiencies now."

Pica said the government should stop subsidizing the auto companies as they create new technology. He also warns the administration may push for nuclear reactors or coal-fired plants to refine pure hydrogen for the vehicles.

UPI Farming Today
May 19, 2003
Activists say feds permitted toxic corn sales
By Gregory Tejeda

Environmental and animal rights activists are accusing the Agriculture Department of permitting the sale of corn that government researchers say may contain a toxin.

Friends of the Earth and the Humane Society both said last week the corn in question was delivered to a Cargill processing facility in Blair, Neb., and they fear it could wind up in animal feed or in food for human consumption.

Friends of the Earth health director Larry Bohlen noted this incident came following other incidents last year where genetically modified corn and soybeans came into contact with crops meant for human consumption.

"This is worse than (the Agriculture Department) oversights involving bio-pharmaceutical corn contamination of soybeans last year," he said. "In this case, (the Agriculture Department) is the party responsible for putting a crop with a potentially harmful substance into food and feed channels."

Watchdog Group Slams Anti-Environmental Pork
Fox News Channel
May 17, 2003
By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

WASHINGTON - Environmentalists and fiscal watchdogs have teamed up again to release the Green Scissors (search) 2003 report, hoping to slice up to $58 billion of what they say is anti-environmental pork in the federal budget.

"[We] want to eliminate wasteful and harmful spending from the government," said Erich Pica, a spokesman for the Friends of the Earth (search), a primary Green Scissors partner.

The coalition enjoys bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, Rep. Robert Andrews, D-N.J., Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., have all signed on to support the recommendations.

"I support the Green Scissors report because it accomplishes two things that I am very passionate about - saving money and preserving the environment," Holt told Foxnews.com.

St. Louis Post Dispatch
May 15, 2003
Biodevastation 7: Call it the counter-conference
By Allyce Bess

Call it the counter-conference.

Today, activists and scientists will gather for Biodevastation 7, a three-day look at the worldwide state of agriculture. The event is scheduled to culminate Sunday in a protest at the World Agricultural Forum's 2003 World Congress.

"We're here (in St. Louis), because we feel that companies like Monsanto are trying to impose a model of agriculture on the world that's a detriment to farmers, the environment and public health," said Brian Tokar, director of the Institute for Social Ecology in Vermont and a speaker at the Biodevastation conference.

Organizers say corporate agriculture - with representatives at the World Congress - will cause the very problems, such as hunger, that companies like St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. claim they can address.

They contend that the spread of genetically modified foods and other technologies also will erode the autonomy of farmers and, ultimately, consumers.

"This technology is being developed largely out of the public eye," said Lisa Archer, a coordinator at the environmental organization Friends of the Earth, which is sending representatives to the conference. "It's happening so quickly that we as a society haven't had a chance to debate whether we even want genetically modified food."

Reuters
United States Seeks to End E.U. biotech moratorium
May 14, 2003
By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON - The United States announced plans Tuesday to sue the European Union unless it quickly opens its market to millions of dollars of genetically modified products, brushing aside fears of worsening trans-Atlantic ties strained by the Iraq war.

Canada, Argentina, and Egypt joined the United States in asking the World Trade Organization to get involved in a 5-year-old trade dispute that U.S. farmers say costs them about US$300 million a year in lost sales, mostly corn, to Europe.

Friends of the Earth called the case "the latest in a series of attempts by the Bush administration to block efforts by other countries to protect public health and the environment."

But Zoellick said, "We're not trying to force the food on anyone; we just want to make sure we have a fair chance" to sell biotech food in Europe.

France, which led opposition to the Iraq war in Europe, is also leading the GMO-skeptics in the E.U., where consumer sentiment against the products runs high.

The Associated Press
May 21, 2003
Whitman, E.P.A. Administrator, Submits Resignation

Christie Whitman, who has often been at odds with the White House over environmental issues, submitted her resignation Wednesday as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

When the Bush administration took office, Whitman had only the briefest honeymoon. Within the first three months, she had upset industry executives and conservationists, disappointed moderates who like her and angered conservatives who don't.

The conservation group Friends of the Earth wasted little time in urging her to resign, saying that Bush's decisions on the environment had undermined her credibility. But Whitman stood steadfastly behind Bush, even when their own disagreements became public.

Greenwire
May 9, 2003
Enviro Policy: FreedomCAR Makes Enviros' List of Wasteful; Federal Programs -- Report
By: Suzanne Struglinski, Greenwire reporter

The report, from Taxpayers for Common Sense, U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Friends of the Earth, identified 68 federal programs that environmentalists believe are routing taxpayer dollars to projects that have questionable and even harmful outcomes. Green Scissors backers say the report has helped save $26 billion in taxpayer money during its nearly10-year tenure.

While the Bush administration has lauded hydrogen fuel cells as the car engine of the future, the Green Scissors report charges that the $634 million program is all polish and no substance. FreedomCar "lacks any meaningful benchmarks for evaluating the progress of the research funded," the report states. "In fact, hundreds of million of taxpayer dollars will be spent with no requirement that auto manufacturers ultimately produce a hydrogen-powered car."

Erich Pica, director of the Green Scissors campaign for Friends of the Earth, said that even if FreedomCar had benchmarks for putting fuel cell vehicles on the road, the program still amounts to corporate welfare for the Big Three automakers -- Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., and DaimlerChrysler Corp. -- whom he said "should be doing this on their own regardless of what the government is saying."

Pica said his organization is not opposed to the development of fuel cell technologies in general. But he said the president's FreedomCar program diverts attention from more immediate and technologically feasable improvements in fuel economy for combustion-engine cars and trucks. He further noted that until hydrogen can be produced cleanly, it will have to be extracted from nuclear and coal plants.

Greenwire- Peru
May 9, 2003
Activists ask bank to reconsider loan for Camisea pipeline project
By: Eryn Gable, Greenwire reporter

About 100 Amazonian indigenous people and environmentalists are expected to hold a demonstration today at the Inter-American Development Bank, asking the bank to adopt an indigenous people's policy and to reconsider a $75 million loan for the Camisea oil and gas project in Peru.

Two companies with close ties to President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are involved with the project. Hunt Oil Co. CEO Ray Hunt is a longtime friend of Bush. Together with his wife, Hunt has given more than $1 million to the Republican Party since 1995. A second leading investor in the controversial pipeline is Halliburton Co., where Cheney served as CEO before stepping down to become Bush's vice president.

Environmentalists say the project clearly falls short of common environmental safeguards.

"We're concerned that the Bush administration, in an effort to serve the needs of Hunt and Halliburton, is backing away from a long-standing position backing international environmental standards," said Jon Sohn, international policy analyst for Friends of the Earth.