Reporters Without Borders Releases Report on Mexico

In a follow up to my post on Friday, I thought I'd mention taht, Reporters Without Borders released the report today detailing its latest trip to Mexico. The release coincides with a Reporters Without Borders news conference in Washington at which the speakers will included Emilio Gutiérrez Soto, a Mexican journalist who fled to the United States and is now waiting to be granted refugee status (watch a video about it here).

With a total of 55 deaths of journalists since 2000 that were clearly or probably linked to their work, and eight journalists missing, Mexico is the western hemisphere country where press freedom is most endangered. The creation of a Special Federal Attorney's Office for Combating Violence against the Media in February 2006 has unfortunately changed nothing and has not helped to combat impunity.

The purpose of this Reporters Without Borders visit was to examine the investigations into several recent murders and disappearances of journalists with the aim of gaining insight into the workings of the Mexican criminal justice system and what causes it to malfunction. It was led by secretary-general Jean-François Julliard. The delegation met with journalists, press freedom activists and government officials, including secretary of interior Fernando Francisco Gómez-Mont Urueta, the number two in the federal government.

The report's findings are unfortunately damning for the authorities, both local and federal. The passivity or negligence of the excessive number of entities dedicated to defending press freedom in all branches of the government (executive, legislative and judicial), and their tendency to cancel each other out, are not the only reasons why the Mexican media's ordeal continues.

Another Mexican Journalist Murdered

If you’ve been following either the Foundation's blog, or stories coming out of Mexico, you’ll have heard about the unabated violence against journalists in Mexico. Well, two days ago, on September 23rd, the editor of Mexico’s online Radio Visión's website, Noberto Miranda Madrid was murdered in the northern state of Chihuahua. This brings the number of deaths of journalists in Mexico since 2000 to 55.

Madrid’s death comes as Reporters Without Borders is preparing to release a report of its latest fact-finding visit to Mexico that took place this past July. The report titled, "Behind the scenes of impunity in Mexico," rightly condemns the passivity of the authorities (and their apparent involvement in some cases). The report will be released during a news conference (to find out more about that conference, click here).

"The state of Chihuahua and its border city, Ciudad Juárez, are symbols of the uncontrollable violence resulting from the war between the drug cartels and the all-out military response from the federal authorities," Reporters Without Borders said. "Norberto Miranda clearly paid with his life for not conforming to the prevailing self-censorship in his coverage of this reality. The Juárez cartel was probably behind his murder."

According to local police sources, Miranda was murdered by three hooded men who forced their way into the Radio Visión office in Nuevo Casas Grandes, about 200 km from Ciudad Juárez, asked for Miranda and shot him in cold blood after he identified himself. Miranda’s murder came two days after freelance photographer Jaime Oma Gandara San Martin was stabbed to death in the state of Chihuahua.

Aged 44, Madrid wrote op-ed pieces under the pen-name of El Gallito (Little Rooster). His last column on September 22nd, (which can be read here) referred to the deaths of 25 people in Nuevo Casas Grandes since the start of the month in reprisals blamed on the Juárez Cartel.

Women from Across the Globe Lead Panel on Climate Change

This morning I attended a panel discussion sponsored by The Women's Media Center and the TckTckTck campaign, held in honor of Climate Week and the fast approaching UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December.

Women's Media Center President Carol Jenkins hosted the panel, entitled "Global Women Taking Action on Climate Change," and introduced a group of eight women who were forced to take action in their local communities when natural disaster hit.

For those of us who follow the news and watch the developments of both national and international climate change legislation, it is no surprise to hear stories of floods, droughts, melting ice and other disasters that are starting to pop up with increasing frequency. I can't say I was shocked by any of the stories I heard today. However, it was undeniably powerful to hear the same basic story repeated by women hailing from lands as far apart as the Arctic Circle, Papua New Guinea, Uganda, Pacific Islands and the Bronx, to name a few. Rising waters, melting ice, dry lands, high winds -- these are all threats that can no longer be relegated to an isolated "fluke," or just a problem that "they" have. The panel served not only as a rallying cry for grassroots work to mitigate and adapt to climate change, but also a wake-up call that significant action in the US congress and Copenhagen is crucial.

Majora Carter, founder of Sustainable South Bronx, began the morning's comments by connecting the environmental issues of pollution and climate change to human rights issues. Carter was followed by Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an Inuit activist who traveled by dog sled for the first ten years of her life -- living in a world completely foreign to Carter's in the Bronx, yet sadly comparable in its sense of environmental disenfranchisement. "This is much more than about melting ice," she said. "This is about families and children."

Ursula Rakova of the Carteret Islands began her comments with this statement: "Once upon a time my island was a tropical paradise. It is a tropical paradise no more." Sharon Hanshaw of Biloxi, Miss. spoke of the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which left her not only homeless but helpless, when her own government seemed not to be listening. But she soon realized she was not helpless, and co-founded the group Coastal Women for Change.

The rallying cry of the morning was simultaneously inspiring and sad; the panelists have all fearlessly taken the climate crisis into their own hands and voices, yet at the same time it is difficult not to wonder why they have to. Individuals create change, but good governmental leadership can make those changes infinitely easier. Ritt Bjerregaard, Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, spoke about the climate conference that is soon to take place in her city. "Kyoto wasn't what we hoped for, so we need all the pressure we can get," she said. The crowd applauded, and we can only hope that sentiment is shared by UN leaders in December.

One Web Day!

Today, September 22, people all over the world are celebrating OneWebDay!

OneWebDay was founded by Susan Crawford, (now an advisor of President Obama on science, technology, and innovation policy). It's a global event which is celebrated every September 22 since 2006. Think of it like an Earth Day for the internet.

Over the past four years, OneWebDay has attracted a global network of partner organizations and individual activists committed to broadening the public’s awareness of Internet and Web issues while deepening a culture of participation in building a Web that works for everyone. Every year it provides an opportunity for communities to celebrate the power of Web for positive change, to take action to protect what is precious about it, and to educate the public and policy-makers on key social, economic, and political Web issues. This year's has a specific them, One Web For All and it’s all about digital inclusion, digital literacy, and working to close the digital divide.

OneWebDay organizers are calling attention to efforts that work to ensure that anyone who wants it has access to the Internet and the skills they need to engage in our new communications environment. The fight for digital inclusion is now on the cutting edge in the long struggle for social and economic justice. It's time to recognize that access to a fast, affordable, and open Internet is essential for every child in school, every entrepreneur with a new idea, and anyone who wants full access to our government and the democratic process. These are no longer privileges, they are necessities.

If you want to show your support for OneWebDay and digital inclusion efforts, sign the 2009 pledge to Free the Internet and End the Digital Divide. There are some great activities you can participate no matter where you are in the United States or abroad (they are expecting events in over 50 cities in 20 countries). To find out more about OneWebDay and what you can do to be involved, click here.

How "Clean" are your Cleaning Products?

Although "green" has become a fashion statement in recent years, there is significant substance to the trend. In growing numbers, consumers are demanding to know the names and natures of chemicals they come into contact with every day, and which of those chemicals could be making them sick.

An article in Friday's New York Times reports that secrecy will soon be a thing of the past for manufacturers of household cleaners. Starting this January, all product ingredients except for those occurring in amounts less than one percent will be available to consumers in one of three ways: listed on the label, listed on the company web site, or listed by a recorded voice on the company's 800 number. The disclosure plan will be voluntary, with the idea that companies will feel competitive pressure to participate as consumers gravitate toward those with more candid labels.

Some environmentalists are applauding this first step in the industry's effort to come clean (in perhaps a very toxic manner!) about chemicals and health risks to consumers, but others complain that a voluntary program has no teeth at all. Representative Steve Israel of New York, who introduced a mandatory labeling bill in Congress, had this to say about the proposed program: "Voluntary compliance is an oxymoron. It may be good public relations, but not good policy." In order to be meaningful, critics argue, the program would not only have to be mandatory, but would also have to list every single ingredient, regardless of its percentage of the ingredients.

