Harry Potter Publisher Saves Trees

The latest installment of the acclaimed Harry Potter series came out last week, and it’s said to be the biggest book launch in history. Raincoast Books is the exclusive publisher of the book in Canada… and it’s found a way to save a few thousand trees in the process. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jenny Lawton reports:

Transcript

The latest installment of the acclaimed Harry Potter series came
out last week. And it’s said to be the biggest book launch in history. Raincoast Books is the
exclusive publisher of the book in Canada… and it’s found a way to save a few thousand trees in
the process. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jenny Lawton reports:


At just over two pounds…”Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” is one of
history’s heaviest childrens’ books. The book fills 768 pages with Harry’s adventures.


Vancouver-based Raincoast Books used about 1200 tons of paper free
from fiber from certain old and protected trees. All 915-thousand books are
printed on 100-percent post-consumer recycled paper.


Raincoast reports the printing saved 47-million liters of water, and nearly 30-thousand
trees. Raincoast says author J. K. Rowling has praised them for saving valuable trees in the
muggle (or non-wizarding) world.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jenny Lawton.

Exotic Zooplankton Eggs a Threat to Lakes?

A preventative measure used by ships is supposed to stop tiny foreign aquatic animals from invading the Great Lakes. But a new study finds it doesn’t always work on their eggs. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

A preventative measure used by ships is supposed to stop tiny foreign
aquatic animals from invading the Great Lakes. But a new study finds
it doesn’t always work on their eggs. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:


Ocean-going ships from foreign ports are supposed to swap out ballast
water while at sea. The ocean’s salt water flushes out or kills many
of the tiny invertebrate animals called zooplankton. But Derrick Gray
at the University of Windsor’s Great Lakes Institute for Environmental
Research says the higher salinity does not kill many zooplankton
species’
eggs…


“This is important because although ships exchange their tanks in
mid-ocean, if this doesn’t have an effect on the eggs, that means there
could be live organisms introduced into the Great Lakes.”


Gray says the concern is that more exotic zooplankton will out-compete
native zooplankton… a major
source of food for fish. That could hurt Great Lakes fish populations.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

New Herbicide-Resistant Weed Discovered

The existence of herbicide-resistant weeds is not new, but in the last 10 years the problem has grown worse. And just one newly-resistant weed may now be cause for significant concern, as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz reports:

Transcript

The existence of herbicide-resistant weeds is not new,
but in the last 10 years the problem has grown worse.
And just one newly resistant weed may now be cause
for significant concern, as the Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz reports:


Penn State weed specialist Bill Curran says horseweed is
the first kind of North American weed that has shown it can
survive the use of the weed killer glyphosate. Glyphosate is
the active ingredient in RoundUp and other widely used
herbicides.


Resistance to the chemical was first spotted in six fields in
Delaware in the year 2000. It has since moved into at least
half a dozen states. In an affected field, glyphosate may
still kill thousands of horseweed plants, but leave a few
intact and able to reproduce.


“I think what’s unique about the glyphosate case is
there really isn’t anything that’s quite like it. What
typically people have done is they’ve tried to substitute one
thing for something else, and there isn’t really a substitute
for this.”


Still, Curran says farmers’ best option is to frequently switch
the chemicals they use, and stop relying so heavily on
glyphosate. Otherwise, he sees the problem of super strong
weeds continuing to spread.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Cindi
Deutschman-Ruiz.

COUNCIL LOOKS FOR LAND USE CONSENSUS (Short Version)

States are concerned about the loss of farmland and open space to sprawling cities and suburbs… but it’s hard for legislatures to find practical political solutions. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

States are concerned about the loss of farmland and open space to sprawling cities and suburbs…
but it’s hard for legislatures to find practical political solutions. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:


Land use management is not simple. In some areas it means preserving farmland… in other areas
it means urban renewal… and in others it means building higher density housing instead of big
houses on big lots.


In Michigan, for example, the Speaker of the House, Rick Johnson predicts conflict between
legislators from urban, suburban and rural areas. He says getting legislators up to speed on land
use management and in agreement will be more complicated than many of the other issues
legislators face.


“Land use is going to be extremely harder because the focus is so immense and different
from different areas.”


