Year: 2007

Cities Brace for Global Warming – Part 1

When we think about climate change, many of us think about it as a national, even international, problem. But a growing number of officials at the local level are beginning to see it as a local problem as well. Karen Kelly brings us the first
of a two-part series on what cities are doing to
prepare for global warming:

Transcript

When we think about climate change, many of us think about it as a national, even international, problem. But a growing number of officials at the local level are beginning to see it as a local problem as well. Karen Kelly brings us the first
Of a two-part series on what cities are doing to
prepare for global warming:


Ron Sims has lived in Washington State his whole life, and he loves its unique environment: Puget Sound, the snow-capped mountains, and the salmon runs. But he’s worried about its future. He’s now the head of King County, Washington. It’s home to about 2 million residents, including the city of Seattle.


As county executive, he sees the scientific reports about his region.
They say the snow caps are melting, marine life is changing and the cedar trees are being replaced by other species. That’s what happening right now.


But what really convinced Sims he had to do something is when he called scientists at the nearby University of Washington’s School of Climate Impacts.


“And I asked them a simple question. I wanted to know what the climate in our area would be in 2050.”


The scientists’ report said King County could expect frequent torrential rains that would cause serious flooding, even swamping the buildings of some major employers. In terms of wildlife, the rains would wipe out the salmon’s spawning grounds. Yet, at other times of the year, they say they’ll be a drought as the snowcaps decline. Sims knew it was time to take action:


“Should we wait for our children to make this decision in 2045 or 2030? And since we now know that we have to make these decisions, based upon what the scientists are telling us, why aren’t we doing it now? Because generations in the future are going to have to make far more complex decisions and this shouldn’t be one of them they have to work from.


Sims isn’t the only city or county leader who’s taking climate change seriously.
The mayor of London, England starting charging people a fee for driving into his city during rush hour.


In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg made the same proposal to reduce emissions. He also wants to see a new rule that requires all New York City taxis to be hybrids within the next five years, and groups like the US Conference of Mayors are holding climate change summits to help local officials plan for the effects of global warming.


Jennifer Penney is with the Alliance for Resilient Cities, which recently brought local leaders to Toronto. She says a lot of officials are realizing that they’ll be on the front lines when serious weather events occur:


“Most of those things are in the jurisdiction of the local government. So protecting people from heat waves. Dealing with local floods. Dealing with wind storms or tornadoes that come through. Those are the kinds of things that local governments are on the ground, they have to deal with.”


And that’s why city and county officials across the nation are starting to make plans.


Back in Washington State, Ron Sims decided on two strategies to deal with this. One, reduce his county’s carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, mostly by getting cars off the road. That’s led the county to start buying up development rights on rural lands to prevent sprawl and the number of suburban commuters. They’ve also bought a fleet of hybrid buses.


And the second strategy? Start finding ways to adapt to the realities of climate change. King County has taken many steps. They range from a plan to strengthen their levies to prevent flooding, and the county is buying up forest land to act as a sponge for the runoff water. Sims says King County’s climate change plan has touched every department in the government:


“We decided to go backwards in time in all functions of this government… how we plan for growth, what do preserve, what will we face, what do we see the consequences of 2050 being, and are we prepared for that?”


A lot of people wonder if the public is ready for that, to sacrifice for it.
Ron Sims tells his colleagues in local government that the public is ready.
They saw the pictures of Hurricane Katrina. Many saw Al Gore’s documentary on climate change, and now they’re looking for elected officials, if not at the national level, then at the local level, to take the lead.


For the Environment Report, I’m Karen Kelly.

Related Links

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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Ethanol Production Falling Short

Domestic automakers have been advertising their flex-fuel vehicles as an answer to independence from foreign oil. That’s because they burn a mix of gasoline and domestically-produced ethanol. But ethanol production has been inefficient. Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

Domestic automakers have been advertising their flex-fuel vehicles as an answer to independence from foreign oil. That’s because they burn a mix of gasoline and domestically produced ethanol. But ethanol production has been inefficient. Lester Graham reports:


Ford Motor Company chairman Bill Ford, Junior says his company increased flex-fuel vehicles on assurances there would be a better source for ethanol.


“It has been mostly corn-based and we knew, we do know that long-term that’s not the answer.”


The hope was breakthroughs to mass produce cellulosic ethanol made from woody plants or waste wood chips were coming quickly. That didn’t happen.


“But, I’ll say this: if we don’t end up with cellulosic ethanol, we’re going to hit the wall pretty quickly in terms of vehicle penetration on ethanol.”


Ford says automakers are looking to fuel providers to find an energy answer that makes sense for mass production. In the meantime his company plans to make lighter vehicles with smaller, but powerful fuel-efficient engines that burn gasoline.


For the Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.