But when manufacturers of household cleaners keep ingredients to themselves, they are not necessarily trying to get away with something unhealthy or illegal. Usually the ingredients that make up the largest portions of household cleaners and detergents are common knowledge within the industry. Chemicals that make up less than one percent, those chemicals exempt from the disclosure program and the subject of consumer advocate ire, are precisely those "secret recipe" contributions that make one product smell like "white linen" and another like "mountain breeze." Unfortunately, it is also these chemicals that can be highly toxic, and although the companies argue they are used in trace amounts, research about contact over a lifetime is inconclusive.

GoodGuide is a great resource for comparing the safety, social and environmental responsibility of a variety of products (see my post from September 2), but it doesn't compare the abilities of competing products to really make a bathtub shine or a kitchen counter smell of lemons. Surprisingly, there is scant information online about which green products work and which are so-so. Here are a couple I found in a basic search:

http://www.grist.org/article/i-dont-want-no-scrub -- This is a post on Grist, testing eight bathroom products.

http://www.thegreenguide.com/buying-guide -- This is a rating system on National Geographic’s web site, where you can scroll to the bottom and choose the category of product you’re looking for. There is also a blog on a variety of green products that users can search through.

Follow this link for a brief green cleaner rating on About.com.

Founder of Grist, Overbrook Grantee, Honored

Chip Giller, Grist founder, has been honored with a prestigious Heinz Award.

Now in its tenth anniversary year, Giller describes Grist as "a beacon in the smog" of a burgeoning environmental news market that can sometimes overwhelm, confuse or alienate new audiences. Read his response to his award here.

In past years, the Heinz award has focused on outstanding individuals in a variety of fields, from arts and humanities to technology and the economy. But this year the awards were granted solely to those individuals working in an environmental field.

Teresa Heinz, chairwoman of the Heinz Family Foundation, explained the Foundation's decision in the following statement:

"At this unique time in history, when the environment is more important than ever to our lives, our economy, our national security and our future, it is only fitting that we focus exclusively on this critical topic," she said. "These awards honor those guardians of our future who value our natural resources, work to remove toxic chemicals from our air and water, and create policies and the new technology that will ensure a sustainable planet for generations to come."

Click here for a full list of this year's recipients.

Congratulations to Chip Giller and Grist!

Demand Due Process

Sadly, thousands of people are detained and denied due process every day here in the United States. Well, Breakthrough, an innovative, international human rights organization using the power of popular culture, media, and leadership development and community education to transform public attitudes and advance equality, justice, and dignity, is doing something about it. They’ve recently launched a very important and timely campaign to restore fairness and bring back due process to the immigration system.

They’ve just produced, in association with 26 other organizations, a great new video that shows members of Congress who think due process needs to be restored to our immigration system. You can click here to watch it. And after watching, you can e-mail Congress to encourage them to become an ally. You can also check out more ways to get involved.

If you’re linking to their video on Twitter, be sure to use the hash tag #restorefairness. It will help keep track of all of its mentions as well as spread the word about the important campaign.

And a special congratulations is in order to Breakthrough. Their immigration video, “Death by Detention”, which details the story of Sandra Kenlye, a 52- year old grandmother, who after living in the U.S. legally for 33 years, was subjected to degrading and inhumane conditions and died in an immigration detention center, won for best long form video at the 2009 DoGooderTV Nonprofit Video Awards. Currently, immigration detentions centers are detaining 300,000 legal and undocumented immigrants, many of whom have not committed a single crim.

EPA Takes on Mountaintop Removal Mining

A front page story in yesterday's New York Times is one in a series on water quality throughout the United States. This one focuses on Appalachian state residents who have fallen victim to the toxic residues of mountaintop removal coal mining. A large photograph above the story shows a close-up of a seven-year-old's mouth, full of fillings and cavities caused by a short lifetime of brushing with poisonous water that comes out of the tap in his own home.Videos and charts showing water quality violations in each of the 50 states accompany the article, and although some states are in greater violation than others, not a single one has a clean record in compliance with the Clean Water Act.

While change in federal policy cannot happen overnight, Friday's news brought some hope. The Environmental Protection Agency has suspended 79 permit applications for new mountaintop removal coal mines, spanning four Appalachian states. The Obama administration put the permits on hold, acknowledging (for the first time after eight-years of Bush) that the practice of mountaintop removal sullies water with dangerous levels of toxic chemicals, and is in direct violation of the Clean Water Act. The EPA submitted the permits to the Army Corps of Engineers for review, making both an environmental and political statement that the Obama administration will not follow in the footsteps of the Bush administration, which never once challenged the coal industry.

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson diplomatically clarified the new administration intends to comply with the Clean Water Act while preserving the interests of the energy industry. "We look forward to working closely with the Army Corps of Engineers, with the involvement of the mining companies, to achieve a resolution of EPA's concerns that avoids harmful environmental impacts and meets our energy and economic needs," she said.

The EPA's initial reviews looked at available information about the project in question, the current environmental condition of the watershed, and the environmental impact expected to result from the proposed mine. While this review is years late for families already experiencing deleterious health effects of mountaintop mining, it is better late than never. A post on Grist provides a link where you can encourage the Obama administration to follow through.

Controversial Sex Education

As the Foundation has been a long-time supporter of reproductive rights (both domestically and in Latin America), we’re always interested when there’s something new in the world of sex education.

Well, this month, there’s a new set of proposed international sex education guidelines that’s aimed at reducing HIV infections among young people that’s provoked criticism from conservative groups who claim that the program would be “too explicit” for young children and promote access to legal abortion as a right. The draft version of the guidelines is expected to be released this week by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). They’ve been working on the guidelines for over two years, and have drawn on more than 80 studies of sex education.

Mark Richmond, UNESCO’s global coordinator for HIV and AIDS and the director of the division that coordinates educational priorities said, “In the absence of a vaccine for AIDS, education is the only vaccine we have. Only 40% of young people aged 15 to 24 have accurate knowledge of how the disease is transmitted, even though that age group accounts for 45% of all new cases.
Some conservative criticism has caused some participating and donor agencies to pull back from the project, such as the United Nations Population Fund, which requested that its name be edited out of the published material.

International Planned Parenthood Federation reports that there are at least 111 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases among people ages 10 to 24; 10% of births are to teenage mothers and up to 4.4 million women 15 to 19 seek abortions annually.

We applaud UNESCO for allowing them to empower young people with knowledge that could save their lives. When the full guidelines become available, I’ll post the link to them on this post as a postscript.

Climate Change and the Arctic Ecosystem

Every year since 1978, scientists have been measuring the extent of Arctic sea ice at the end of the summer, and then comparing the ice cover from year to year. News hasn't been overwhelmingly positive of late, and while we are still waiting for this year's minimum we already know that 2009 is the third lowest year for Arctic ice extent since scientists began recording it in 1978. Over the past 20 to 30 years sea ice extent has decreased by an astounding 45,000 km each year, with 2007 holding the title for the lowest extent ever recorded, and 2008 the second lowest. Click here for National Snow and Ice Data Center images of fluctuating Arctic sea ice throughout the years. This link shows similar data from NASA.

Eric Post, associate professor of biology at Penn State University, led an international team of scientists in a survey of the Arctic ecosystem, looking at the biological response to global warming on a variety of levels ranging from changes in plants, insects, birds, mammals (including humans) and fish. The team's results will be published tomorrow in Science.

"It seems no matter where you look -- on the ground, in the air, or in the water-- we're seeing signs of rapid change,"Post said. And the changes, for the most part, are not good. Some species, such as polar bears and ringed seals, give birth in caves under the snow and in recent years have lost so many pups to early melt that they are now headed, perhaps irretrievably, to extinction.

Post's team also found animals and insects moving northward as their usual habitats warm, and decimating plant life in their wake. Winter moth, musk oxen and reindeer are eating shrubs that act as carbon sinks and help retain a thick snow cover. As the shrubs are thinned, less carbon is stored and snow melts -- contributing even further to the warming.

