The Senate's climate and energy bill was supposed to be introduced last April. It's release was delayed when Republican Senator Lindsey Graham withdrew his support. (Photo courtesy of The Architect of the Capitol)
The Senate is releasing their version of a climate and energy bill. And as Mark Brush reports, some political insiders are saying it’s now or never for action on energy and climate:
Transcript
The Senate is releasing their version of a climate and energy bill. And as Mark Brush reports, some political insiders are saying it’s now or never for action on energy and climate:
Most environmental groups argue that the Gulf Oil spill highlights the need to pass sweeping new energy legislation. And some political observers say Democrats will never have a bigger majority in the Senate than they do now.
So now might be the time for quick passage of the Kerry-Lieberman bill.
But a few others say there’s no need to rush things.
A climate and energy bill should be good policy first.
Frank O’Donnell is with the environmental group Clean Air Watch:
“There appears to be this real race to get something done before this window closes. The best kind of public policy is not always carved out under those circumstances.”
O’Donnell says the conventional wisdom that there will be no better time than now could be wrong.
He believes there will be other opportunities to pass climate change legislation in the future.
Diaper-free parents say that their baby shows them signs when a bathroom break is needed. They call the dialogue "elimination communication." (Photo by Jessi Ziegler)
When most Americans have a baby,
the parents decide whether to use
disposable or cloth diapers. But
Julie Grant reports that there’s
another trend: no diapers at all:
Transcript
When most Americans have a baby,
the parents decide whether to use
disposable or cloth diapers. But
Julie Grant reports that there’s
another trend: no diapers at all:
Having kids without diapers might seem kind of far out. So,
who better to tell us about this then Willow Lune, of
Berkeley, California.
She remembers when her son was 3-months old. They
were at her mother-in-law’s house. Her husband took the
baby to the bathroom – and accidentally left the door open.
“And his mother came in and saw him holding our son over
the toilet. And she said, ‘what are you doing?’ And my
husband said, ‘well, he’s going to the bathroom, just like you
do.’ And it took her about a minute, and she said, ‘that’s so
cool.’”
Lune and her husband said it was normal to see babies
without diapers when they were traveling in Tibet and
Thailand. So, when their son was born, they decided to try
it. He’s was going to the toilet on his own by age 1 and a
half.
Now Lune teaches classes in Berkeley and other areas
around San Francisco.
She says diaper-free little ones can wear crotch-less pants –
or might not wear anything from the waist down.
And it’s up to the parents to pay close attention – or risk
having to reach for the cleaning supplies.
“There might be a little wiggle, or sometimes just the staring
at you. There’s just little subtle clues that they actually give
you from the time they’re born. So it’s our job to look at that,
listen for that, pick up on that. And then respond to it.”
Turns out, there’s a name for this little dialogue between
babies and parents. They call it elimination communication,
or E.C. Instead of using diapers – and then training them to
go in the toilet a few years later – Lune says parents can just
pay attention. They can show babies from the start what to
do when the need arises.
Lune says one of the reasons she and her husband do this
is because they are concerned for the environment.
Pampers and Huggies clog up the landfills. The other major
option – washing cloth diapers – takes more attention from
parents. But doing that can use a lot of water and electricity.
Jennifer Williams lives in the San Francisco area. She has
three children – all under age four.
Williams is also concerned for the environment. And she
wants to pay close attention when her 6-month old daughter
goes to the bathroom. She even uses cloth diapers.
“Even just with cloth diapers, you have to be way more in
tune to what’s going on with someone’s body. Where –
she’s in disposable right now – I’ll just forget about it for five
hours. You don’t have that option with cloth. Unless you
want to give her a horrible a rash. So, the whole EC thing is
really interesting, because you really have to be in touch with
what’s going on physiologically.”
But Williams works full time. Elimination communication just
is not practical for her family.
“Yeah, I mean, because you really do have to be available to
whenever the baby has to go to the bathroom. With one
baby, when I was home on maternity leave, I probably could
have done it. Once you have more than one running
around, it just doesn’t fit. Maybe I’m lazy. So be it.”
Supporters of the diaper-free lifestyle say it’s actually easier
then potty training kids when they’re older. And they say
parents don’t have to do it all the time. They can try it when
they do have time to pay close attention.
