• U.S. Navy Relinquishes Kaho'olawe to Hawaiian Control
  
• Electricity Companies Faced with Quantifiable Climate Costs
  
• Dirty Urban Air Linked to Heart Disease
  
• Seawater Desalination Research Launched in Long Beach
  
• Federal Lab Hosts Experimental Thin-Film Solar Cells
  
• 24 Tigers Confiscated From New Jersey Suburb
  
• Recycle for Fun and Prizes on America Recycles Day
  
• Students of Environment Invited to Apply for Udall Scholarship
  

U.S. Navy Relinquishes Kaho'olawe to Hawaiian Control

Hawaiian Senators Inouye and Daniel Akaka authored the legislation that recognized the cultural significance of Kaho'olawe, and required the U.S. Navy to clean up and return the island to the state within 10 years of enactment.

Today, Veteran's Day, that movement was successful in that full control of Kaho'olawe passed to the state of Hawaii. On Wednesday, a formal transfer observance will take place at Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu.

From today, the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC) will oversee access to the island. The Protect Kaho'olawe Ohana has re-established the island as a sacred place and has initiated revegetation projects to green the bombed out portions of the island. The group is building a traditional Hawaiian house to symbolize resettlement of the island.

But although the U.S. Navy will evenutally spend some $400 million on the removal of unexploded ordnance from the island, an undetermined amount of ordnance still remains.

On October 30, Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye announced that Parsons-UXB Joint Venture was awarded an additional $25 million by the U.S. Navy for the cleanup of unexploded ordnance on Kaho'olawe.

"The additional funds allow for a completion of the contracted cleanup effort, to be followed by a demobilization off the island in early spring," said Senator Inouye.

Parsons-UXB was selected by the U.S. Navy in 1997 to remove unexploded ordnance from Kaho'olawe. The total amount of funds will reach approximately $400 million as authorized by law.

The KIRC recognizes that a large area of the island has not been cleaned. The 1994 agreement between the U.S. Navy and the state says all surface ordnance and 30 percent of subsurface ordnance would be removed. But, the KIRC says when the Navy cleanup is ended on March 12, 2004, only 71 percent of the surface and nine percent of the subsurface ordnance will have been removed.

KIRC Acting Executive Director Stanton Enomoto told the "Honolulu Weekly" this week that "The process is not over." Some Hawaiians want the Navy to pickup all costs of cleanup, while others acknowledge that is not likely to happen.

Kaho'olawe, about 12 miles across and the smallest of the major Hawaiian Islands, was used as a military target for over 50 years. Nearly every type of ordnance item used by the U.S. military and its allies since World War II has been dropped or fired on the island.

Some of the ordnance remains buried or resting on the island's surface. Other items are washed down gullies or lie beneath the waters offshore. The possibility of unintentionally exploding these unstable, aging weapons is very real. Access to the land and waters of Kaho'olawe is restricted in the interest of public safety and conservation of the resources of the reserve.

The Protect Kaho'olawe Ohana organizes access to the island for work groups, and is accepting donations for projects to restore the cultural and natural resources of the island. Donations are tax deductible and will also go toward sponsorships for Hawaii's youth to participate in work access.

Visit the Protect Kaho'olawe Ohana online at: http://www.kahoolawe.org/

Electricity Companies Faced with Quantifiable Climate Costs

The report "Power Switch: Impacts of Climate Policy on the Power Sector" commissioned from international financial analysts Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, analyzes the financial risks and opportunities that 14 major international electric utilities face from existing and expected global and national climate policies, and illustrates how their responses to this risk could impact their bottom line. This report, managed by Mark Kenber and Rebecca Eaton of WWF, was written by Dr. Martin Whittaker of Innovest Strategic Value Advisors.

Utilities analyzed include three U.S. corporations - American Electric Power (AEP), Southern Company, and Duke Energy.

The analysts report that while climate policies vary from region to region, their general effect will be, for the first time, to make utilities internalize the cost of their carbon dioxide CO2 emissions. Carbon dioxide, emitted by the combustion of coal, oil and natural gas, is the major gas linked with global warming.

For firms that have switched to cleaner fuels, such as natural gas and renewables, have maximized efficiency, or plan to do so in the near future, costs can be reduced and even turned into profits, the analysts advise.