Caribou are also struggling, proving unsuccessful at syncing their calving cycle with the rapidly changing plant cycles. Baby caribou are born at times when there's no longer enough food around, the opportune feeding time already past. Reduction in the caribou population also further changes the hunting cycles and methods of Inuit hunters whose culture is intertwined with ice and animal behavior.

Can anything positive be gleaned from this horrible news?

If anything, it is a heartening sign that scientists have their eyes (and increasingly, the public eye) turned toward changes in the Arctic. Changes in the Inuit population's ability to hunt, as well as a dramatic shift in native culture, is increasingly being viewed as a human rights issue, and a melding of human rights with climate change brings new voices and funds to the issue. And although sea ice minimum has always been measured in September, it is perhaps a small stroke of luck that it coincides with the Senate's debate over the climate bill...we can only hope our senators are paying attention!

The Local Community Radio Act

It’s time to stand up for Low Power FM (LPFM) Radio! Tell Congress to pass the Local Community Radio Act (HR 1147/ S. 592). This important bill, which is sponsored by representatives Mike Doyle and Lee Terry and Senators. Maria Cantwell and John McCain, would expand noncommercial, LPFM radio to towns and cities across the country. It would also open our airwaves to more Low Power FM radio stations across the country, and bring a diversity of news, views and music to your radio dial.

If you need a quick refresher on what LPFM is and why it’s important, check out this resource guide from Free Press. You can also check out some great success stories about LPFM Radio Stations here.

Expanding LPFM radio is an issue that has received widespread support from Republicans and Democrats alike (just check out the profiles of the sponsors above if you have any doubt about that). Support for the act will help restore much-needed diversity to our airwaves, bringing forth new voices and viewpoints that are often overlooked by large commercial broadcasters.

Please click here to sign the petition to support the Act. After you’ve signed it, don’t forget to take a second or two to spread the word to your friends and colleagues.

And if you’re interested in this issue, also make sure you read Kirk Johnson’s great article “From a Porch in Montana, Low-Power Radio’s Voice Rises” from this weekend New York Times. It details Scott Johnston or northwest Montana who broadcasts KXZI radio from his 90-year-old farmhouse. If the above act is passed it could double the number of such low-power stations to about 1,600 from 800.

Van Jones Resigns

As most of us have heard by now, this Labor Day weekend brought the resignation of Van Jones, the White House Council on Environmental Quality's Special Adviser for Green Jobs.

Jones, of course, is the charismatic founder of Green For All, an Overbrook grantee, as well as the author of The Green Collar Economy and an inveterate supporter of human rights. Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO of Green For All since Jones' departure for Washington in March of this year, sent an email to supporters and posted on the organization's web site this weekend. Jones' resignation was the focus of Ellis-Lamkins' post, but she focused less on the defeat and more on the work ahead. The post, titled "Time to Step Up," implores readers to cyber-sign an Internet petition supporting green jobs in a show of new-found commitment and strength after this blow to the green jobs movement.

"In the face of tactics intended to frighten and divide," the petition states, "we must stand together around the core values that unite us." It is not clear to whom the petition will be passed, whether it's for the eyes of senators in Washington or merely an act of solidarity to re-rally the green jobs movement. Only time will tell how significant Jones' resignation is to the success of the green collar economy.

Arianna Huffington's post, "Thank You, Glenn Beck!" takes a slightly less somber, if less polite, tone. Huffington actually thanks Beck for the smear campaign he led against Jones. "To stick him (Jones) behind a desk," she writes, "working out the details of tax credits for green jobs -- incredibly important though the job is -- was never the best use of his unique and abundant skills." According to Huffington, Jones can now go back to speaking his mind and using his abundant oratory skills to inspire the green jobs movement.

Although her tone is irreverent, Huffington gravely warns against an emerging culture of fear and intimidation, in which citizens could become afraid to speak their minds or support unpopular causes. "If the sliming of Van Jones is an indication of how things are going to be," she writes, "a lot of 20-somethings posting to their Facebook pages as we speak better start worrying about the digital crumbs they are leaving behind for the future Glenn Becks of the world."

David Roberts of Grist, also an Overbrook grantee, faults the White House for not properly vetting Jones. He concedes the anti-Jones campaign was a "head hunt," however, launched to discredit the uncensored, candid speech that made people admire Jones in the first place.

Glenn Beck, on the other hand, posts on his Fox News television program's web site that "the American people" were the ones who "stood up and demanded answers" about Jones' past, as though Beck were an innocent conduit of information between Washington and the people. He writes that "the Administration had Jones resign under cover of darkness," which is patently not true. In reality, Jones made the decision to resign himself, stating that a negative media blitz surrounding his past would take away from the Obama administration's message in these crucial days leading up to health care and climate change legislation. You can read Beck's short post on Jones' resignation on his web site; it's the link under "Most Popular Stories," just above "Sarah Palin Bikini Pictures." We can only hope readers differentiate the news-worthiness of the two.

With luck, the coming weeks will bring new statements from Green For All and Van Jones, as well as a new appointee to the Special Adviser for Green Jobs position.

Whistle-Blowers

There’s a great upcoming event we want to tell everyone about. It’s called “Whistle-Blowers: A Conversation with Daniel Ellsberg and John Dean” and it will be held on September 15th from 6:30-8:30.

The event will explore the lessons of the Vietnam War, Watergate, and the "war on terror" and determine what these lessons offer about the abuse of power by the executive branch in times of national crisis. Join Daniel Ellsberg, the RAND strategist whose leak of the Pentagon Papers helped bring down the Nixon presidency and end the Vietnam War, and John Dean, White House counsel to Nixon and later a key whistle-blower on the Watergate scandal, for a conversation about the perils—then and now—of presidential overreach and excessive secrecy.

The event, sponsored by the Open Society Institute National Security and Human Rights Campaign, comes on the eve of the U.S. premiere of the feature documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. Filmmakers Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith will present clips from the film. Ann Beeson, executive director for U.S. Programs at the Open Society Institute and former associate legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union, will moderate the discussion with Ellsberg and Dean.

The event will take place at the New York Society for Ethical CultureConcert Hall, located at 2 West 64th Street (corner of Central Park West). Doors open at 6:00 p.m.

If you can’t make it to the event, don’t worry because on September 16, the new documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America will open at Film Forum in New York City. More information and tickets are available on the Film Forum website.

Defense Against Greenwashing While You Shop

Shopping for the health, society and eco-conscious consumer just got a little easier. A recent article in The Christian Science Monitor profiles Dara O'Rourke, co-founder of GoodGuide, a web site, text service and iPhone application that allows conscious consumers to learn the "back stories" of products on the shelves.

Many of us have had the experience of buying a home or health product, only to find out later that an ingredient is carcinogenic, or the company that produces the product has a lousy recycling record or underpays its employees. Now, consumers can search for their favorite products on GoodGuide, or they can use phone applications to search spur of the moment, while standing in the store.

GoodGuide reviews over 75,000 products, and boils over 600 criteria down to three ratings under the headings of environment, health and society. Consumers can look into details of the category they value most, or they can look at the average score (on a scale of one to ten) that takes all three headings into account.

Best of all, it's easy! Sitting at my desk, I texted "gguide lotion" to 41411, and within seconds received a text from GoodGuide listing the highest rated lotions. A message at the bottom of the text instructed me to reply with a single "I" to receive a list of lotion ingredients to "watch out for." The text was so reassuring, I'm considering adding GoodGuide to my "Five Faves!"

Violence Continues in Mexico

I blogged at the end of July about an increase in violence against Mexican journalists. Not only was the brutal murder of veteran Acapulco-based radio presenter Juan Daniel Martinez Gil disturbing, but the lack of police follow-up to the case left many press freedom defenders extremely frustrated.

Well police authorities are investigating another attack this month, this time about an alleged shooting on August 30th at the home of Guillermo Soto Bejarano, the editor of the regional weekly Nuevo Milenio. Authorities are working under the assumption that the shooting was linked to his journalist activities. But the worst part? This was the second attack on Soto in a short space of time. And according to Reporters Without Borders, The Salina Cruz municipal police, although they arrive a few minutes after the shooting, have done little to hunt down the perpetrators. Reporters Without Borders called the lack of any reaction “incomprehensible.”