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Green Travel Series: Rental Cars

  • So maybe it's not your typical rental car... but it is possible to rent cars that run on used cooking oil, in a few cities. (Photo by Bio-Beetle ECO Rental Cars)

A lot of rental car companies have started to change their fleets to
make them more attractive to consumers who want better gas mileage.
It’s been a good opportunity for rental companies to market themselves
as “green.” But Rebecca Williams reports it all hinges on whether
customers actually choose those cars when they get to the lot:

Transcript

A lot of rental car companies have started to change their fleets to
make them more attractive to consumers who want better gas mileage.
It’s been a good opportunity for rental companies to market themselves
as “green.” But Rebecca Williams reports it all hinges on whether
customers actually choose those cars when they get to the lot:


“Thank you for choosing Enterprise this is Karen how can I help you? What exactly are you looking for?”


Rental car companies pay a lot of attention to that last question –
what are you looking for? They change their fleets based on what
people get the most excited about.


We talked to a few people waiting in rental car lines at an airport:


“I like a car that handles well and can put up with adverse weather.”


“Lower prices and that husband and wife can both drive without paying a
fee.”


“I typically vacation on beaches so I’ll rent Jeeps and things like
that that have some kind of open air.”


That confirms what rental car companies say – there’s no typical
customer. Making things more complicated, there’s usually a big
difference between what people say they want on the phone… and what
they actually drive off the lot.


Christopher Buck is a regional vice president for Enterprise Rent-A-
Car:


“You know, when you’re on the phone you’re just saying I need temporary
transportation and I don’t want to spend a lot of money. When they get
here and actually see the wheels and paint and tires I don’t know if it
tugs on people’s heartstrings or what, but it’s hey, that’s a sharp
looking car!”


So people want to drive something that makes them feel good.


Christopher Buck says lately, he’s noticed a shift in what customers
end up renting. He says two years ago, his branches had a lot more
trucks and SUVs in their fleets. He says that’s what most people
wanted:


“And lately it seems those vehicles are not as popular. Customers seem
to be demanding more of the sedan. I would imagine fuel efficiency has
something to do with that now that gas is back over $3 a gallon.”


Buck says now, customers want the biggest car with the best gas
mileage. He’s changed the makeup of his fleets to reflect that. These
days, it’s mostly made up of sedans, with just a few SUVs, vans and
trucks.


Because gas mileage is playing a bigger role, Buck’s also added a few
hybrid vehicles. But he’s having trouble getting more:


“We’d like to get more to see if we really open doors up and advertise
that we truly have them, because we such a small number it’s hard to
really wave the flag because they’re so hard to manage and make sure
the hybrid requests are going straight into hybrids every single time.”


Getting hybrids isn’t easy right now, but that could change.


Neil Abrams is president of Abrams Consulting Group. He advises the
transportation industry. He says automakers such as Ford and GM make
more money selling cars to people rather than rental companies.


And so the US automakers are pulling back from the big incentives they
used to offer rental car companies. Abrams says that’s opening the
door for more cars from foreign automakers, and that could mean hybrids
such as the Toyota Prius will be more available in the future.


But he says that all depends on what customers want. If they want
hybrids, they’ll have to ask for them:


“If the rental consumer does not step up and demand an environmentally
efficient vehicle or hybrid, eventually rental companies will stop
offering them.”


If you really want a hybrid right now, it’s a good idea to call ahead
and see if you can specifically reserve one. That’s because there
aren’t very many.


Even if you can’t get one right now, just asking for one might help you
get one in the future. That’s because rental companies plan the makeup
of their fleets about a year in advance. It’s based on what customers
want. So the cars you’ll be able to rent in the future depend on what
you ask for today.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

Related Links

Green Travel Series: Hotels

When you’re reserving a hotel room, you’re probably not thinking about
whether your room has a low-flow toilet. Little by little, hotels are
making changes like that to lighten their environmental impact.
Rebecca Williams reports it’s not always easy for travelers to know how
green a hotel is:

Transcript

When you’re reserving a hotel room, you’re probably not thinking about
whether your room has a low-flow toilet. Little by little, hotels are
making changes like that to lighten their environmental impact.
Rebecca Williams reports it’s not always easy for travelers to know how
green a hotel is:


“This is our one washer where we do all our laundry, it’s running 24
hours a day.”


Gail Vantiem manages the front office for this Courtyard Marriott:


“We had 100 checkouts this morning so at least 300 towels need to be
done and put into the rooms today.”


And a lot of those towels could’ve been reused. Most of us might see
those little cards talking about reusing your towels and feel a little
twinge of guilt. But when people stay in a hotel they often take extra
long showers and use a bunch of towels. It feels like vacation.


But cutting back on the laundry load makes a lot of sense for a hotel.
It saves energy, water and of course, money.


Some hotels are trying to do more. They’re trying to find a balance
between giving you a comfortable stay and being more energy and water
conscious without doing anything that will inconvenience their guests.