A council appointed by the Michigan governor is working to send land use
recommendations to the legislature. Meanwhile, even during these poor economic times… rapid
growth at the edges of metropolitan areas on what was once open land continues with little
restraint.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

Council Looks for Land Use Consensus

Governors and legislatures across the nation have been trying to figure out the best way to manage land-use in areas where urban sprawl is gobbling up open space and leaving behind deteriorating city centers. But finding a way to manage land-use is controversial. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports on one state’s attempt to tackle the problem:

Transcript

Governors and legislatures across the nation have been trying to figure out the best way to
manage land use in areas where urban sprawl is gobbling up open space and leaving behind
deteriorating city centers. But finding a way to manage land use is controversial. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports on one state’s attempt to tackle the problem:


The Governor of Michigan made it clear while she was a candidate that she wanted to tackle the problem of urban sprawl. Shortly after her inauguration, Governor Jennifer Granholm established what she calls a Michigan Land Use Leadership Council. It’s made up of home-builders, developers, farmers, environmentalists and others. The council’s job is to find a consensus on the best ways to make the best use of land in Michigan so that the state doesn’t lose any more farmland and open space than necessary.


Hans Voss was appointed to the council. He’s with the Michigan Land Use Institute, a group
advocating the principles of Smart Growth… getting government to take a more active role in
preserving open space and redeveloping blighted urban areas. He says he expects the council to come up with recommendations that everyone can live with… and still adhere to Smart Growth principles…


“And it’s not a regulatory approach. But, if you put real, substantive
financial incentive on the table by reallocating our existing state dollars,
we will then put together the local coalition to
actually implement the recommendations. It’s all about incentives.”


Voss says local governments too often encourage urban sprawl by putting the
wrong incentives in place for builders and developers. He’s optimistic that the
various interests represented on the
governor’s new council will find common ground and solve some of the problems.


Keith Charters is also a member of the council. He currently serves as chair of
the state’s Natural Resource Commission. He agrees the council will
find consensus and make good recommendations to the Michigan legislature.
But he’s concerned that much of the agreement
will be lost in the legislative process.


“The recommendations are not going to get through the sausage grinder of
the legislature overnight. It’s not a 30-day process and some of the
recommendations may take two or three
years. That’s a lot of time for the special interests to reconsider
some of the consensus they may
have already approved at the council level, to rethink it and come back
with a different attack on it.”


Further complicating the matter is a political consideration. Rick Johnson
is the Speaker of the
Michigan House of Representatives. He says term limits will hurt the chances
of getting more
complicated land use legislation through the process.


“You know, you’re only around for six years in the House. It’s real hard
to – you know, an issue of land use isn’t going to get done in a year, two
years’ time. It’s a more lengthy discussion.”


On top of that, Johnson says legislators have a hard time keeping the best
interests of the state as
a whole in mind when so many local constituents are pressuring legislators to
think local first.


“When you have a bunch of townships, city, county people saying
‘We don’t want that,’ you know. Or ‘What’s good for Detroit, I don’t care.’
Or, what’s good for Marquette, the legislator
from Detroit don’t care.”


Beyond parochial biases, there are philosophical biases. Senator Liz Brater
also sits on the governor’s land use council. She says the political reality
is that the council’s recommendations
won’t carry that much weight with some legislators unless they fit within
their existing philosophy.


“There’s a certain group of legislators that just embrace the whole Smart Growth
principles and would go forward with it. There are others that are concerned that we’re taking away property rights and the rights of homebuilders and developers to have economic benefit from land that they control. So, there’s a whole gamut and what we need is to identify the common ground.”


But… even if the legislators see some common interests within the Michigan Land Use
Leadership Council’s recommendations… many of the public comments indicate there are a lot of people who are skeptical about land use management. It’s even been called un-American. Senator Brater says if more people knew the issue better… there wouldn’t be so much concern and opposition…


“But, I think we have a lot to overcome in terms of this perception
that we’re trying to do some
kind of centralized, top-down state planning, which I don’t think anybody
really is talking about,
but that is a fear out there that we have to address.”


The Michigan Land Use Leadership Council will make its recommendations for managing land
use in just a few weeks… but whether anything like Smart Growth principles
become part of Michigan law or policy will depend on finding some common ground
between the different interests
and overcoming political biases of the state’s people and their elected representatives.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.


EDITOR’S NOTE: Audio for the piece was gathered at a People and Land conference.
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium receives funding from People and Land.