Following the shooting and at the advice of the police, Soto and his family moved out of the house as a safety measure. Sadly, neither Soto nor his family but have been given any protection. Soto did report the incident to the federal justice ministry office in the city of Oaxaca which will hopefully carry out an appropriate investigation

Although the specific reason for the attack remains unknown, Soto’s runs a regular column called “Refinando la Noticia” (Refining the News), the subject of which is often the national oil company Pemex. Soto said several other aspects of his journalistic work could have been possible motives for the shooting, but hesitated to go into details out of concern for his safety.

Mexico remains the western hemisphere’s most dangerous country for the media, with 50 journalists killed since 2000. There have been six cases of bombings or shooting attacks on new media offices or homes of journalists since the beginning of 2009. Mexico was ranked 140th out of 173 countries in the 2008 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index.

Government and Industry Address the Environment

Two articles in today's press show a growing trend toward environmental awareness in mainstream politics and business.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports the EPA may soon officially declare CO2 a "dangerous pollutant," and designate a formal "endangerment finding" for the greenhouse gas. To those of us who have been following the politics and science of climate change, this seems like a no-brainer, and perhaps not much of a step forward. But according to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, greenhouse gases can be regulated if the government declares them a threat to public health and welfare, and that regulation would be enforced by law.

The EPA proposed classifying CO2 and five other greenhouse gases as health-harming pollutants back in April, and the enforcement of that proposal would obligate congress to regulate them under the Clean Air Act, even as ACES lingers in the Senate and takes a back-burner to the debate on health care reform (see my blog post from August 5th, "More Struggles Ahead for ACES.)

Industry, along with government, is beginning to focus on the environmental impact of its decisions. Today's Wall Street Career Journal profiles Nuno da Silva, a "professional pollution calculator" whose business has exploded in the past couple of years despite massive job loss in other sectors. Da Silva's job is to calculate the energy and resources used in the manufacture, use and disposal of products. He makes a "life cycle assessment" by looking at all stages of production, and not just the impact of a single finished product. (See The Story of Stuff for a more thorough description of the full life-cycle of consumer goods.)

Da Silva's work has resulted in some surprising findings. For instance, the plastic soles on New Balance sneakers were found to impact the environment more harshly than the pollution generated from shipping shoes to the U.S. all the way from Asia. As consumers begin to factor the environment into their purchasing decisions, findings like Da Silva's will inspire companies to change their modes of production, shipment and disposal. (See my post from June 9, "Looking at the Life Cycle of Travel," for a description of how life cycle assessments are affecting the travel industry.)

Cameron Todd Willingham: Innocent Man Executed in Texas

There’s some really disturbing news coming out of the Innocence Project today. A new report done by the organization shows that Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in Texas in 2004 was actually innocent. Willingham was convicted of arson murder which killed his three young children back in 1992. At Willingham’s trial, forensic experts testified that evidence showed the fire was intentionally set. To his death, Willingham insisted upon his innocence in the deaths of his children and refused to plead guilty in return or a life sentence.

Two and a half years ago, in May 2006, the Innocence Project formally submitted the Willingham case to the Texas Forensic Science Commission, along with information about another arson case and a request that the panel order a review of arson convictions across the state. In the other arson case, Ernest Willis was convicted of an unrelated arson murder and sentenced to death in 1987, and he served 17 years in prison before he was exonerated. In 2007, the Texas Forensic Science Commission announced that it had accepted the Innocence Project’s complaint and would launch an investigation.

To read the full article in the September 7th issue of The New Yorker (which deconstructs every facet of the case, finding that none of the evidence against Willingham was valid) click here:

What I find so disturbing about this case is two-fold. First simply that this could happen. And secondly, that it’s probably not the only time in which it has happened. Ongoing support for criminal justice reform is crucial. And it’s crucial now. The Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck asked the crucial question, “How can we stop it from happening again?”

Social Media Survival Seminar: Help for the Rest of Us

Do you feel uneasy when you hear words like Web 2.0, blog, Twitter and viral video? While young colleagues effortlessly ride the fast-moving social media train, are you worried about being left behind? Well you’ll be pleased to know that Overbrook is will be co-hosting a seminar at Philanthropy New York on September 17th, 2009 called “Social Media Survival Seminar: Help for the Rest of Us”

This session is offered as part of Philanthropy New York's series TELLING OUR STORY, and will be presented by The Overbrook Foundation, Surdna Foundation, and The Nathan Cummings Foundation. All funders, particularly those interested in social justice, movement building, and media and communications are invited to attend. The program will begin with breakfast from 8:30-9:00 and then the program will run from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon.

The program will be led by Allison Fine, author of Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age and Tom Watson, Managing Partner, Cause Wired Communications, and author of CauseWired: Plugging In, Getting Involved, Changing the World. If you participate you’ll learn how social media tools and philosophy can improve your efforts to plan and implement grantmaking strategies. Use your increased understanding to help grantees overcome their own barriers to using social media for social change. The session will include demonstrations of social media tools, videos used to advance mission, and related case studies.

Please note that there is no fee for this program, but registration is required by September 15th. Philanthropy New York Members can log in here to register yourself or a colleague online by clicking on the link above (visible through September 15th). If you have any questions, please contact register@philanthropynewyork.org.

Interrogation into Detainee Abuses Begins

Many Americans have called on the Obama Administration to investigate the alleged torture and other detainee abuses that have occurred over the past several years here in America. Our voices have been heard.

Well, on Monday, the Obama Administration took actions that demonstrate a commitment to ending detainee abuse and beginning a process to hold those responsible accountable for the torture. To read the State of the Attorney General Eric Holder regarding a preliminary review into the interrogation of certain detainee abuses, click here.

Attorney General Holder's decision to appoint a prosecutor to re-examine a number of cases of alleged torture and abuse is the latest sign that the Administration's 'don't look back' policy is being reassessed. We first saw this welcome reconsideration in July when the President ordered his national security team to gather the facts about the alleged Dasht-e-Leili massacre in Afghanistan in 2001.

Beginning in 2005, the organization Physicians for Human Rights has documented the systematic use of psychological and physical torture by US personnel against detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, Bagram airbase and elsewhere in its groundbreaking reports, Break Them Down, Leave No Marks and Broken Laws, Broken Lives. The CIA Inspector General's report (PDF) released yesterday confirmed the use of abusive and illegal interrogation techniques documented in these reports.

We couldn’t agree more with Physician for Human Rights who wrote, “This is yet another milestone. While much work remains to be done - to restore the US commitment against torture, ensure humane treatment of detainees, and mobilize the health professional community to adopt strong ethical prohibitions against participation in interrogations – this is a historical turning point”

In-Depth Research on "Human Rights"

Last week an Overbrook Foundation grantee The Opportunity Agenda’s shared its most recent opinion research opinions on human rights. They’ve recently completed an in-depth public opinion research this past spring to help advocates in building understanding and support for human rights at home. Through a series of focus group discussions, they examined attitudes toward human rights, and how to discuss a range of social justice issues within the context of human rights. The goal of the project was to examine the potential for using a human rights framework in communicating on these issues.

Their research (which you can read more in-depth here) found that these audiences generally see human rights as the rights you have by virtue of being born. However, as the discussions move from initial reactions to the phrase “human rights” to more in-depth discussions of applying human rights to a range of social justice issues in the United States, participants’ views of human rights become more complex. In particular, when members of the key audiences begin to distinguish between rights which are protected— freedom from torture, freedom of speech, etc.— from rights which are provided—health care, education, etc.— they begin to see some hesitation about calling the latter human rights.

Interestingly, many of the participants also held a conditional view of who should have certain human rights. For example, undocumented immigrants, in the minds of most of the key audience members, have forfeited some of their human rights because they have broken the law to be in the United States. Therefore, many question, and even object to, undocumented immigrants receiving health care. There are some human rights, however, that most of the members of the key audiences believe should be guaranteed to all, including due process rights, freedom from discrimination, and freedom from mistreatment.

