Author: Chuck Quirmbach

Online Shopping Lessens Footprint?

Retail groups say consumers will purchase nearly one-third of their holiday gifts
online this year. Using your computer to shop might help you beat high gas prices and
pollute less. Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

Retail groups say consumers will purchase nearly one-third of their holiday gifts
online this year. Using your computer to shop might help you beat high gas prices and
pollute less. Chuck Quirmbach reports:


Ordering items online usually means less driving around to retail outlets, and at
the price of gas, your savings can add up. But online orders often mean a
delivery truck still has to bring you a product.


Bryan Welch of the website EarthMoment.com says you can even cut the
delivery company’s costs and vehicle pollution by having items sent to your
workplace:


“If you work in an office, in all likelihood there are several deliveries a day to that
office already. So there’s no incremental energy used to deliver one more little
box to you at the office.”


Earth Moment is owned by Ogden Publications. It’s also running a program
where money from some online purchases goes to reforestation projects and
other means of offsetting greenhouse gas emissions.


For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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New Flame Retardants Show Up in Wildlife

A study of gull eggs shows that more chemicals used as flame retardants are
showing up in the environment. Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

A study of gull eggs shows that more chemicals used as flame retardants are
showing up in the environment. Chuck Quirmbach reports:


Flame retardants on clothes and other products have reduced deaths and
injuries caused by fires. But the compound traditionally found in retardants,
polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDE, has found its way into many water
bodies and even into women’s breast milk.


A few years ago, after concerns about the compound being linked to health
problems in wildlife, makers of PBDEs began to phase out some types of it. A
recent update of a study of herring gull eggs around the Great Lakes has found
that levels of the phased out chemicals have been dropping, but research
scientist Robert Letcher of Environment Canada says there’s also bad news:


“Flame retardants that are replacing them commercially are starting to show up in
the gulls as an indicator species. And for example, there’s the replacement flame
retardant callled deca-BDE. That’s what we’re seeing going up.”


Letcher says there could be long-term health concerns for both wildlife and
humans.


For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Climate and Public Health

Public health officials are stepping up their concerns about global warming.
Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

Public health officials are stepping up their concerns about global warming.
Chuck Quirmbach reports:


Some predictions about rising global temperatures look at the potential threat to the environment
and wildlife, but the American Public Health Association says with more scientific evidence of
climate change, it’s time for local health departments to talk to people about the potential threat to
humans.


Environmental Studies Professor Jonathan Patz was a key author of a recent UN paper on
climate change. He says higher temperatures could lead to more heat waves, smog and
infectious diseases:


“…Carried by insects or water-borne diseases, if we’re talking about not only warming
but extremes of the water cycle and potential for contaminating our drinking water systems.”


The Public Health Association will take about six months to develop recommendations
for dealing with the human health impacts of climate change.


For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Report Says Build More Power Plants

A new national report recommends building more nuclear power plants in the
U.S. Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

A new national report recommends building more nuclear power plants in the
U.S. Chuck Quirmbach reports:


A study by the National Research Council urges the Department of Energy to
place greater emphasis on identifying sites for more nuclear power plants and
improving plant designs.


University of Wisconsin Engineering Physics Chairman Mike Corradini served on
the committee. He says there’s a need for more large scale electricity generation
that doesn’t add to carbon emissions:


“And it’s important we do it with a fuel source which is relatively secure. Nuclear
power is a logical way to do this and therefore that should be the major focus in
the next 10 to 15 to 20 years.”


Another part of the national report recommends scaling back of a new program to
speed the reprocessing of spent uranium fuel to share with other countries. Nuclear power opponents worry about radioactive waste and want to block
proposed subsidies for the nuclear power industry.


For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Fair Trade Demand to Increase?

An advocate predicts more cities and consumers
will begin to demand more fair trade products. Those
are goods imported from overseas that come from businesses
that pay workers a decent wage and operate in a more
environmentally-friendly way. Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

An advocate predicts more cities and consumers
will begin to demand more fair trade products. Those
are goods imported from overseas that come from businesses
that pay workers a decent wage and operate in a more
environmentally-friendly way. Chuck Quirmbach reports:


Something certified as fair trade means it was grown or produced in a foreign
country in an environmentally sustainable way, by workers NOT employed in
sweatshops. Paul Rice heads a major US certification group Transfair. He says
fair trade is catching on with consumers who don’t mind paying more for better
quality:


“That trading up phenomenon is already there, and I think what fair trade does is
help people think more about quality in more than just the taste of the product,
but also the impact of the product. I think what people are starting to think about who grows my food, right?”


Rice acknowledges only about twenty percent of US residents are drinking fair
trade coffee or buying other products, but he says the movement is finding its
way into more mainstream stores. Rice predicts more communities will soon pass resolutions promoting fair trade.