Large quantities of CO2 emissions can be reduced cost-effectively if firms proactively plan a switch to cleaner fuels and increased efficiency. Waiting to implement such measures will be more expensive, the report says.

As policies make polluters internalize the cost of their CO2 emissions, electric utilities are likely to be among the most affected firms because the power sector is responsible for 37 percent of global emissions.

The report shows that national legislation already in place in countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol can raise firms' production costs. In countries that have not passed national policies, such as the United States, the report shows similar impacts for existing state regulation and potential national policy scenarios.

Last month, the first vote in the U.S. Senate on mandatory limits on global warming pollution received 43 votes in its favor, a result which the WWF says demonstrates that the issue can no longer be sidelined in U.S. clean air and energy debates.

"Eventually, we will have legislation that limits the emission of greenhouse gases. This report discusses how utilities can either see competitive benefits, or face financial risks depending on how they prepare for future emissions limits. The key is to realize that it's better to act sooner than later," said Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican.

The most affected company in the United States, in terms of cost, is AEP, with possible additional costs equal to five percent of 2002 earnings under some scenarios, due primarily to its UK holdings.

"This WWF report is a wake-up call to the power sector and those who invest in it," said Katherine Silverthorne, director of WWF's U.S. Climate Change Program.

"Financial analysts clearly need to factor climate policy and the adequacy of management response into their assessment of power companies. Active management of CO2 emissions and a shift to clean, renewable based generation needs to be at the heart of business strategies over the next decade. With responsible planning, both shareholder value and the Earth's climate can be protected."

Copies of the report are available online at: http://www.worldwildlife.org.

Dirty Urban Air Linked to Heart Disease

Released today at the the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2003, the study centers on data of primay air pollutants - smoke, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide - in and around Athens, Greece from 1992 to 1997. The researchers gathered daily values of the pollutants from eight stations, along with data about the number of deaths due to heart disease and stroke.

They found a significant positive association between cardiovascular disease deaths and several air pollutants.

For example, for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m3) increase in black smoke, they observed a four percent increase of cardiovascular deaths. Similarly, a 10 mg/m3 increase in sulfur dioxide was associated with a five percent increase of cardiovascular disease deaths.

"The most important finding is that a 10 unit increase in carbon monoxide was associated with a 46 percent increase in cardiovascular deaths," said lead author Demosthenes Panagiotakos, a biostatistician and epidemiologist at the First Cardiology Clinic at the University of Athens School of Medicine in Athens, Greece.

On further analysis, the researchers found that the average number of cardiovascular deaths in the Athens area during the study period was 35 deaths per day.

Panagiotakos said the increase of one unit in carbon monoxide levels might lead to two more deaths each day or more than 700 a year. In addition, carbon monoxide levels roughly explained three percent of the observed cardiovascular deaths during the investigated period, Panagiotakos said.

The researchers said the values of the investigated air pollutants reached very high levels many times during the past decade. They attribute this to a rapid increase in population, in particular since the 1950s, and the dramatic rise in motor vehicles and industries.

"Athens' greater area has more than 4.5 million inhabitants," Panagiotakos said. "Four fifths of the population live in the urban center and one fifth live in rural areas of the Attica region."

He noted that his findings are consistent with results of other studies in Europe and the United States. It is well known that air pollution such as dust; gases and smoke are mainly generated by human activities, Patagiotakos said, but changes in automobile emissions technology beginning in the late 1990s have helped to improve air quality in Athens.

"Our findings about carbon monoxide are important because levels of carbon monoxide are a very good indicator of primary pollution," Panagiotakos said. "In Athens, as well as in many other cities, the basic pollution source is traffic, and the most characteristic pollutant from traffic is carbon monoxide."

Panagiotakos explained that during the past two decades, the average carbon monoxide levels in the Athens area varied from one to six milligrams per cubic meter, but CO values often exceeded the air quality standard of 10 milligrams per cubic meter.

The number of cardiovascular disease deaths increased substantially as a result, he said.

"These health effects occur even at exposure levels below those stipulated in current air quality guidelines, and it is unclear whether a safe threshold exists," Panagiotakos said. "It is essential that public health authorities take further actions to reduce cardiovascular mortality in urban areas of the world, especially on days with elevated levels of air pollutants."