For other questions regarding the report, please contact Eleni Delimpaltadaki at eleni@opportunityagenda.org.

The Wrong Guys

Last week the Foundation read about some exciting news. Subjects of an Overbrook-funded book “The Wrong Guys” (a book about false confessions which was published by The New Press, a not-for-profit publishing house with titles on education, cultural, ethnic and community subjects) were pardoned by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine and released from jail!

Joseph Dick Jr., Derek Tice and Danial Williams were convicted in 1997 in the rape and murder of a woman in Norfolk, Virginia, but another man later confessed to committing the crimes. The three, along with another sailor were known as “The Norfolk Four”.What was particularly exciting, along with the vindication for the subjects of the book, is that it was possible to trace from the pardon back to the book which is a kind of influence that's usually very tricky to determine.

A couple of weeks ago, well-known author John Grisham, who had read and wrote a blurb about the book, announced that he is planning to write a screenplay based on the case. The book has been featured numerous times on television and in magazines. Grisham said last week in a phone interview that a magazine article first piqued his interest, and the authors of "The Wrong Guys" sent him an advance copy, seeking a quote for the book jacket. What intrigued him in the book was the exploration of the phenomenon of false confessions, and the convicted sailors explained how they were persuaded to confess to rape and murder.

Last week when the pardon was announced, the victim's family (who is not happy about the pardons) "blamed" Grisham's announcement for bringing attention to the case and influencing the governor's decision. As the Virginian-Pilot reported:The case has become a cause celebre in circles. It inspired a book, "The Wrong Guys: Murder, False Confessions and the Norfolk Four." Best-selling author John Grisham recently said he was writing a screenplay on the case. The Moores say they believe politics played a role in the governor's decision. "We do not believe it is a coincidence that Governor Kaine granted these pardons just a few weeks after the announcement that John Grisham intends to write a screenplay.”

The New Press is now working with local bookstores and newspapers to try to sell some copies, but luckily the book has managed to have an impact quite apart from any sales that may be realized.

Waterworld Revisited

Yesterday I visited the NYC Waterpod, docked in the Hudson River just off of Brooklyn Bridge Park. Waterpod has been enjoying a fair amount of press since its launch in June, but its essence is difficult to pin down in words. Waterpod founders themselves come closest, describing the project as a "sustainable, sculptural art and technology habitat," a "public-access barge," and a "floating sculptural living structure designed as a new habitat for the global warming epoch." Although accurate, even those descriptions don't do the Waterpod justice. It's best to jump aboard yourself and experience the project. Click here for a schedule for docking and public hours.

The Waterpod is an exercise in sustainable and efficient living, with all the residents' food, water and electricity needs generated on board. Walking on to the Pod from shore, visitors enter a metal jungle-gym-like shelter covered with reused billboard segments, sewn together in an artful yet utilitarian collage. The Pod's chickens, which provide eggs for the residents, cluck happily in a spacious coop at the back of the dome. The 100 percent compost-fueled Pod garden lives just outside the dome, across from the tiny but private cubbies where residents sleep.

Signs posted around the Pod teach visitors about its sustainable systems, such as the gray-water collected and used for gardening. The Waterpod's collection drums can store up to 1550 gallons of rainwater a day, which is then fed through 46 feet of gutters and drainpipes. Waterpod residents (let's call them "Pod people") use an average of 5-10 gallons of water per person per day, compared with 65 gallons for the average residential New Yorker. Showers on the Pod are limited to five minutes. Gray-water collected from hand-washing, showers and dish-washing goes through an on-board purification system made up of seven repurposed maple syrup containers, now filled with gravel, sand and wetland plants to replicate the ecosystem and filtration abilities of a natural marshland.

As if the water conservation systems weren't cool enough, all electricity used on the Waterpod is generated completely by solar panels and human power. When I visited the Pod, a sign tacked to the frame of a stationary bike at the back of the dome bore the message "Power My Drill." A power drill connected to the bike lay on the ground, waiting for eager peddlers. Unfortunately there weren't many takers, most likely a result of the 90 degree heat!

Artist Mary Mattingly is the Pod's founder and mastermind, but a rotating crew of artists, engineers, environmentalists and others interested in getting off the grid have helped keep it sustainable and afloat since June. The Pod crew plans to live on board through October, but needs outside funding for weatherization if the project continues through the winter.

The Pod was originally envisioned as a self-sustaining artists' colony, but the crew soon found the daily tasks of keeping it functioning took all of their time and energy. A New York Times article quotes one artist, who has since left the Pod community, as lamenting the fact that "it takes a lot of work to do sustainability."

But when I visited yesterday, the Pod seemed idyllic -- a healthy respite from the muggy city looming across the river. As I stepped back ashore and made my way to the subway, a few Pod people prepared to take a refreshing dip in the river. Kevin Costner eat your heart out!

Climate Change will Cost Us, Today or Tomorrow

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog reports today that the oil industry, including The American Petroleum Institute, the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Farm Bureau, is funding anti-climate bill rallies in towns across the country during Congress's August recess. The Senate is set to vote on the climate bill (ACES) next month. Among other things, the industry released fliers bearing messages like, "Climate change legislation being considered in Washington will cause high economic pain and produce little environmental gain."

Reuters reported yesterday that Yvo de Boer, the UN's top climate change official, released a statement conceding climate change mitigation and adaptation will come with a hefty price tag. In this respect the oil industry's claim is not completely false. What it does not consider, however, is the tremendous and overbearing future cost of ignoring the problem now.

De Boer estimates climate change mitigation such as capping greenhouse gas emissions and switching to clean energy, in addition to aiding developing nations as they adapt and react to floods, droughts and other natural disasters, could cost the world $300 billion per year from 2020 on. $300 billion is a lot of money in anyone's book, but in crafting legislation that estimate must be weighed against the cost of doing nothing at all.

Last Sunday's New York Times ran a front page article linking climate change to national defense, describing what will likely be the counter argument by ACES supporters come September. Ignoring the cost of climate change today, the argument goes, will cost much more tomorrow in military effort and mitigation. Floods, droughts, mass migrations, pandemics and food shortages will increase in frequency and severity as the planet warms, and in responding to those disasters the developed world will be forced to spend money on climate change anyway. A huge geopolitical impact is inevitable, so we may as well face up to reality and get a head start by passing strong climate change legislation today.

The Times article ends with a bleak, but perhaps practical quote from General Anthony C. Zinni. "We will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today," Zinni warns, "and we'll have to take an economic hit of some kind. Or we will pay the price later in military terms, and that will involve human lives."

Who's Responsible for Communicating About Our Work? All of Us

I'm doing a cross-posting today. Last week I officially became a regular contributor for the Communications Network.

To that end, the Communications Network's Executive Director, Bruce Trachtenberg, asked me to expand upong of the key themes of the work of the Communications Network and that is that communications is a foundation responsibility, and shared by the entire organization.

So go check out my post, Who's Responsible for Communicating About Our Work? All of Us. And if you're interested in the discussion, there was a great follow-up post Eureka! They Can’t Live Without Communications--Now What? by Holly Minch, a communications consultant to the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund.

"Tapped"

As Samantha said, my name is Jonny and I'm the new intern at Overbrook!

This Thursday I went to see the new documentary "Tapped." The movie covers the many environmental issues of bottled water, from the toxic chemicals in the plastic, to the large heap of plastic in the Pacific ocean that is twice the size of Texas. The movie shows that large companies, like Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Nestle, have been taking huge amounts of water from municipal sources, (causing drought in some areas) purifying it, bottling it, and selling it for over 1900 times the price of tap water. These companies claim that their water is much cleaner that tap water, and so charge much more for it. In reality, the movie shows that on average, tap water is cleaner than bottled, because it's regulated weekly by the FDA, while most bottled water is regulated by the companies themselves.

Another major issue covered in the movie is the plastic bottles themselves; the pollution put into the atmosphere as a result of manufacturing the bottles, the toxic chemicals in the plastic, and where the plastic ends up after it's been used. 20 percent of bottles are recycled, but the rest either ends up in landfills or the ocean. Many bottles end up in the huge North Pacific Garbage Patch, where there is 46 times more plastic than plankton.

