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Feds Slaughter Herd to Quell Mad Cow Fear WASHINGTON, DC, January 9, 2004 (ENS) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced plans to kill an additional 129 Washington state dairy cows that were quarantined after a cow from the same farm was found to be infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease.Scientists believe some of the animals belonged to the same Alberta, Canada, birth herd as the BSE positive cow and "could have potentially been exposed to the same feed source," USDA Chief Veterinarian Ron DeHaven said during a telephone news conference today. The remains of the cattle will be tested for BSE and no products from the cows will enter the human or animal food chains, he said. USDA officials said Thursday that all 450 bull calves of the quarantined herd have been slaughtered. The herd included the offspring of the BSE positive cow, called the index cow. USDA officials said the herd was slaughtered according to American Veterinary Medical Association humane guidelines on Tuesday. The carcasses were secured by the federal agency and disposed of by landfill on January 7, officials said. None of the carcasses entered the human food supply chain or were rendered. Officials also announced they have located another animal that came into the United States with the index cow. This animal is also part of the dairy herd located in Mattawa, Washington, that is under a Washington State hold order. Some 4,000 cattle in two herds remain in quarantine because of the concerns about mad cow disease. The agency has 12 of the 82 cattle listed on the Canadian health certificate definitely accounted for and is continuing to try and trace back the origin and fate of the remaining animals. The discovery of mad cow disease in the United States on December 23, 2003 has had stark repercussions for the $27 billion U.S. cattle industry. More than 30 countries, including Mexico, Japan and South Korea, banned U.S. beef imports following discovery of the BSE positive cow. USDA officials say they are working closely with many of these nations to reassure them of the safety of U.S. beef. Mad cow disease spreads from one animal to another by consumption of feed that has been contaminated by protein - such as blood or meat meal - from an infected animal. Beef from infected cattle causes the human equivalent of mad cow disease, known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, which is always fatal for humans. Scientists do not believe the disease can be spread directly from cow to cow. The infected cow was born in April 1997, some four months before the United States and Canada adopted a feed ban that prohibits the feeding of protein from cattle back to other cattle.
U.S., Japan Pledge to Work Together on Hydrogen TOKYO, Japan, January 9, 2004 (ENS) - Japan today inked a joint statement of intent with the United States to pursue pre-competitive research and development in the field of fuel cell and hydrogen technologies. The agreement was signed in Tokyo by Goji Sakamoto, Japan's senior vice minister of economy, trade and industry, and by U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham."The United States and Japan both recognize the contribution research and development can make to the development of a hydrogen economy and to cost effective technologies to meet future global energy needs," Abraham said. The energy secretary said the two countries will bring together appropriate officials and technical experts to participate in workshops and seminars, as well as exchange experts and share information on current polices, technological programs and developments in the area of fuel cells and hydrogen production, storage, and transport technologies. The agreement furthers cooperation initiated under the Bush administration's International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy. Proponents say the partnership creates an international mechanism to coordinate hydrogen research, technology development and deployment. Fourteen nations and the European Commission formally established the partnership last November. At the November meeting Abraham said the vision of the group is that a participating country's consumers will have the practical option of purchasing a competitively priced hydrogen powered vehicle, and be able to refuel it near their homes and places of work, by 2020. There is little dispute that hydrogen has the potential to be the next great energy revolution. It can be easily produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen and when used for power, the only byproducts from hydrogen are water and heat. Critics are supportive of the goal of the partnership but skeptical of the administration's intent. The key to the environmental friendliness of the hydrogen economy is how the fuel is produced - and this is where critics say the Bush administration has got it all wrong. They believe the administration is keen to use fossil fuels and nuclear power to produce hydrogen, a policy that environmentalists say will lock the United States into a "black hydrogen" future. Administration officials counter that existing energy sources must be the basis for the jumpstarting of the hydrogen economy, with renewable energy sources to be developed gradually over time.
Authorities Crack Down on Shenandoah Park Poachers RICHMOND, Virginia, January 9, 2004 (ENS) - A multi-year undercover investigation has produced numerous wildlife violation charges and directly linked the communities surrounding Shenandoah National Park with the multi million dollar international black market trade in American black bears and American ginseng plants, federal and Virginia state officials announced this week.A total of 487 state violations - 193 felonies and 294 misdemeanors - and 204 federal violations - 99 felonies and 105 misdemeanors - have been documented against more than 100 individuals in seven states, the District of Columbia and one foreign country. "Commercialization of protected natural resources is a nationwide, worldwide problem, and some of it starts right here in Shenandoah National Park as well as other national park sites," said Shenandoah National Park Superintendent Douglas Morris. A previous operation provided evidence of illegal taking and trade in black bear parts that originated in Virginia, including Shenandoah National Park, which were being trafficked primarily to Asian markets in the MidAtlantic states as well as overseas. It also revealed that many of the entities involved in the illegal bear trade were also involved in the illegal commercial trade of wild American ginseng roots, some of which originated from within Shenandoah National Park where the digging of ginseng roots is prohibited. The extent of this international demand threatens the viability of the species involved, officials say. This latest operation specifically targeted the illegal commercialization and black market sales of both black bear and American ginseng. It has uncovered evidence that whole bears, gall bladders, bear paws, and other bear parts originating in Virginia are being trafficked to Washington DC, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, and California, as well as overseas. Officials have also established a direct connection between Virginia and South Korea and have obtained evidence of links to other foreign countries. Exploitation of natural resources like ginseng and bear parts has driven these species to near extinction in Asia.