Seawater Desalination Research Launched in Long Beach

In a public sector partnership, the Long Beach Water Department, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will construct a 300,000 gallon per day prototype seawater desalination facility. Construction of the project will begin in December, and completion is scheduled for September 2004.

Work at this temporary facility will be at the forefront of all seawater desalination research, officials said. Research will be focused on further development of a breakthrough membrane technology, known as the Long Beach Method.

"Long Beach is committed to developing seawater desalination in a cost effective, environmentally sensitive manner," said Kevin Wattier, general manager of the Long Beach Water Department. "This project will provide us the information needed to move forward with a full scale desalination facility by the end of this decade."

"We already have a diverse portfolio of water supplies in Long Beach, including groundwater, imported water, recycled water and an aggressive conservation program," said Wattier. "We look forward to further diversifying that portfolio in the future with desalinated seawater."

Already, two different, independent, analyses of the method have shown it to be 20 to 30 percent more energy efficient than more traditional desalination methods.

In addition to energy consumption, researchers will address other technical, economic and environmental factors associated with desalinating seawater.

The projected cost of construction and operation of the new research and development facility is over $5.4 million. Under funding authorized by Congress in 1996, the federal Bureau of Reclamation will pay 50 percent of the project's total cost.

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner John Keys III said today, "Improving water treatment technologies such as desalination is a key principle of the Water 2025 program unveiled by the Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton this year. Among the objectives of Water 2025 is to set forth a framework under which we can all focus on meeting future water supply challenges, and the Long Beach project clearly represents the philosophy of Water 2025."

Gerald Gewe, chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power's water system, said, "Seawater desalination is definitely in our future water resources plan. We believe the partnership with the Long Beach Water Department offers tremendous promise in further refining and lowering the cost of desalting seawater to supplement traditional water supplies in an environmentally responsible and cost effective manner."

Federal Lab Hosts Experimental Thin-Film Solar Cells

HelioVolt Corp. is attempting to prove the viability of patented technology it has developed for making thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar cells.

The HelioVolt process involves depositing two thin chemical reactant layers and rapidly heating them to bond CIGS films to sheets of glass or other surfaces. It is one of several innovative thin-film technologies that hold the promise of lowering the cost of solar cells for the commercial market.

"This is an excellent example of beneficial collaboration between a private company and a national laboratory," said John Benner, a research manager at NREL's National Center for Photovoltaics.

"By removing the obstacles to mass production of thin film cells, we can fast-forward to the day when solar is cost-competitive with conventional energy sources in a wider range of applications," he said.

"There are a lot of smart people here at NREL who have dedicated their lives to this work, and the array of lab facilities is unparalleled," said HelioVolt President and CEO Billy Stanbery. "There really was no other place to do this work."

HelioVolt will present its CIGS solar cells at the 16th NREL Industry Growth Forum, November 17-19 in Austin.

NREL and HelioVolt are working under a $100,000 Cooperative Research and Development Agreement. The company provides a majority of resources, totaling $75,000 in this phase of the project. NREL is providing facilities and staff valued at $25,000.

The goal of the six month effort is to produce a prototype of a HelioVolt CIGS photovoltaic cell, with commercial production to follow.

24 Tigers Confiscated From New Jersey Suburb

The tigers belong to Joan Byron-Marasek, known as the Tiger Lady. She and her husband, Jan Marasek have been fighting court battles to keep the tigers for four years at their privately owned and run Tigers Only Preservation Society, a 12 acre compound on the Jackson Township-Millstone Township border on Route 537.

The tigers are being taken away by court order. Superior Court Judge Eugene Serpentelli ruled in May that the couple had forfeited their ownership rights by failing to obtain the required permits to either keep the tigers at their property or move them to another location.

The Byron-Maraseks first came to the attention of the state in 1999 when one of the tigers got loose and was killed by authorities in a residential area near the compound.

Having survived in what IFAW calls "squalid, rat infested conditions," the 24 Bengal tigers will be relocated to the IFAW supported Wild Animal Orphanage near San Antonio, Texas.

The Wild Animal Orphanage is one of the nation's largest and most reputable nonprofit permanent sanctuaries for unwanted, abused, and non-releasable wild and exotic animals, and is licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Animal Welfare Act.