The movie was well made, and I learned a lot about bottled water that I didn't know. Overall I liked the movie quite a bit, and I recommend seeing it! My only problem with it is that the theater was a little hard to find, but that isn't really the movie makers' fault.

Welcome Overbrook's New Intern

Here at Overbrook we are all thrilled to welcome Jonny Adler, the Environment Program's youngest intern to date! Jonny turns 13 on August 12th, and comes to us after a summertime stint at Hidden Valley Camp. Full of country air and toasted marshmallows, he is ready to learn about what we do here and lend his unique perspective on environmental issues. Jonny is the founder of Project Green, an environmental club at the Collegiate School, where he will be a 7th grader in a few short weeks. While at Overbrook, Jonny is researching environmental web sites and social movements directed at kids and teenagers. Look for his posts on the Overbrook blog. Welcome Jonny!

Good News for National Parks

The Bush administration acted illegally in 2005, according to a federal appeals court ruling, when it struck down the 2001 rule prohibiting road development and logging in national parks. Wednesday's ruling reinstated the protections of 2001, ensuring our national parks are safe once again from development. Idaho and Alaska's Tongass National Forest remain exceptions, but environmental groups are working on the Obama administration to extend the roadless rule.

Kristen Boyles, the Earthjustice attorney who litigated the case on behalf of 20 environmental organizations, acknowledged the victory but warned against complacency.

"We're not out of the woods yet," she said. "This decision halts the Bush administration assault on roadless areas, but the Obama administration should now take the next steps necessary to make protection permanent."

The 2001 Roadless Rule not only saves national parks for hikers and campers, it also protects wildlife habitat and reduces costs for municipalities that get their drinking water from sources in national parks. Pollutants from logging and other industry increase the costs of treating drinking water.

Follow this link to read the decision.

Follow this link for a history of the National Park Service.

Net Neutrality in the House

Thanks no doubt in part to those who’ve been hard at work in the media reform movement over the past few years, we have some good news. Last week, Representatives Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts) and Anna Eshoo (D-California) introduced the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009 (H.R. 3458).

If approved, this legislation could be a landmark victory for those who have been working on Network Neutrality. This act would protect Network Neutrality under the Communications Act, which would not only safeguard the future of the open Internet, but would protect Internet users from experiencing discrimination online.

Network Neutrality is an issue that hits home to many Americans. Since the struggle for Network Neutrality first began, over 1.6 million Americans, across all political spectrums, have called, written petitions, and spoken out publicly urging their members of Congress to get behind this issue.

But we’re not there yet. We still have to tell our members of Congress to side with the public and take a final stand for an open Internet by supporting the Act. The time is ripe for this! President Obama is an avid support of Network Neutrality, there is congressional leadership that is willing to fight for it, and the newly appointed and elected Julius Genachowski as the head of the Federal Communications Commission.

If you’re interested in reading the full text of the bill, click here. Also be sure to check out Tim Karr’s recent piece in the Huffington Post on the Seven Reasons Why We Need Network Neutrality Now.

More Struggles Ahead for ACES

The American Clean Energy and Security Act, also known as ACES, Waxman-Markey, or most simply, the climate bill, was welcomed into the political scene months ago with much excitement and publicity. But the momentum ACES gained last spring is fizzling fast.

Politico.com reports today that the climate bill, which the House passed in a watered-down version in June, is competing for Senators' time and attention. The debate raging in the Senate now centers around health care, and ACES supporters fear Democrats crucial to its passage simply don't have time to fully review and advocate for it. Supporters are anxious to pass at least some sort of climate legislation before December, in time for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Even in diluted form, the bill's passage could send a symbolic message to the world that the United States is turning over a new leaf in regard to climate change. The hope is that coal-heavy countries like China and India will follow our example and cut back their emissions.

Of course, the United States is still quite coal-heavy itself. The Energy Information Administration (EIA)'s International Energy Outlook for 2009 projects the United States will be responsible for 14 percent of the world's coal-related emissions by 2030, compared to India's eight percent. (The EIA projects China's 2030 coal-related impact to be the worst of the three major coal polluters: 52 percent of the world's coal emissions by 2030!)

And as if climate bill supporters didn't have enough obstacles, 12 letters sent to congressional offices before the ACES vote were recently outed as forgeries, masquerading as entreaties from minority grassroots organizations that opposed the bill. The Washington lobbying firm Bonner&Associates, where the letters originated, claim a temporary employee acted alone and was terminated upon discovery.

All three of the representatives who received forged letters are Democrats, and two of them ultimately voted against ACES. It is difficult to know if the letters influenced their votes, but in the midst of heated debate around climate and energy legislation, it's safe to assume every little bit counts.

US Signs Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities

Last week an important step was made when the United States signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This is the first Human Rights treaty that we have signed in almost a decade. It also came shortly after the 19th year anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

More than 650 million people (54 million of whom are Americans) currently live with a disability – that represents nearly 10% of the population. Although the convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted by the UN General Assembly as far back as December of 2006, the US didn’t sign it because the Bush administration maintained that disabilities were a domestic issue and that the international treaty would weaken protections afforded to Americans by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Unlike the Bush administration, President Obama believes that “disability rights aren’t just civil rights to be enforced here at home. They are universal rights to be recognized and promoted around the world,” President Obama said when he announced the US would sign the convention at a celebration for the anniversary of the ADA. US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice also said “this treaty urges equal protection and equal benefits under the law for all citizens, it rejects discrimination in all its forms, and calls for the full participation and inclusion in society of all persons with disabilities.”

So what happens next? President Obama will send the convention on to the US Senate, which will have to ratify the convention in order to make it binding US law. Overbrook Foundation grantee, Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI) is working in coalition with the US International Council on Disabilities, and Eric Rosenthal, the Executive Director of MDRI, serves as co-chair of the Committee on CRPD ratification

If you’re interested in learning more about the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities click here.

Fourth Mexican Journalist Killed in 2009

Mexico continues to be a dangerous place for journalists. Reporters Without Borders announced earlier this week the murder of journalist Juan Daniel Martínez Gil, whose half-buried body was found on July 28th near the port city of Acapulco. The Acapulco-based radio presenter had been badly beaten, a cloth was stuffed in his mouth and his head was wrapped in masking tape.

According to the autopsy report, Martínez, who was only 48 years old and was the host of the Radiorama FM radio programmes "W Guerrero" and "Guerrero Vivo", died as a result of asphyxia on the night of July 27th. "We offer our condolences to Martínez's family and colleagues and we urge the local and federal authorities to assign enough personnel to the case so that they can quickly identify those responsible for the murder and their motives, which are still unknown," Reporters Without Borders said.

His colleagues and friends are shocked and saddened by his death. Radiorama colleague Arturo Pérez Calzada said. "As far we know, he had not received any threats. We do not cover stories involving drug trafficking. This is a strange case." Local investigators have not yet developed any hypotheses.

Sadly, Martínez is the second Radiorama journalist to be murdered in the past two and a half years. Amado Ramírez Dillanes was gunned down as he left the radio station on April 6th, 2007. With four journalists murdered since the start of this year, crimes of violence against the media are continuing to mount in Mexico. Martínez's death brings the total number of journalists murdered in Mexico since 2000 to 50.

Voter Action Releases New Report on Voting Rights

Last Thursday Voter Action issued a joint report, with Advancement Project and NAACP National Voter Fund, on voting rights concerns emerging from the 2008 election. The report relies on nearly 70,000 problem calls received by the CNN and MYVOTE1 voter hotlines and recommends that Congress adopt immediate measures to help protect voters in the 2010 election. They formally released the report last Thursday morning before a hearing of the House Administration Committee. The report, entitled “Uncovering Flaws in Election Administration,” focuses on voter hotline calls from six states: Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

They have created a new section of our website where you can download the report and listen to some 900 plus audio recordings of hotline calls we have highlighted from these six states:

http://www.voteraction.org/electionreport

You can also listen, via that section, to a 2 ½ minute audio montage which they have produced of selected calls. The Foundation, along with Voter Action, hopes this report will help to lift up the voices of voters as we continue to press for reforms to protect our democracy.