For The Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Mississippi River at Risk From Runoff

  • The Mississippi River basin drains farmland from 31 states (41% of continental U.S.). Agricultural fertilizers and chemicals are washed into the river. (Photo by Lester Graham)

A new study says the Mississippi River is still at risk from too much soil runoff,
and that better government protection is needed. Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

A new study says the Mississippi River is still at risk from too much soil runoff,
and that better government protection is needed. Chuck Quirmbach reports:


The study by the National Academy of Sciences says the Clean Water Act has
worked to reduce much of the point source pollution in the Mississippi from
factories and wastewater treatment plants, but the report says fertilizers and
sediments that enter the river from farmland still create many water quality
problems.


Study Committee Chairman David Dzombak says even though some states are
working together on the issue, there’s not enough coordination.


“One really needs to take a system wide view and look at total loadings into the
river. These are coming from multiple states and right now the states are not
communicating with each other very much.”


Dzombak says the US EPA should to be more aggressive in coordinating and
enforcing state activities along the Mississippi. The EPA says it’s committed to
increasing its efforts with its riverside partners.


For the environment report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Study: Corn Ethanol Leads to More Pollution

A new report warns growing more corn for ethanol production carries some risks
for clean water. Chuck Quirmbach has details:

Transcript

A new report warns growing more corn for ethanol production carries some risks
for clean water. Chuck Quirmbach has details:


A lot more corn is going toward making ethanol, but a study by the National Research
Council says in areas with limited water supplies, adding acres of corn, or
launching water-using ethanol production plants is a major concern. The report also says increased use of fertilizers and pesticides on corn fields
could trigger more water pollution.


Study committee chairman Jerald Schnoor urges more research to help
extract energy from lower-impact perennial crops such as grasses:


“There needs to be a technology breakthrough so that enzymes and organisms
can break down the cellulose, the hemi-cellulose and lignin from plants like
switchgrass, woody biomass plants like poplar and willow.”


Schnoor says more research dollars could come from reducing federal subsidies
for corn-based ethanol.


For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Efficient Faucets

There’s a new federal program aimed at encouraging more water conservation at your
bathoom faucet. Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

There’s a new federal program aimed at encouraging more water conservation at your
bathoom faucet. Chuck Quirmbach reports:


The US Environmental Protection Agency has issued specifications for bathroom faucet
manufacturers to qualify for the agency’s WaterSense label. The EPA wants about a 30
percent reduction in water flow from conventional models.


Kohler corporation engineer Rob Zimmerman says the smaller size of the flow restrictor
inside the faucet’s aerator will be the key to hitting the new target. He acknowledges some
water utilities wanted the new flow limit to be one gallon per minute, instead of the 1.5
per gallon limit specified by the EPA:


“The WaterSense program is flexible enough that as technology improves, they can change the
specification, but at this point the 1.5 was what everyone agreed to.”


The EPA says consumers will also save energy by heating and treating less water.


For The Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Warming to Change Great Lakes Ecosystem?

Some researchers say global warming will impact fish habitat in the
Great Lakes. Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

Some researchers say global warming will impact fish habitat in the
Great Lakes. Chuck Quirmbach reports:


Some scientists have projected that more global warming will mean less
rain and snow falling into the Great Lakes and the continuation
of low water levels.


Researcher Brian Shuter is with the Ontario Ministry of Natural
Resources. He says if the projection comes true, there will be
more stress on the millions of Great Lakes fish:


“I mean the space for fish to live in is just gonna shrink and the less
space there is, the less fish there will be.”


Shuter also anticipates higher summertime water temperatures and less
ice cover in the lakes. That’s a change that could lead to more warm
water fish like bass and fewer of the cold water fish like salmon
and trout that people like to eat.


Shuter says the change could also promote the growth of invasive
species that favor warmer water temperatures. So, he encourages tighter
controls on invasives and more water conservation programs.


For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Funding for Clean Water Lacking

Cities and states across the country will need to spend hundreds of billions of
dollars to maintain and improve the nation’s sewer and water systems. A new
report says these communities are not getting enough help from the federal
government. Chuck Quirmbach has more:

Transcript

Cities and states across the country will need to spend hundreds of billions of
dollars to maintain and improve the nation’s sewer and water systems. A new
report says these communities are not getting enough help from the federal
government. Chuck Quirmbach has more:


A study by the consumer group Food and Water Watch says the federal share of
clean water infrastructure spending has shrunk from 78 percent 30 years ago to
three percent today.


The group says it’s time to create a national Clean Water Trust Fund, potentially
from fees or taxes. Wenonah Hauter is executive director of Food and Water
Watch. She acknowledges the Bush Administration has been focused on funding
the Iraq war:


“Well, I think it’s a matter of priorities and I that having clean and safe and
affordable drinking water for future generations has to be a number one priority.”


Hauter says without more national funding, people will continue to pay more in
property taxes and storm water assessment fees.


For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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