The orphanage explains that wild and exotic animals do not make good pets because they revert to their natural instincts sooner or later. "A cute tiger cub is cuddly and sweet during the first few months of life. When it matures, it becomes very dangerous due to its weight - 300-500 pounds - and size."

IFAW is pushing for tougher legislation concerning keeping tigers, and other exotic pets. With as many as 10,000 tigers being kept as pets in basements and backyards across the United States, IFAW is urging Congress to pass the Captive Wildlife Safety Act and begin immediately to change this situation.

Fewer than 7,000 tigers of all species survive in the wild.

Recycle for Fun and Prizes on America Recycles Day

Nearly 800 America Recycles Day events will take place across the country. Events this year include a "ReThink Recycling Art Contest" in Maryland, a computer collection project in Washington, and many other special events promoting recycling in schools, offices, and retail businesses.

Communities throughout the nation are competing to host the best America Recycles Day event. America Recycles Day, in conjunction with the Recycle America Alliance, award $7,500 to the community or organization with the best event.

All America Recycles Day events will increase awareness of recycling and buying recycled products, so people learn how they can help conserve natural resources through their everyday activities. Last year, nearly 200,000 Americans took the America Recycles Day pledge.

Anyone who submits a pledge this year will be entered in a drawing to win a new 2004 Ford Focus Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (PZEV). This popular car, meets California's stringent partial zero emissions standard and achieves a perfect 10 - the cleanest rating - in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green Vehicle Guide, without sacrificing performance or fun.

The car not only helps to reduce vehicle emissions, but is highly recyclable at the end of its life, and is partially constructed with recycled content components.

Young people can win one of five Trek aluminum bicycles. Two adults will win a Recycle Yourself Spa Weekend Package, a weekend to relax and rejuvenate. Prizes will be awarded through a random drawing of pledge cards, including those submitted electronically.

"America Recycles Day reminds us of America's and our own personal commitment to be good stewards of our resources," says John Howard, the Federal Environmental Executive, whose office is a National America Recycles Day Sponsor.

Local and state officials nationwide will also sign proclamations and host special ceremonies on November 15.

To learn more about events in your community, to pledge online, to locate the America Recycles Day coordinator in your state, and to obtain more information about the national campaign, please visit: www.americarecyclesday.org.

America Recycles Day, Inc., a nonprofit organization, is sponsored by Alcan Corporation, 100% Recycled Paperboard Alliance, Environmental Defense, Ford Motor Company, National Recycling Coalition, National Soft Drink Association, Office of the Federal Environmental Executive, Recycle America Alliance, Recycling Alliance of Texas, Solid Waste Association of North America, Staples, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Students of Environment Invited to Apply for Udall Scholarship

Students have won scholarships with majors that have included environmental engineering, agriculture, biology and other natural sciences, natural resource management, political science, sociology, anthropology, geography, cultural studies, history, public policy, and pre-law.

It is anticipated that the candidate's plan of study will include coursework in ethics and public policy and/or public or community service experience in the area of the candidate's career field.

Native American and Alaska Native students studying fields related to the environment, health care, or tribal public policy are eligible for the scholarship. Native American and Alaska Native scholars have come from such backgrounds as American Indian studies, political science, sociology, geography, anthropology, tribal policy, economic development, government, health care, health sciences, and health policy, the foundation says.

The Udall Scholarship is by nomination only. Students must be nominated by the Udall Faculty Representative on campus. The deadline for applications is March 3, 2004, and institutional deadlines may be earlier.

Contact information for faculty representatives and application materials are available online at: http://www.udall.gov

Born in St. Johns, Arizona, Morris King Udall was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1961 in a special election to replace his brother Stewart who left the position to become President John F. Kennedy's Secretary of the Interior.

Udall campaigned for the 1976 Democratic Party Presidential nomination. He finished second to Jimmy Carter, who was elected president. In 1977, Udall was named chairman of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, now the Committee on Resources, where he served until 1991.

Udall sponsored the Alaska Lands Act of 1980, which doubled the size of the national park system, and tripled the size of the national wilderness system.

Udall was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a neurological disorder impairing movement and speech, in 1979. In May 1991, he resigned from Congress for health reasons, and he died on December 12, 1998.

The Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, The Morris K. Udall Foundation, and the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution all continue the Udall's legacy.