Getting to the Bottom of Recycling

In response to my post on Monday, Recycling Outreach Coordinator Christina Salvi from the Council on the Environment of New York City sent some informative, in-depth information about plastics recycling. See the links below recommended by Christina:

For some information on plastic recycling in NYC:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/downloads/pdf/wastecharreports/wcsfinal/highlights/wcs_15_rh_focus_on_plastics.pdf
For a little more detail on NYC vs. other cities, you can read this analysis on NYC vs. Seattle:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/downloads/pdf/wastecharreports/wcsfinal/highlights/wcs_14_rh_seattlecomparison.pdf

If you would like to know more about the issues related to plastics recycling there is a lot of info out there like http://www.ecologycenter.org/ptf/misconceptions.html and http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jul-aug/06-when-recycling-is-bad-for-the-environment.

Thank you Christina!

Electronics Recycling in NYC? Not So Fast...-

New York City is just days away from implementing a law requiring electronics recycling, calling on manufacturers to take back and recycle used electronics as well as mandating a pick-up program for any electronics over 15 pounds. Consumers could also get a hefty $100 fee for throwing electronics in the trash.

In a city whose recycling record could stand some pointers from its west coast counterparts (Portland; Seattle; San Francisco), the proposed electronics recycling law is one many environmentalists and electronics users welcome as long overdue. But the Consumer Electronics Association and the Information Technology Industry Council are trying to block the new legislation with a lawsuit, arguing the law's stipulations are too stringent. Among other complaints, they believe it would unfairly require companies to take responsibility for products they did not manufacture or sell.

But with New Yorkers buying upwards of 90,000 tons of electronics each year, it is difficult to understand the case of electronics manufacturers who make money without responsibility for their customers' environmental health.

Last week I attended a free volunteer training on recycling at the Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC). About 15 people hailing from all five boroughs gathered around a table in a dingy office on Chambers Street, drinking natural sodas and debating which items are recyclable and which are destined for the trash. The group of 15, all of whom were diligent recyclers, could only come to agreement on the most obvious of items like the newspapers and Poland Spring bottles. Surely New York City can start doing a better job of simplifying its recycling rules, as well as expanding its service to include more items. Several cities on the west coast collect compost at the curb, as well as number 5 plastics and number ones and twos that are not shaped like bottles and jugs. We know it's possible, so why can't New York do it too?

In light of this eye-opening recycling meeting, news that industry groups wish to block legislation requiring electronics recycling seems horribly backward. Many manufacturers in New York City provide voluntary take back programs, but none so far is mandated. The onus is largely on the eco-minded consumer to schlep her heavy items on a train or car for recycling. For those New Yorkers with limited time (most of us) and minimal eco-consciousness (many of us), a law and a fine will compel them to participate, and hopefully catch the recycling "bug" in the process. It feels good to be good to the planet!

Meanwhile, non-profit and volunteer organizations have been organizing electronics recycling events around the city. But when I dropped off bags of cords and old cell phones at an event in Central Park last spring, I noticed all the piles of electronics were bound together with double and triple layers of plastic wrap. So after we get a handle on the recycling, the next step will be cutting back on that extra plastic.

The Farmer and the HMO Should be Friends

Health Care Without Harm, an Overbrook grantee, has long advocated for hospitals to curb their waste and use of toxic chemicals. Their work is paying off: just yesterday the San Jose Mercury News reported a welcomed shift in the mainstream health care industry's environmental focus. Kaiser Permanente, an HMO responding to Health Care Without Harm's campaign, is starting a new program to incorporate local and organic foods in their cafeterias. Vegetable gardens are springing up behind ERs.

"The food system promotes high pesticides and overuse of antibiotics, which all health care organizations are saying we have to stop because it's promoting antibiotic resistance," said Jamie Harvie, food coordinator for Health Care Without Harm. Harvie was quoted by the San Jose Mercury News, reflecting the urgency of the health care system's shift to local and organic foods. Many of today's most costly health problems are food-related, such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

Kaiser now has 30 farmers' markets at its hospitals in northern California, and its medical centers in the region get weekly deliveries of organic produce. In the last year alone, participating hospitals and medical centers bought 74 tons of produce from local farmers, cutting down on the thousands of food miles logged by produce previously shipped in from out of state. A new campaign challenges participants to reduce meat purchases by 20 percent, and then use the extra savings to buy local, hormone-free meats.

Although converting to the new food system seems like a no-brainer, hospitals can't make the switch overnight. Many have long-standing contracts with large vendors. But the wheels have been set in motion, and The San Mateo County Food System Alliance recently held a "speed dating" event in which farmers had five minutes to talk with hospital staff about which foods they could grow and sell. Growing a large diversity of crops for local medical centers in their own communities would not only reduce farmers' carbon-heavy shipments, it would also allow them to wean off monocultures that require more chemical inputs.

Hospital partnerships with local farmers seem like a win-win-win; a symbiotic relationship that keeps local farmers afloat, ultimately saves hospitals money, and treats patients preventatively with chemical-free foods. Here's hoping the rest of the country can follow California's example!

What's your Puddle Print?

Just as it's becoming fashionable to know (and willfully shrink) your carbon footprint, environmentalists and scientists are starting to talk about a new kind of footprint -- one that depletes water rather than spews greenhouse gas.

A new joint report by the Food Ethics Council and Sustain, an organization working to improve nutrition in the developing world, calls on food and drink manufacturers to add a new "water footprint" label to their products. In their report, FEC and Sustain found that most consumers have little to no awareness of the amount of "virtual" water used to produce products they eat and drink every day.

For example, it takes 37 gallons of water to produce the one cup of coffee you grab on your way to work. If five or six people in a subway car bring a cup of coffee for their commute, that's over 200 gallons of water in just one car of one train! Extrapolating the amount of virtual water to the rest of the coffee-drinking world is a little overwhelming, to say the least. Cattle, which require constant food supplies of grain or grass while being raised, turn up as hamburger with a shocking virtual water print. One pound of beef translates to over 2,000 gallons of water. Coffee and beef are just two examples; the report looks at all sorts of popular products. Look at waterfootprint.org for the virtual water print of your favorite foods and drinks.

Although water is a renewable resource, the earth's burgeoning population demands more of it each year, while longer and more widespread droughts are becoming the norm due to climate change. Experts at a water-technologies conference in Milwaukee yesterday predicted entrepreneurs of the near future will trade shares of virtual water. An international water technologies conference (WATEC) will take place in Tel Aviv this fall, bringing together scientists and policy-makers in the self-proclaimed "Silicon Valley of water technology" and cementing water's center-stage position in the world market.

Water scarcity in the United States has so far had little effect on citizens' day to day lives. Maybe we're asked to take shorter showers or turn off our lawn sprinklers, but overall we have not yet tangibly felt the value of water. All this is about to change, according to scientists, engineers, business people and politicians all over the world. In coming years water will not only be a drink, but a valuable commodity for sale, use and purchase.

Georgetown Law's Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program

Here are a few important announcements from the Georgetown Law's Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program (WLPPFP):

For all those Washingtonians out there (or anyone else who happens to be in DC this week), they have extended an invitation to the presentation on women's human rights in Africa by its senior Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa (LAWA) Fellows, this Thursday, July 23 at 3:30 p.m. at Georgetown Law. For further information, including instructions on how to RSVP and for directions, click here.

Secondly, there’s an invitation for applications for fellowships with the Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program for women's rights lawyers in the U.S., and with the LAWA Fellowship Program for women's rights lawyers in Africa. The Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program offers Fellowships for public interest lawyers from across the United States who are committed to advancing women's rights throughout their careers. Throughout the Fellowship year, participants gain invaluable experience by working on women's issues in Washington, D.C. with a public interest organization or governmental agency and by participating in educational and professional development opportunities provided by WLPPFP. The deadline for applications for the 2010-2011 Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program is Monday, November 2, 2009. Applicants must be graduates of law schools accredited by the American Bar Association, and must show a demonstrated commitment to advancing women's rights throughout their careers.

