• Shareholders Worried About Global Warming
  
• Conservationists Say Bush Not Defending Sierra Nevada Forests
  
• California Asks for Help to Alleviate Fire Risk
  
• Government Takes Second Stab at San Diego Shrimp Plan
  
• Washington State To Curb Mercury Emissions
  
• Bush Extends Task Force on Environmental Risks to Children
  
• New Solar Plant Unveiled in New Jersey
  
• Scientists Measuring Earth's Metabolism
  

Shareholders Worried About Global Warming

Filed by Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds (CRPTF) and Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS), the resolution asks AEP to prepare a report to shareholders on "the economic risks associated with the company's past, present and future emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury."

The shareholders ask for the report to detail AEP's public stance regarding efforts to reduce these emissions and the "economic benefits of committing to a substantial reduction of those emissions related to its current business activities."

Both CRPTF and CBIS are members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), an association of 275 faith-based institutional investors, including national denominations, religious communities, pension funds, endowments, hospital corporations, economic development funds and publishing companies.

ICCR officials say the 26.7 percent vote in favor of the resolution compares favorably to the average of 18 percent achieved by global warming resolutions during the 2002 shareholder season. Today's vote only puts the resolution on the docket for next year's meeting, but the signal it sends is a loud one, according to its supporters.

"The final tally of shareholder support ended up exceeding our most ambitious projections," said Leslie Lowe, ICCR program director for energy and the environment. "The AEP vote today sends a strong message to the U.S. utilities industry that you cannot just ignore global warming or pay it token lip service."

In January 2003, ICCR joined other resolution co-filers in branding AEP and four other U.S. electric utilities as the "filthy five" largest CO2 polluting power companies in America. The four other companies are Southern Company, Xcel Energy, TXU Corporation and Cinergy Corporation.

Today's vote shows that shareholders are recognizing that CO2 emissions may well be the next hidden risk on Wall Street, environmentalists say.

"This vote is among the first rumblings of shareholder concern about the carbon dioxide emissions that result from the power sector's over reliance on polluting fossil fuels," said Katherine Silverthorne, director of US Climate Change Program for the World Wildlife Fund. "Over the past year, 29 similar resolutions were filed by shareholders seeking disclosure of the financial risks associated with CO2 emissions."

Conservationists Say Bush Not Defending Sierra Nevada Forests

The groups filed a motion in U.S. District Court Tuesday seeking to intervene in the lawsuit because they believe the Bush administration is not properly defending the law in the court case. Logging interests are challenging the law, known as the Sierra Nevada Framework.

"The people of California spent 14 years working with federal agencies to find creative ways to protect forests, watersheds and wildlife in the Sierra Nevada region," said Barbara Boyle, senior regional representative for the Sierra Club. "If the administration cannot be trusted to defend a sound policy and a sound process, then we have no choice but to defend it ourselves."

The motion was filed by the environmental law firm Earthjustice on behalf of the Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, and the Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign. These groups want to speak on behalf of the Sierra Nevada Framework, which was designed to reduce the risk of wildfire, particularly near communities, and protect old forests, watersheds and wildlife on the 11 national forests in the Sierra Nevada region.

"The Sierra Nevada Framework reflects science and policy and the will of the people," says Jay Watson, Regional Director for The Wilderness Society. "The last thing we need is for three parties hostile to the framework to negotiate its demise behind closed doors."

The groups argue that the Bush administration has a pattern of not defending environmental laws and that its inaction is jeopardizing wilderness protections throughout the United States.

"When industry friends file anti-environmental lawsuits, the Bush administration often chooses sweetheart settlement over defending the law," said Earthjustice attorney Greg Loarie. "It is like playing soccer without a goalie, not just for one game but for four entire seasons."

California Asks for Help to Alleviate Fire Risk

California Governor Gray Davis sent a letter last week to President George W. Bush, seeking a presidential proclamation to alleviate what he describes as "a severe fire risk."

"I have determined that this situation is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state," said Davis, a Democrat. "Supplementary federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health and foster safety."

"I have taken the appropriate actions under state law and am now requesting the implementation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Public Assistance program," Davis said.

