Green News Round-Up | Tuesday June 17

The Washington Post reports that Sen. John McCain has called for an end to the current federal ban on offshore oil drilling as part of an aggressive response to high gasoline prices. The call immediately drew the ire of many environmental groups, many of whom McCain has long courted. McCain’s move amounts to an attempt to ease public annoyance over exploding energy prices by freeing up states to open their coastlines to expand oil exploration and possible initiate new drilling.

The Associated Press reports that an environmental group has sought emergency protection for 32 species - rare plants, animals and insects. The protection would be provided by the Endangered Species Act. The group, WildEarth Guardians, claims the species are all at risk because their habitat has been destroyed, among other reasons. The group is asking the Secretary of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the three dozen plus species, all of which are found in the American West, as an insurance against their disappearence. An emergency petition sent last week contends that the habitats for some of the species under consideration have been greatly reduced, often to just one location.

Reutrers reports that a senior American climate negotiator has said that major economies must take lead in climate battle. The world's major economies emit most of the world's climate-warming greenhouse gases and therefore they must take the lead in reducing them. The U.S. under secretary of state for global affairs claims the 16 countries and the European Union in the Major Economies Meeting (MEM) forum are responsible for 80 percent of the world's greenhouse gases; and that they consume 80 percent of the world's energy. But, since these nations also accounted for 80 percent of the world's economy, they could also well afford to act.

Japan’s Prime Minister has stated publically that G8 is not the proper forum to address CO2 reduction goals. The PM's announcement has dampened hopes of taking a step that environmentalists say is key. The PM also said the G8 should send a message on tackling soaring energy and food prices at next month's summit, but added that the complex problem could not be solved in the short term. Leaders at the July 7-9 summit are expected to formalize a goal of halving global emissions by 2050 after agreeing last year in Germany to seriously consider the target. Pressure is also mounting from environmentalists and emerging economies for the G8 to come up with medium-term targets on the way to that goal. But wide gaps exist within the group and between rich and poorer nations over how to share the burden of fighting climate change, which causes droughts, rising seas and more severe storms

European Union lawmakers approved new targets for recycling garbage. The new targets aim to curb greenhouse emissions from landfill sites. Environmental groups, however, have said the approved deal would not cut growing trash piles. The agreement, which will still face approved by EU member states before becoming law, is part of an EU effort to control a growing trash problem, recently typified by very public mountains of waste in Naples, Italy. It seems that Garbage is growing faster than the 27-nation bloc's GDP. To face this fact, the European Parliament has voted to set a goal of recycling or re-using half of main household waste by 2020 as well as 70 percent of all waste from building and demolition.

The Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has warned that the Northern White Rhino is on the brink of extinction. This warning comes amindst robust Rhino population numbers in Africa, which have recently reached record levels. Rhino populations thrive elsewhere but the northern white has ben hounded by poachers. The conservation group claims there were just 30 of them left in April 2003, and only four confirmed of the species as of August 2006.

Japan will consider imposing an environment tax as part of discussions this autumn on an overhaul of the tax system, the government's top advisory panel said on Tuesday, a move that could prompt opposition from businesses. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who heads the panel, has put climate change as the centerpiece of his policy in the lead-up to a G8 summit next month, where global warming is high on the agenda. In a draft of the economic policy outline for 2008, the panel also said the government will "put its utmost efforts" behind spending cuts, although Fukuda's faltering support rate is making it politically difficult to press on with fiscal reforms. The annual report by the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy upheld a five-year plan to cut spending by 11.4-14.3 trillion yen ($105.7-132.6 billion) to achieve a target of balancing the budget, excluding debt issuance and servicing, by fiscal 20011/12.

Verenium Corp Chairman Carlos Riva has said U.S. government needs to ante up more in loan guarantees to convince lenders to back commercial development of cellulosic ethanol. Riva said the 5-year U.S. farm law enacted last month was a good start in boosting cellulosic technology, which aims to produce large quantities of ethanol for fuel from switchgrass, crop residues and other plant cellulose wastes. Ethanol in the United States is now mostly made from corn. The new farm law provides $320 million in loan guarantees for the next two years for construction of cellulosic refineries. But an additional $150 million may be allocated if lawmakers are able to find the funding. But Riva said a moderately sized plant costs more than $150 million, so more guarantees are needed if the fledgling industry is to meet a renewable fuel standard goal of producing 16 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol by 2022.

New Zealand will ban traditional light bulbs in favor of energy-saving alternatives in 2009. The country's energy ministers has said the move would cut lighting energy consumption by 20 percent by the year 2015 and save up to NZ$500 million ($376 million) by 2020. He said a wide range of more energy efficient bulbs using less power and lasting longer, such as compact fluorescent lamps and low voltage halogens, were now available. However, new minimum energy standards would mean no fresh stocks of the incandescent bulbs could be imported from October 2009.

The Guardian (UK) reports that British consumers are likely to cut spending on expensive organic items in response to the credit crunch. This change comes amidst widespread dissatisfaction over the variety of green products offered by retailers. Shoppers said they are only willing to pay a premium of about 20% for greener products. Consumers surveyed also said they were frustrated at the lack of variety of greener products on offer. But, ultimately, nearly 60% of the public still said they bought fewer environmentally sustainable products than they would like.

The Guardian (UK) reports that the head of the United Nations refugee agency has said that climate change is fuelling conflicts around the world. Consequently, this has helped drive many people from their homes, pushing the numbers of such refugees to record highs. After a few years of improvement the numbers of civilians uprooted by conflict is now rising once more. The figures have been described as "unprecedented" by the United Nations, and do not even include people escaping natural disasters or poverty - only those fleeing conflict and persecution. Moreover, climate change could also uproot people by provoking conflicts over increasingly scarce resources, like water.