BLM to Rewrite Powder River Environmental Assessment CHEYENNE, Wyoming, January 9, 2004 (ENS) - The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced Wednesday that it will rewrite its environmental assessment to improve the documentation of the impact analysis for several federal coal bed natural gas wells in the Powder River Basin.The decision announced Wednesday vacates approval of 18 wells by a Wyoming field office. BLM Acting Deputy State Director for Minerals and Lands Phil Perlewitz remanded the environmental document to the agency's Buffalo Field Office. This action will vacate the Field Office decision to approve operations connected with the gas wells and provide the opportunity to better document the analysis. Pennaco Energy, a Marathon Oil subsidiary, applied for drilling permits for 18 wells in August 2002 and BLM approved the drilling permits in September 2003. But critics say the BLM's environmental assessment failed to take into consideration the impacts of the wells. Coalbed methane is natural gas trapped in subsurface coal deposits that also serve as aquifers and estimates find the average coalbed methane well in the Powder River Basin discharges and wastes 15,000 to 20,000 gallons of water per day onto the ground surface, with enormous impacts to soils, vegetation and aquatic life. The BLM statement said Perlwitz's findings "indicated that more complete documentation of the analysis was required to be performed." The decision is a victory for critics of the Bush administration's decision to authorize permits for 66,000 coalbed methane wells in the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming. A coalition of environmentalists, ranchers and landowners filed lawsuits last May challenging the BLM's authorization of the project, which is the largest oil and gas development venture ever approved by the agency. The authorization opened the door to some 26,000 miles of new roads, 53,000 miles of pipelines and power lines, 8,000 excavated infiltration pits for water disposal, 300,000 acres of disturbed soils, rangeland and vegetation, and trillions of gallons of produced water to be depleted from aquifers and dumped onto the ground. The coalition says the agency did not consider the ramifications of the development on air and water quality, private landowners or wildlife habitat, and failed to conduct an environmental impact study for the entire 12 million acre Powder River Basin. Members of the coalition asked the BLM to reconsider the approval of the 18 wells. The Buffalo Field Office has approved an additional 450 wells and the coalition has also requested the reconsiderations of those decisions.
Advocates Want Increased USDA Recall Authority for Tainted Meat WASHINGTON, DC, January 9, 2004 (ENS) - Food safety advocates say the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) should be able to issue mandatory recalls of tainted meat, rather than having to rely on the meat industry's voluntary compliance with recall requests from USDA or states."Because USDA places gag orders on state health officials, consumers are kept totally in the dark as to where potentially contaminated meat has been shipped," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, CSPI food safety director for the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). "USDA should be less interested in protecting the meat industry and more interested in protecting consumers," DeWaal said. "The least the agency could do is to stay out of the state's way when the state wants to give consumers information about meat recalls." CSPI is calling on the USDA to allow states to publicize the stores or restaurants where potentially contaminated meat products have been distributed and sold. Currently USDA only gives state health officials that information if they promise not to publicize it. According to published reports, health officials in California were barred from publicly identifying restaurants that purchased beef products from the facility that distributed meat from the cow that tested positive for mad cow disease. CSPI called on Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman to seek mandatory recall authority from Congress-and to let state health departments make recall information public. The health risks from mad cow disease to humans are "very small," DeWaal said, but the public deserves to know if the meat in their freezer is coming from the same source as the infected cow. Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin plans to reintroduce a bill this session that would give USDA mandatory recall authority.