The request comes on the heels of a state emergency declaration by Davis for the counties of Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego. According to the governor, these three counties have already spent more than $6 million on beetle eradication efforts and state officials estimate some $125 million will be needed for additional dead and infested tree removal costs.

More than 415,000 acres of forests and private lands have been impacted by drought and beetle infestation and state officials believe more than 75,000 mountain community residents and nearby urban areas are threatened by potential fire.

"Most observers of the situation would agree that we are confronting an almost unprecedented scenario that demands immediate and concerted action from federal, state and local government agencies," Davis wrote in his letter to President Bush.

"Resources currently available to the agencies dealing with the threat are insufficient to effectively deal with the situation and significantly greater federal financial resources are required to avert catastrophe."

Government Takes Second Stab at San Diego Shrimp Plan

The new plan proposes some 6,098 acres of critical habitat for vernal pools that support the endangered shrimp in California's Orange and San Diego counties.

Officials with the Fish and Wildlife Service said national security considerations forced them to not propose critical habitat within active training areas on the Marine Corps Base at Camp Pendleton.

These lands, officials say, are covered by approved Integrated Natural Resource Management Plans. The decision comes as the Bush administration is pushing forward with efforts to give the Department of Defense broad exemption from the Endangered Species Act.

"We relied on the cumulative scientific and commercial information available to us in preparing this proposal," said Steve Thompson, manager of the Service's California/Nevada Operations Office. "Our decision to not propose critical habitat on certain lands will not result in the extinction of the San Diego fairy shrimp, however, we are actively soliciting public review and comment on all aspects of the proposed rule."

Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that fill with water during fall and winter rains - more than 90 percent of the vernal pool habitat in southern California has been destroyed or otherwise impacted. The San Diego fairy shrimp is a small aquatic crustacean that is found in shallow vernal pools from January through March, during years with adequate rainfall.

"This may provide a small level of protection," said David Hogan, Urban Wildlands Coordinator for the Center for Biological Diversity and original petitioner for Endangered Species Act protections for the species. "But the proposal really points more to the Bush administration's assault on the environment because it excludes so many important vernal pool areas."

Washington State To Curb Mercury Emissions

These businesses have pledged to recycle fluorescent and other mercury-containing lights used on their properties. A directive for all state agencies to recycle similar lights is being prepared, Locke said.

"We can and must do much more to protect our citizens and future generations from toxic chemicals such as mercury," Locke said. "The health risks from mercury are well documented, and we have more options than ever for recycling products that contain mercury."

State officials estimate that about one ton of mercury waste can be kept out of Washington's environment each year by recycling products such as fluorescent lights, thermostats and thermometers that contain mercury. They say only 25 percent of the more than five million fluorescent tubes and bulbs disposed annually in the Puget Sound area are recycled.

"Like the Mariners, Puget Sound Energy uses efficient fluorescent lights in our 55 facilities across our 11-county service territory," said Jerry Henry, senior vice president of customer services and energy efficiency at Puget Sound Energy. "We have been and will continue to recycle all of our expended fluorescent lights at the proper waste-management facilities."

Unico Properties Inc., which oversees 1.8 million square feet of office space in downtown Seattle, also committed to recycling fluorescents and providing education to its tenants.

The primary health risk from mercury emerges when airborne mercury falls into surface waters where it can accumulate in streams and oceans. Bacteria in the water transform mercury into methylmercury, which fish absorb when they eat aquatic organisms and humans absorb when they eat fish.

Scientists have shown that methylmercury can cause brain and nerve damage and studies indicate children and women of childbearing age are at a disproportionate risk.

Washington state has issued health advisories warning against eating certain types of fish contaminated with mercury from marine waters around Bremerton, Bainbridge Island and Seattle, as well as Lake Roosevelt near Coulee City, and Lake Whatcom in Bellingham.

Bush Extends Task Force on Environmental Risks to Children

The Task Force was established in April 1997 by President Bill Clinton, who directed each federal agency to make it a high priority to identify, assess, and address children's environmental health and safety risks.

"Children represent 25 percent of our population, but 100 percent of our future," said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Christie Whitman. "EPA is committed to working with all of our federal partners to ensure that our kids' water is safe to drink, they have clean air to breathe and the land that they play on is free of pollution."