Lead Poisoning Problem Lingers in Cities

In recent decades, lead poisoning in children has gone down significantly. Some large cities have worked hard to eradicate the causes of the problem. But children in some areas are still being exposed to lead through old lead paint and other sources. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Grant reports the concern about continuing high levels of lead in children’s blood demands that those cities also tackle the problem:

Transcript

In recent decades, lead poisoning in children has gone down significantly. Some large
cities have worked hard to eradicate the causes of the problem. But children in some
areas are still being exposed to lead through old lead paint and other sources. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Grant reports the concern about continuing high levels of
lead in children’s blood demands that those cities also tackle the problem:


In Cleveland, school superintendent Barbara Byrd-Bennett has found a test that puts her
students in the top ten nationwide. But this is not something that she wants for her
students.


This test finds that 20% of children in Cleveland have too much lead in their
bloodstreams.


“One out of every five children tested in Cleveland has a lead level that exceeds CDC
guidelines. In some parts of our city, I would characterize it as an epidemic.”


Byrd-Bennett is especially concerned about recent statistics from parts of the city
where there are lots of older houses, but most people don’t have the money to get
rid of lead paint. In some neighborhoods, the lead blood levels exceeded federal
standards in about 60% of children tested. Byrd-Bennett says it’s intolerable.


“In a half a dozen other city neighborhoods, at least one of every four children
had an elevated level. We ought to be furious. We ought to want to…
I’m a product of the sixties… we ought to want to have a revolution about this.”


Byrd-Bennett believes high levels of lead in the blood makes it difficult for affected
children to focus, to follow directions, and ultimately, to stay in school. High lead
exposure has been linked to juvenile delinquency, learning disabilities, and lowered IQ
scores.


Dr. Bruce Lanphear studies environmental health at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. He
says these problems are not only associated with high exposure, defined by the federal
government as over ten micrograms of lead per deciliter
of blood…


“But perhaps even more striking is if you look at children below ten micrograms per
deciliter… that is, children whose blood lead levels never attained or exceeded ten
micrograms per deciliter… so by all accounts would have been fine, based upon our
existing action level. And what we found is, our estimated deficit, going from less than
one to less than ten, or about ten, was fifteen points in IQ. Huge effects.”


That means even in cities where the percentage of children considered at risk of high lead
levels is low, there’s still reason to be concerned. And there are a lot of children
affected. For example, in Cleveland, nearly 14,000 young children could have low
levels of lead poisoning.


Still, David Jacobs, Director of Lead Hazard Control at the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development is hopeful…


“If we’re smart about this and we work together, I believe we can in fact make lead paint
hazards in our housing stock virtually disappear. This disease can go the way of polio.
We have the know-how now to eliminate this disease.”


Childhood lead poisoning has declined steadily since the 1970s. That’s when cars
stopped spewing leaded exhaust and lead paint was banned. But 40% of homes
around the nation still contain lead paint from the first half of the 20th century. Rather
than getting to kids after they’ve been poisoned, many cities are focusing on how to
prevent exposures in the first place. Parents, landlords, and public agencies usually
shoulder the costs of repainting walls and refurbishing windows. But Dr. Lanphear of
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital believes paint companies should help pay to fix the
problem, because they are partly responsible for it.


“And so all of the problems that we’re seeing today, because for the most part what we’re
dealing with is lead-based paint, has come about because of this deception. And so if we
need to look toward private industry to help us solve this problem, I would suggest we
know exactly where to begin. That may be difficult in the state of Ohio. We have a lot
of paint companies housed here, don’t we?”


Sherwin Williams and Glidden paint companies are both based in Cleveland. The paint
industry says it’s not their fault if houses are poorly maintained and not regularly
repainted. So far, forty lawsuits against lead paint companies have failed.


In the
meantime, some cities, such as Milwaukee and Chicago, have honed in on finding
funding and solving the problem. Cleveland and many other cities have not.


Matt Carroll, Acting Director of the Cleveland Health Department, says the time has
come…


“A lot of lead activity has been going on in this community for a long time. But as a
community have we said, ‘this is how we’re going to try to create a plan to address it?
This is our goal? This is our thing we’re going to say we’re going to accomplish by a certain date?'”


Cleveland city and county health officials are focusing on how to get rid of the lead
problem. They hope to better educate parents, to improve lead testing of children and
homes, and to clean up homes that are poisoned. Like many large and mid-size cities,
Cleveland has a lot of work ahead.


But at least they’re on the road. Many smaller cities and towns don’t even know if they
have a problem because so few children there are tested for lead poisoning.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Julie Grant.