UN Headquarters from northwest on 1st Avenue - taken on April 20, 1956. (Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress)
In December, in Copenhagen, nations around
the world are all supposed to sign a treaty to
reduce the greenhouse gases causing global
warming. But negotiations are going slowly.
Lester Graham reports the Secretary General
of the United Nations is stepping in:
Transcript
In December, in Copenhagen, nations around
the world are all supposed to sign a treaty to
reduce the greenhouse gases causing global
warming. But negotiations are going slowly.
Lester Graham reports the Secretary General
of the United Nations is stepping in:
Tomorrow, the UN Secretary General is holding a summit of the heads of state.
Janos Pasztor is the Director of the Secretary General’s Climate Change Support Team. He says, although the world’s leaders won’t be directly involved in the negotiations, its’ good for them to spend a day talking about the broader political implications of global warming.
“What we expect is, at the summit, heads of states will consider those broad political issues and give—not just impetus that they need to be fixed, but even give some direction, some vision on how they can be fixed without actually getting into the negotiation itself.”
Pasztor adds it might even be a good thing if the U.S. does not pass a climate change bill before Copengagen. That gives the U.S. some room to negotiate instead of showing up and saying ‘There it is. Take it or leave it.
The Colorado Department of Transportation is trying out a new system to detect deer about to cross the highway (Photo courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service)
Every year there are about 1.5 million
deer-car accidents. Now highway officials are
testing a new system to cut down on those
accidents. Rebecca Williams has more:
Transcript
Every year there are about 1.5 million
deer-car accidents. Now highway officials are
testing a new system to cut down on those
accidents. Rebecca Williams has more:
There are some animal detection systems that use lasers or infrared motion
sensors. But those systems can be tripped by tumbleweeds or small animals.
In Colorado, highway officials are testing a new device.
Nancy Shanks is with the Colorado Department of Transportation. She says
they’ve buried cables along each side of the highway. The cables emit an
electromagnetic field. When an animal crosses a cable a warning sign with a
picture of a jumping deer lights up.
“It will detect a change in the field to the tune of a large animal. The system
will not pick up a smaller animal – a skunk or a rabbit, mouse.”
This cable system isn’t cheap. The pilot project costs 1.2 million dollars.
But Shanks says if this system works out, the price should come down a bit
over time.
Five Indian tribes claim the right to hunt, fish and gather on lands
and lakes they sold to the federal government years ago. Their
claim extends back to the Treaty of 1836. But it’s been
challenged in court by state officials who say those rights expired
long ago. As Bob Allen reports, now all the parties have reached
an uneasy compromise:
Transcript
Five Indian tribes claim the right to hunt, fish and gather on lands
and lakes they sold to the federal government years ago. Their
claim extends back to the Treaty of 1836. But it’s been
challenged in court by state officials who say those rights expired
long ago. As Bob Allen reports, now all the parties have reached
an uneasy compromise:
170 years ago, the tribes sold millions of acres to the U.S.
government. But they reserved for themselves the right to hunt
fish and gather foods and medicines until the land was settled.
Hank Bailey is an elder with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa
and Chippewa. He’s scouting out a favorite fall hunting spot
even though it’s pelting rain:
“I know these hills well all around here just from exploring
it…hunting, gathering mushrooms…”
Bailey is a direct descendant from a tribal leader who signed the
original treaty. He says the exercise of those rights in times past
were the difference between survival and starvation. And he
doesn’t think a new piece of paper can ever erase what his
ancestors preserved:
“They were told that this treaty was forever. And I know in
my heart that’s what they believed in. And they thought well
as long as we can hunt, fish and gather we will be able to
survive as a people. This is what bothers me about is, I’m
being told now that when we sign this paper, this is going to
be forever and here we go again.”
Four years ago, the state of Michigan went to court to argue tribal
hunting and fishing rights had expired because the land had been
settled long ago.
But then state officials noticed court rulings in other Great Lakes
states that upheld treaties and in some case awarded tribes as
much as half of the natural resources.
Tribal leaders thought they had a strong case, but they too were
leery of how today’s courts might interpret the phrase that said
their treaty rights exist “until the land is settled,” so the parties
were motivated to negotiate a deal outside court.