Diesel Fumes Worsen Allergy Symptoms LOS ANGELES, California, January 9, 2004 (ENS) - Airborne components of diesel engine exhaust significantly worsen allergy symptoms in people with a certain genetic makeup, researchers report.Given their findings, researchers estimate that up to 50 percent of the United States population could be in jeopardy of experiencing health problems related to air pollution. "We have known that diesel exhaust particles worsen symptoms in individuals who respond to allergens, such as pollen, but this study suggests a direct way that pollution could be triggering allergies and asthma in a large number of susceptible individuals, and perhaps a new route of intervention," said Frank Gilliland, professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California (UCLA) and the study's lead author. The research by Gilliland and colleagues at UCLA appears in the January 10 issue of the British journal "Lancet." Diesel exhaust particles are thought to act by causing the production of molecules called reactive oxygen species in the lungs' airways. In response, the immune system pumps out substances that cause allergy symptoms - compounds called antioxidants can detoxify these particles and temper the body's allergic inflammatory response. Researchers suspect that the better the body can use antioxidants to defend itself, the better it can protect itself from airborne pollutants. The authors of the study examined how a family of antioxidant-related genes - GSTM1, GSTT1 and GSTP1 - reacts to diesel exhaust particles. Researchers sampled the DNA of volunteers who are allergic to ragweed to find which forms of the genes they had. The participants were then given doses of ragweed through the nose, followed by either a placebo or quantities of diesel exhaust particles equivalent to breathing the air in Los Angeles, CA, for 40 hours. The mix of ragweed and diesel exhaust triggered greater allergic responses than ragweed alone. Additionally, the diesel particles caused volunteers who lacked the antioxidant producing form of the GSTM1 gene to have significantly greater allergic responses, compared to the other participants. Up to 50 percent of the U.S. population does not have this form of the GSTM1 gene. Within the group that lacked GSTM1, those who had a particular variant of the GSTP1 gene experienced even greater allergic reactions. Researchers estimate that 15 to 20 percent of the U.S. population falls into this category. "Diesel emissions can trigger allergic symptoms, but the genetic factors involved in the process are quite complex," said David Diaz-Sanchez, study coauthor and UCLA allergy professor. "Our findings suggest that people who lack the genes to make key antioxidants may have difficulty fighting the harmful effects of air pollution." Further studies are needed to find other genetic variations that may put some at risk for pollution related lung health problems, and possibly even to cardiovascular events such as heart attacks. Such research may suggest targets for drug interventions. "We are focused on investigating ways we can overcome this genetic deficiency," said David Diaz-Sanchez, study coauthor and UCLA allergy professor. "This may be accomplished by either giving people drugs that replace the role of the genes or by boosting the body's natural defenses."
Report Finds Improved Gas Engines Superior to Diesel WASHINGTON, DC, January 9, 2004 (ENS) - Diesel cars of the future can be much cleaner than today's diesels using pollution controls under development and can provide consumers with cost effective fuel economy gains, according to a new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). But the report from the U.S. research group details that improved gasoline vehicles and gasoline-electric hybrids will likely remain cleaner than diesel and can save consumers more money for similar environmental benefits."New pollution controls may one day clean up diesel's dirty image," said Patricia Monahan, a senior analyst in UCS's Clean Vehicles Program and lead author of the report. "But, head to head, our report shows that improved gasoline vehicles are the better buy." The study uses detailed modeling to examine how diesel and gasoline vehicles compete among a variety of cars and trucks, applying improved engines and other conventional fuel saving technologies that could be implemented today, as well as advanced and hybrid technologies that could be implemented within the next 10 to 15 years. According to the report, improved diesel and gasoline vehicles could reduce oil use, compared with today's vehicles, by as much as 40 percent using conventional technology. Hybrid electrics could cut oil use by as much as 50 percent. But diesel engines that achieve similar reductions would be more costly, the report finds. For example, an improved diesel vehicle that could cut oil use by about 30 percent would cost 2.5 times more than it would cost to achieve the same reductions with an improved gasoline vehicle. "Proponents should not oversell diesel technology as a silver bullet," said David Friedman, research director for UCS's Clean Vehicles Program and a co-author of the new report. "While diesels may eventually shed their image as an industry black sheep, they still can not match the pollution performance of today's cleanest gasoline cars." The report notes that diesel vehicles appear to be on track to meet the weakest, and possibly the average, federal emissions standards coming into full effect in 2009. But the structure of these standards will allow some cars to release two times more soot and nearly three times more nitrogen oxides than the average new vehicle in government tests.
Activists Protest Ford's Gas Guzzlers LOS ANGELES, California, January 9, 2004 (ENS) - Environmental and human rights activists rappelled down a 32 story building Thursday near the Los Angeles Car show and unfurled a giant banner reading "Ford: Holding America Hostage to Oil."The activists from the human rights group Global Exchange and the Rainforest Action Network say Ford and other U.S. automakers are contributing to the nation's dependence on foreign oil by not improving the fuel economy of their cars and trucks. The nation's overall fuel economy for model year 2002 was the lowest since 1980. "Ford is driving in reverse," said Jason Mark, clean car campaigner with the human rights group Global Exchange. "A typical Ford vehicle on the road today gets fewer miles per gallon than the Model-T did 80 years ago." "Proven technology exists to double the fuel efficiency of our cars and trucks," Mark said, "yet Ford is turning its back on these solutions. " Ford critics say public opinion polls show that 8 in 10 Americans - including 84 percent of autoworker households - support tougher fuel economy rules. According to a 2003 EPA report, Ford's vehicles rank the lowest of any major automaker in overall fuel economy, and its cars are worse than GM's when it comes to global warming pollutants. "Oil addiction endangers the lungs of the planet and our forests," said Mike Brune, executive director of Rainforest Action Network. "Americans want energy independence and that means freedom from our oil addiction." The United States consumes some 20 million barrels of oil each day, with cars and light trucks accounting for some 40 percent of the total, and SUVs and other light trucks on average consume one third more fuel than cars and now make up half of all vehicles sold annually in the United States. They are more polluting as well, in particular because some 90 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles are due to fuel consumption. U.S. automakers say they are responding to consumer demand and contend dramatic increases in fuel efficiency would compromise vehicle safety and performance. Ford unveiled a hybrid sport utility vehicle in April 2003 and says it will be available by late summer 2004.
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