Lastly don’t forget to check out the organization’s hot-off-the-press newsletter, with updates on the accomplishments of its fellows and alumnae.

Think Twice About Summer Strawberries

Environmentalists are fighting for the lesser of three evils this week, according to Santa Cruz News and Chemical & Engineering News.

Methyl Bromide, a toxic and ozone-depleting pesticide commonly used on strawberries, is being phased out globally only to be replaced by something many environmentalists consider even worse: methyl iodide, a carcinogenic soil fumigant known to cause thyroid disease and miscarriage. Methyl iodide has not yet been officially accepted as methyl bromide's successor, but the pesticide industry is putting pressure on Governor Schwarzenegger to push its approval through in time for the August cycle of field fumigation, before scientists have the chance to fully analyze it.

A chemist working with the Pesticide Action Network said methyl iodide is so toxic scientists use extra precautions like special hoods and gloves when they work with even small amounts. Field workers would not have the luxury of protection, and they would be in contact with 100 times the amount deemed acceptable by state law. Another major concern is for people who live downwind from treated fields, as well as the possibility methyl iodide could leach into groundwater.

At the same time, Dow AgroSciences is requesting a field test of sulfuryl flouride to replace methyl bromide in California, Florida, Georgia and Texas. Sulfuryl flouride has traditionally been used as a fumigant in buildings, and is a greenhouse gas potentially worse for the atmosphere than CO2. Activists are protesting its use in fields, asking the EPA to turn down Dow's request.

The only way consumers can protect themselves while the pesticide battle ensues is to read labels and stay away from conventional fruits and vegetables whenever possible. Strange as it may seem, all of us environmentally-conscious strawberry-eaters may welcome methyl bromide back with open arms, if only to avoid a more toxic option.

US Cities' Responses to Climate Change Heading in the Right Direction

A new report summarizes the results of the 2008 Local Government Operations Protocol (LGOP), jointly conducted by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). The study is a collaboration between ICLEI, The Climate Registry, The California Climate Action Registry and the California Air Resources Board, and will serve as an official standard for local governments trying to get a handle on their carbon footprints.

LGOP launched in 2008 as a means for cities to use common tools for emissions measurements and analysis. This new report is the first assessment of LGOP's utility. So far municipal governments in 18 participating cities across the United States have agreed to monitor, disclose and decrease their city's greenhouse gas emissions. Most are focusing first on government buildings and operations, with the idea that the government can set a positive example for the public as a means of inspiring people to follow their city's lead in daily life.

The report also found that each of the 18 city participants recognizes climate change as an increasing risk, looking not only at mitigation but also at ways of adapting to changes that may be inevitable.

But city leaders are far from despairing! Fourteen of the 18 see the impending challenges of climate change as a business opportunity that will not only clean cities and create jobs, but strengthen communities as well. All of the 18 participating cities that used LGOP to monitor their emissions also took measures to reduce their footprints.

Participating cities' emissions reductions do not yet come close to the levels we need to seriously alter the course of climate change. But environmental and municipal leaders are regarding the LGOP as a monumental step in the right direction, simply because it has inspired its first group of city leaders to work together under a common rubric; a network that is only expected to strengthen and grow.

Progressive Women's Voices Announces its Third Class

There are some really amazing progressive women out there! Yesterday The Women’s Media Center (WMC) is announced its third class of its Progressive Women’s Voices program for 2009. Now in its second year, Progressive Women’s Voices is an intense media training and outreach program that involves in-person intensive training, weekly interview practice, and ongoing WMC strategy and support.

Participants for this third class for 2009 include experts in North & South Korea, education theory, medicine, bioethics, health impacts of climate change, progressive journalism, international women's rights, leadership for women of color and more. These ten women come from manifold backgrounds, reflecting a diversity generally absent from mainstream media coverage. They will join 54 participants from 2008 & 2009, forming a roster of media-trained progressive women adding their voices to the national conversation in areas of economics, politics, health care, immigration, women's rights, workplace policy, and other important issues. If you want to read the bios of the ten new women of our Progressive Women's Voices program, go here.

In its first year, PWV was resounding success, with participants diversifying the media landscape by adding their intellectual, progressive, female perspectives.

In 2008, PWV women were featured in high-profile outlets like CNN, MSNBC, PBS, The New York Times, the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, as well as hundreds of other significant media outlets in print, online, radio, and broadcast.

DC Votes to Recognize Same-Sex Marriage

Good news from my home district! In another important step towards marriage equality, yesterday, the Washington D.C. council voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill that would recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. It was passed by a vote of 12-1.

Before it goes into effect, the bill must be signed by DC Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. This a step is considered a formality however, since Fenty has previously said that he supports the measure. Next the committees in the House and Senate that oversee the DC will have 30 session days to review the law.

Yesterday's victory in Washington came on the same day that the Maine House of Representatives voted to legalize same-sex marriage. If formally approved by the state Senate and approved by Gov. John Baldacci, Maine would become the fifth state to legalize gay marriage.

I'll keep an eye on DC to see what happens next.

Third Journalist Killed in Honduras

Reporters Without Borders recently learned that journalist Gabriel Fino Noriega, a local correspondent of the national radio station Radio América, was gunned down on July 3rd in San Juan Pueblo, in the Caribbean coast province of Atlántida. Both Radio América and the local police said they did not think his murder was in any way linked to the crisis caused by the June 28th coup d'état in Honduras.

Reporters Without Borders said, "We offer our condolences to Fino's family and colleagues, and we urge the police to assign enough resources to the murder investigation so that those responsible and their motive can be identified. A journalist's murder should not be allowed to go unpunished in a region of the country where there is a great deal of drug trafficking."

Fino, who was 42 at the time of his burder was shot by an unidentified gunman as he was leaving Radio Estelar, a local station where he presented a daily news program. He died while being taken to hospital. According to his colleagues, he had not received any threats.

Fino is the third journalist to be killed this year in Honduras. Rafael Munguía, the correspondent of the privately-owned national radio station Radio Cadena Voces, was killed on March 31st in the northwestern city of San Pedro Sula and Osman López of La Tribuna was killed in Tegucigalpa on April 18th.

Live on a Farm Without Ever Leaving the City!

What if you could eat farm-fresh fruits and vegetables without wondering where they came from and worrying about their carbon footprint? The average American meal endures a journey of 1500 miles from farm to plate, leaving a trail of greenhouse gas from the fossil-fueled trains, trucks, planes and high-energy refrigeration chambers that keep it fast and fresh. But consumers are getting wise to inefficiencies, and demand for local produce and the 100-mile diet is becoming more and more vocal.

Yesterday's National Geographic News reported a collaboration between scientists and architects working on solutions to the problem of food production for a burgeoning global population living with shrinking agricultural space. One viable solution is farming up rather than out with vertical farms, large production farms within residential skyscrapers that could provide efficient solutions directly in the hearts of cities. These buildings will not only provide agricultural space, but they will also eliminate the carbon footprint suffered from food miles. Even better, the controlled systems of indoor farms will greatly reduce the risk of losing crops to natural disasters, pests and disease.

But cities will have to look at the entire life cycle of food produced in urban skyscrapers before jumping for joy.Critics say urban indoor agriculture is no better than shipping food from far away since nutrient-rich hydroponic farming is highly energy intensive. Fossil fuels will most likely play some part in keeping the urban farms functioning, while perfectly free and clean sunlight will go unused outside the building.

Proponents say architects are fine-tuning designs of the buildings to maximize the amount of sun reaching crops, as well as the amount of energy that can be harnessed to power the system. One progressive model is the Pyramid Farm, which would break down sewage, convert it to water and carbon and re-power the building.

In the meantime, while we wait for vertical and pyramid farms to take root in our neighborhoods, eating in-season local foods and cutting down on land and water-intensive meats are good steps toward a more sustainable future.