Four priority areas - asthma, unintentional injuries, developmental disorders and cancer - have been identified by officials with the EPA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the cochairs of the Task Force.

The Task Force is spearheading the National Children's Study, which will follow some 100,000 children before birth, thorough childhood and into adulthood to look at the connections between environmental exposures and potential health effects.

Administration officials say the extension of the Task Force highlights their commitment to protecting children from environmental health and safety risks and to raising public awareness of the issues.

Studies have found children are often more susceptible to health risks from environmental exposures. An estimated 6.3 million children under 18 years of age suffered from asthma in 2001 and it was the fourth ranking cause of hospitalization among children less than 15 years of age.

In addition, nearly 430,000 American children between the ages of one to five had elevated blood lead levels that can cause irreversible disabilities such as lower IQ and neurological damage.

New Solar Plant Unveiled in New Jersey

The project is part of BP's effort to facilitate productive reuse of a 130 acre former petroleum and specialty chemical storage and distribution facility located east of Philadelphia on the Delaware River.

"Solar power is an excellent source of high value clean electricity and building the largest East Coast solar field as part of this reuse initiative is an outstanding demonstration of a large-scale application," said John Mogford, BP group vice president for Renewables and Alternatives.

The solar power is generated by an array of 5,880 panels and provides up to 30 percent of the energy needed for environmental remediation equipment at the former terminal.

BP estimates the solar power system reduces annual carbon dioxide emissions by some 571,000 pounds and annual nitrogen oxide emissions by 1,100 pounds.

"This solar field represents a step forward for both our economy and our environment," New Jersey Senator Jon Corzine, a Democrat, said at the Earth Day ceremony. "The two go hand-in-hand. A cleaner environment can foster a more vibrant economy. Renewal energy sources also help to reduce our dependence on foreign oil."

Local officials also praised the effort, which was funded by BP with assistance from the New Jersey Clean Energy program and the Virginia Alliance for Solar Energy.

"This project takes land that has served it purpose for heavy industry in the 20th Century and provides an adaptive reuse with 21st Century technology, making clean electricity without a smokestack," said Paulsboro Mayor John Burzichelli, who also serves New Jersey as Assemblyman for the 3rd Legislative District.

Scientists Measuring Earth's Metabolism

Using data from two of Earth Observatory System satellites, agency scientists can frequently update maps of the rate at which plant life on Earth is absorbing carbon out of the atmosphere, NASA officials explained.

"We are literally watching the global garden grow," said Steve Running, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Science Team member and director of the Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group at the University of Montana.

"We now have a regular, consistent, calibrated and near real time measure of a major component of the global carbon cycle for the first time," Running explained. "This measure can also be the basis for monitoring the expansion of deserts, the effects of droughts, and any impacts climate change may have on vegetation growth, health, and seasonality."

The agency is combining space-based measurements of a range of plant properties collected by the MODIS with a suite of other satellite and surface-based measurements. This allows NASA scientists to produce composite maps of our world's "net primary production" every eight days.

This new measurement is called net production, NASA officials explained, because it indicates how much carbon dioxide is taken in by vegetation during photosynthesis minus how much is given off during respiration.

Scientists expect this global measure of the biological productivity of plants to yield new insights into how the Earth's carbon cycle works, a critical step toward solving the climate change puzzle.

The new maps show that the highest mid-summer productivity rates are found at temperate latitudes with mild climates and not at tropical latitudes, as some might have expected.

But tropical forests are more productive over a full year because of their longer growing season, the scientists explained. The data also reveals the almost immediate response of land plants to changing daily weather patterns and how plant life in the ocean is not as directly driven by weather patterns, said Wayne Esaias.

"It does not surprise Earth scientists, but the public might be surprised to learn that there is so much photosynthesis in the oceans," he said. "When you average the productivity rates over the whole world, the ocean is roughly equal to the land."

"The world is a big place and we are only just beginning to fully understand and validate what we see in our data around the globe and over time," Esaias said. "We know we can make improvements in some areas, but it is good to now have the global context to pull together research that is being done locally in various regions around the world."