Woman Fights Uphill Battle Against Water Diversion

  • Upstream on the Glen Tay River in the Fall of 1999. Residents fought against a Swiss company (OMYA) who wanted to draw water from the river to make slurry for products like toothpaste and paper. (Photo courtesy of Carol Dillon)

In many communities, there are increasing demands for the limited supply of water. But people often feel there’s little they can do to protect that water from outside interests. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports on one woman who fought to stop millions of gallons of water from being drained from her local river:

Transcript

In many communities, there are increasing demands for the limited
supply of water. But people often feel there’s little they can do to protect that
water from outside interests. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports on one
woman who fought to stop millions of gallons of water from being
drained from her local river:


(sound of crunching leaves)


It’s been a wet spring. But the leaves along the shore of the Tay River in Perth, Ontario
crunch beneath your feet.


Carol Dillon walks a path that was once submerged in water. She stops at a maple tree, and
points to a ring of greenish bark around its trunk.


“This is where the water comes to normally in the spring…
This was sort of the natural shore line, but the water has not
been this high, this would be the fourth year now.”


(sound of wind, crunching of leaves)


Carol Dillon and her husband, Mel, bought this piece of land in
1999. They came here to retire. Then, in the fall of that year, the Tay River dried up.


Four months later, they were shocked when a manufacturer applied
to take 1.2 million gallons of water out of the river every day.


“We simply looked out the window at this very dry river and
said, well how are they going to do that?”


Dillon soon found out they weren’t the only people asking that
question. Six thousand residents depend on the river for drinking water.
Another six thousand draw from wells in the river’s watershed. People worried there wouldn’t be
enough clean water during the dry season. And that wildlife would suffer.


(sound of truck)


An 18-wheeler pulls out of the OMYA plant in Perth, carrying a
load of calcium carbonate sludge. The Swiss company needs water to make the sludge, which
goes into products like paper and toothpaste.


They already draw about 400 thousand gallons out of the area’s
groundwater each day. But OMYA wanted to triple its water consumption so it could step
up production, with a promise of new jobs.


The public had 15 days to comment on the company’s plan.


As a consultant with the federal government, Dillon knew a bit
about bureaucracy. So she started helping out neighbors, who weren’t sure what they
could do.


“At one of the public meetings, a farmer stood up and said,
‘I’ve been a farmer on the Tay River for 40 years, but I don’t know
what to write in a letter to the minister.’ He said, ‘well, we have
to be careful with the water.’ And I said, ‘that’s your letter.'”


Dillon says she wanted to convince people that their voices do
matter. So she dropped off envelopes for them, faxed their letters, and
answered lots of questions. Before she knew it, she had kick-started a grassroots
movement.


“I was not a tree hugger in my life and I never was a
political person, either, but always believed in responsibility…
This is a democracy and when people have an opinion on something,
your government should hear it.”


People were inspired by Dillon. Jackie Seaton is one of the many who got involved.


“She simply spoke to the issue of water. If you’ve ever read
any of her memos or heard her speak at a council meeting, I mean
everybody can understand what’s she saying because it’s in the
plainest and simplest terms. And I must say that was very, very impressive.”


Typically, the ministry of environment receives fewer than 10
letters. But 283 townspeople wrote in to oppose the water taking.


Despite that, the ministry granted OMYA its permit.


The residents could appeal the decision to a quasi-judicial panel. But without money or a lawyer,
they decided it would be impossible.


Dillon, however, disagreed. She forged ahead on her own, and won the right to a hearing. She
relied on scientists who had retired in the community to help her prepare. It would be her word
against lawyers representing the company and the government.


(ambient sound)


Dillon pulls a thick plastic binder off a bookshelf that’s packed
with evidence used in the hearing.


She insists she wasn’t against the water taking per se. She just wanted the government to make a
decision based on good science. The company was granted the initial permit based in part on 75-
year-old data. Dillon argued more research needed to be done.


Over the past eight years, 46 community groups have challenged
decisions by the Ministry of the Environment.


No one had ever won – until now.


The panel granted the company just one third of the amount of
water it requested, with a potential for more in the future. And it directed the province to conduct
more research on the river.


“First, we were…it was unbelievable and then we were
ecstatic that it was all worth it.”


But the citizens’ celebrations were short-lived.