Jim Ekdahl is with the state Department of Natural Resources:
“We were in a strange kind of legal limbo where the state
wasn’t exactly sure what the ground rules should be in
light of the fact the federal courts hadn’t ruled on the inland
rights. The tribes weren’t 100% confident that they could
advise their membership in terms of what they ought to be
doing.”
From legal limbo, there are now 130 pages of rules and
regulations on how and where the tribes can exercise their rights.
There’s been some grumbling on both sides.
Some tribal members complain, with some exaggeration, that they
have to fill out a form now before they can pick a single
blueberry, and there are sportsmen who don’t like a special set of
rules for Indians.
What the tribes have agreed to is their rights to hunt, fish and
gather will only apply on lands open to the public. And they only
can take enough for subsistence, not for commercial sale.
Tribal resource managers say what their members take is a drop
in the bucket of the overall resource. And Jim Ekdahl with the
state says there’s still plenty to go around:
“There’s sufficient harvestable surpluses of resources
available to accommodate tribal interests. There’s essentially
no effect on harvest by state licensed recreational users. And
essentially no changes in state regulations are gonna be required as this
thing moves forward.”
The parties to the agreement say is it avoids a bitter legal battle
that could last a decade or more and cost millions of dollars.
Both sides remember an ugly dispute that raged 30 years ago
when tribes reasserted their right to fish commercially with nets
in the Great Lakes.
Matthew Fletcher is a specialist in tribal law at Michigan State
University. As far as he can tell, this is the first time a state has
voluntarily recognized tribal treaty rights extending to off-
reservation lands without being told to do so by a court:
“There are tribes and there are treaties nationwide that have
similar language. And I’m sure they’re watching this very
carefully. And this kind of consent decree is going to create a
kind of precedent for other states that are engaging in similar
kinds of negotiations.”
The agreement still needs to be accepted by a federal judge
before it becomes binding in law. For tribal elder Hank Bailey
the deal might chip away some free exercise of historic rights,
but it also reasserts that those rights can’t ever be taken away:
“For me that’s… that is about the most powerful part of it is
being able to know that I will continue to be an Odawa, black
wolf clan, a man… somebody that respects the resources
around me. And I’m willing to work with anybody else that
feels the same way, whether they’re tribal or not.”
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service catch an Asian carp. This invasive species can grow up to four feet long, and the U.S. House and Senate have agreed to supply funds to try to keep them out of the Great Lakes. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildife Service)
The U.S. House and Senate recently passed a bill that will help keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Celeste Headlee reports, the federal government will contribute nearly two and a half million dollars to help repel the fish:
Transcript
The U.S. House and Senate recently passed a bill that will help keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium Celeste Headlee reports, the federal government will contribute nearly two and a half million dollars to help repel the fish:
Asian carp are huge, often growing to be four feet long and weighing 80 pounds. They are also extremely prolific and voracious. Most Asian carp consume up to 40 percent of their body weight every day. There is currently an electric fish barrier strung across the bottom of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to keep the fish out of the Great Lakes. The barrier creates an underwater field of electricity that repels the carp.
Andy Buchsbaum is the director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Office. He says the current barrier is temporary and due to fail next year.
“Today the Great Lakes really dodged a bullet. Right now, the carp are poised 20 miles away from the failing barrier, which is just downstream from Lake Michigan. And if that barrier fails, then essentially the Great Lakes as we know them are over.”
The U.S. House and Senate passed a bill that will supply 75 percent of the funds for building a new barrier. The Great Lakes governors have agreed to supply the rest of the money. President Bush has said he will sign the bill when it reaches his desk. Buchsbaum says the new barrier can be completed within 60 to 90 days.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Celeste Headlee.
It’s harvest time for some of the local crops. The fields are ripe with homegrown produce. Some supermarkets are advertising homegrown vegetables for sale. But some supermarkets define “homegrown” a lot differently than you might think. As part of an ongoing series called, “Your Choice; Your Planet,” the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Joyce Kryszak reports on some misleading marketing that’s hurting local farmers:
Transcript
It’s harvest time for some of the local crops. The fields are ripe with homegrown
produce. Some supermarkets are advertising homegrown vegetables for sale. But some
supermarkets define “homegrown” a lot differently than you might think. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Joyce Kryszak reports on some misleading marketing that’s
hurting local farmers:
(sound of market)
This time of year you can find the true veggie-lovers at the roadside stands and
farmers markets. Here you can fill your bags with vegetables and fruits so fresh
from the field that they’re still warm from the sun.