In April of this year, Ontario’s environment minister, Chris
Stockwell, reversed the tribunal decision and reinstated the full
permit. He cited new information that predicted the river would drop only
a few inches when the water was removed. The minister won’t comment on the outcome, other
than to say he stands by his decision.


But OMYA’s plant administrator, Larry Sparks, says the decision
was based on science. And while he recognizes that citizens have a right to question the
government, he says it shouldn’t come at the expense of business.


“And it’s very difficult to make
business decisions when you apply for a permit and have to wait three
years for approval and conclusion of the process. Our concern was not with the people, but rather
with the fact that the process was allowed to go on for three years.”


For Carol Dillon, the minister’s decision was a disappointing end to a
long struggle.


“You can have this two and a half year-long process and the
minister can just overturn it, politically, then what’s the point
of it all? So I’m back to where I started.”


(sounds by the river)


But Dillon hasn’t given up. Now she’s lobbying Ontario to adopt new standards for water use.
She doesn’t care if she has to write letters, battle lawyers or
lobby politicians – she just wants her community, and everyone in
Ontario, to have a say in the future of their water.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly.

African Americans’ Environmental Beliefs

New research has dispelled some myths about African Americans and their concern for environmental issues. The study shows that African Americans are just as concerned about the environment as White Americans, if not more. The Great Lakes’ Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:

Transcript

New research has dispelled some myths about African Americans and
their concern for environmental issues. The study shows that African
Americans are just as concerned about the environment as White
Americans,
if not more. The Great Lakes’ Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton
reports.


University of Michigan researcher Paul Mohai says many people assume
African Americans are less concerned than White Americans about the
environment. That’s because many African Americans have to deal with
urban issues. Issues like crime, poverty, jobs and education. But
Mohai’s study finds that African Americans care more about neighborhood
environmental issues like pollution than White Americans – and just as
much about global issues like endangered species and global warming. He
says the biggest surprise is, it’s not a recent development.


“It’s not that African Americans caught up, they’ve been
concerned about the environment for a long time, we just haven’t looked
at
the data!”


Mohai also finds that African Americans in Congress have better
environmental voting records than their white counterparts. He says the
study shows that African Americans make natural allies for environmental
groups and for voters who want an environmental advocate to represent
them
in Congress. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tracy Samilton.

New Report Highlights Ethanol’s Pitfalls

A new report shows Ethanol is worse for the environment than gasoline that doesn’t contain the corn-based fuel. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl reports:

Transcript

A new report shows Ethanol is worse for the environment
than gasoline that doesn’t contain the corn-based fuel.
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl reports:


The study from the University of California at Berkley
concludes ethanol does more harm than good for the
environment when all factors are taken into account. The
report considers the amount of energy it takes to produce
the fuel, and the environmental cost of the soil and
water use needed to grow the corn to make the fuel.

The study also says ethanol does not produce less
pollution. The researchers say ethanol spills can
contaminate groundwater, and fertilizers and pesticides
used to grow the corn create additional strain on the
environment. The report’s author says when all factors
are included, ethanol is 65 percent less efficient to
produce and use than regular gasoline.


Ethanol advocates say the fuel reduces emissions and
is a safer additive than any other currently available.
They also say the production of ethanol is constantly
improving. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m
Jonathan Ahl.

Some Relief for Low Lake Levels

The soggy spring has helped raise water levels in the Great Lakes. Lake Ontario is above average, but the upper lakes could still use more rain. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s David Sommerstein explains:

Transcript

The soggy spring and summer so far has helped raise water levels in the
Great Lakes. Lake Ontario is above average, but the upper lakes could still
use more rain. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s David Sommerstein
reports.

A few years of drastically low water levels have stranded boats and docks
and forced shippers to light their loads throughout the Great Lakes, but
Chuck O’Neill, of New York Sea Grant, says spring rains have come to the
rescue. Precipitation was 30% higher than normal in May region wide, 60%
higher than normal in Lakes Erie and Ontario:


“And when you put that much water into a basin that responds quickly like
the Lake Ontario basin, that’s reflected in the lake level quite dramatically.”


Lake Ontario is up more than 30 inches from March and is now four inches
above average. O’Neill says the rain has helped the upper lakes some, but
they’re still low, especially Lake Superior.


“That is such a huge lake even when they do have above average
precipitation, it takes an awful lot more above average precipitation to
push that lake up anything significantly.”


The rise and fall of the lakes is natural over time, but many experts worry
climate change is lowering the watermark for the long term.

For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m David Sommerstein.