But many people racing between work and home don’t have time to make an extra
shopping trip. And they don’t have to. They can pick up the same succulent,
homegrown produce right at the local supermarket.
At least that’s what the stores advertise. Shelley Stieger shops at the
supermarkets. She says she’s been a bit disappointed by her grocery store’s
“homegrown” produce.
“My impression from the ad would be that they’d be from around here – but I don’t
think they are.”
JK: “Why is that? What do you base that on?”
“Well, I bought some tomatoes the other day and it said homegrown. I thought they
were. But I got them home and they aren’t homegrown tomatoes. They still taste like
plastic tomatoes, so they’re not.”
That all kind of depends on your definition of homegrown. The tomatoes that Stieger
bought were homegrown in New Jersey. But Stieger lives in western New York. Where
she lives, the tomatoes were still pretty green on the vine. And the homegrown
eggplant that her store advertised in its flyer? That local crop won’t be ready for
another week. The plump, purple eggplant in the produce section now is actually
from out of state. Stephanie Zakowicz is a
spokesperson for the supermarket chain Tops.
“For Tops, our definition of homegrown is anything grown within a 250 mile radius of
the store. And this year with the weather not cooperating as much with our farmers
as usual, unfortunately, when our ads are produced so far in advance, sometimes the
product doesn’t get delivered and we
need to procure it elsewhere.”
Tops may not be alone. Other supermarket chains may also be defining homegrown a
little far a field.
When shoppers learn about the broader definition, they’re usually not very happy.
Zakowicz says Tops puts signs in the stores saying where their produce comes from.
But apparently a lot of people never see the signs. It was news to the people who
have been calling county politician Jeanne Chase. She says her constituents feel
they’ve been fooled.
“They were very concerned. Because they read when it says homegrown produce and
they get a very warm and fuzzy feeling, because they assume they know the people who
are growing the produce and that it’s really being grown in their county, in their
own backyard, so to speak. And they were a little outraged to find out it was being
grown in Pennsylvania or New Jersey’s backyard.”
Zakowicz from Tops says supermarkets really don’t have a choice. It’s a question of
supply and demand. People now expect year-round access to their favorite produce.
And this year’s particularly wet season has prevented local farmers from bringing
those crops in on time – or in peak condition.
Bill Zittel’s family has been farming in Eden for about a hundred years. Zittel
says the definition of homegrown isn’t the only thing that’s changing. When stores
can’t get local produce because isn’t yet in season, they buy from out-of-state
instead. Zittel says that might leave local farmers with nowhere to sell their
crops once they are ready.
“There’s a fine line between production, quality, what you have to sell the product
for, and who’s going to buy it. The end result is you can produce all the food you
want, but if there’s nobody to buy it, then you might as well not do it, because
it’s going to go to waste.”
Bottomline, Zittel says it’s difficult to compete with growers from warmer climates
that get multiple growing seasons. Great Lakes states get one – and in northern
areas, it’s a very short one. Still, local shoppers expect the sweet corn they buy
in late summer to be local… not the second or third crop of the season shipped in
from Florida.
Despite the disagreement about the use of the term “homegrown,” Stephanie Zakowicz
from Tops says the supermarket chain is committed to local farmers.
“It’s a high priority for us to supply our customers with homegrown products.
They’re wonderful. Our customers look for them. And we try to work with our farmers
to get as much as we can, as long as they meet our quality standards.”
And apparently, only if they meet the timing of their ads.
So, if it’s important to you that your produce is truly locally “homegrown,” it’s a
good idea to check the fine print. Most supermarket chains say “homegrown” produce
should have a sign declaring near whose home it was grown.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Joyce Kryszak.
The Senate's climate and energy bill was supposed to be introduced last April. It's release was delayed when Republican Senator Lindsey Graham withdrew his support. (Photo courtesy of The Architect of the Capitol)