This Marriott in suburban Detroit is being renovated. Gail Vantiem
says they’ve swapped the traditional lightbulbs for more efficient
compact fluorescents. They’ve installed low flow toilets and
showerheads.


After a guest checks out, the room is cleaned and the heat or air
conditioning and lights are turned off to save energy. Vantiem says
that’s where they’ve had the most public relations work to do:


“The number one complaint is the heat’s not working in the room in the
winter months. It’s just the way you explain to the guest, oh you know
we’re trying to conserve.”


But when it comes down to it, hotels are there to cater to their
guests’ needs. That might mean wanting fresh towels and sheets every
single day. Vantiem says it can be a tough thing for hotel managers to
balance:


“That’s the hospitality business, that’s what we’re here for, if they
don’t want it done we can’t change people’s minds by any means and we
don’t try.”


But some people say hotels can save a lot of money by trying.


Linda Chipperfield is vice president of marketing and outreach for
Green Seal. It’s an independent group that certifies hotels that have
a lighter environmental impact:


“The average hotel purchases more products in one week than 100
families will purchase over a whole year.”


Besides fresh towels and sheets every day, there are all those little
soaps and bottles of shampoo.


Chipperfield says hotels stand to save thousands of dollars each year
by reducing energy and water use. But she says on the whole, the hotel
industry has been slow to change:


“The more pillows there are on the bed, the more towels there are in
the bathroom, the more it’s perceived luxurious, it’s perceived as a
higher quality hotel. It really is a challenge for a hotel to create
different ways to make guests comfortable and portray the image of
luxury but try to save energy at the same time.”


Chipperfield says the key is to do some things that are visible to the
guests – like a towel reuse program. And also do some things that are
under the radar – like installing low-flow toilets that work just as
well as the traditional toilets.


But as a traveler, it’s not easy to know whether a hotel’s really
green, or if it just has a great marketing team. Even some hotels that
are doing a lot aren’t talking about it on their own websites.


Kim Solem is with Expedia. She says travel websites like hers are
struggling with how to rate green hotels. She says there’s no simple
way to judge who’s doing what:


“Right now there are several sets of standards in existence and they
vary by region so it’s pretty difficult for a traveler to understand
just what shade of green a hotel is or to compare one hotel against
another. So our goal is to get to a place where hotels are evaluated
on a standard, very comprehensive point system.”


Solem says she’d like to see a system that grades hotels on a 1 to 100
point scale. And have a little green icon by the ones doing the best
job.


But Solem says that’s at least a couple years off.


In the meantime, if you’re really curious, you can call the hotel
directly. You can ask what they’re doing to cut down on waste, energy
and water. And once you get there, you can hang your towels up for one
more use.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

Related Links

Green Travel Series: Airlines

  • Airplane manufacturers such as Boeing are working on improving the fuel efficiency of planes. But it might take some airline companies a while to upgrade their fleets. (Photo courtesy of The Boeing Company)

Getting somewhere by airplane used to be a luxury. Now many of us wouldn’t know life without it. As air travel gets more and more popular, there’s been more concern about the environmental impacts of our flying habits. Rebecca Williams takes a look at what’s happening in the skies:

Transcript

Getting somewhere by airplane used to be a luxury. Now many of us
wouldn’t know life without it. As air travel gets more and more
popular, there’s been more concern about the environmental impacts of
our flying habits. Rebecca Williams takes a look at what’s happening
in the skies:


Air travel still takes a backseat to car travel as a way to get around.
But it’s growing by about 5 percent a year. There are more low cost
carriers these days, and plane tickets are cheaper, in real dollars,
than they used to be.


Airplanes have gotten a lot more efficient, but they’re not off the
hook, either. They burn fossil fuels, so they emit carbon dioxide.
CO2 is almost universally agreed to be the main culprit of global
warming.


Planes are responsible for about 3% of man-made CO2 emissions.
Compared to cars and coal-burning power plants, that looks like a
pretty small percentage.


But there’s something else unique to planes that has scientists
concerned.


Gidon Eshel is a climate scientist at Bard College at Simon’s Rock. He
says planes also emit nitrous oxide and water vapor. That’s the
contrail you see. Both of those gasses can trap heat in Earth’s
atmosphere:


“The emissions associated with aviation are very important – roughly
twice as important as CO2 alone because they occur in such high reaches
of the atmosphere.”


Eshel says the effects of nitrous oxide and water vapor are stronger
than when they’re released near the ground.


There’s not much planes can do about flying so high up. But the
airline industry says it’s hard at work to make its planes more fuel
efficient.


Bill Glover directs environmental strategy for Boeing Commercial
Airplanes:


“The distance we could fly on a gallon of gas 50 years ago, we can now
do on less than a quart of gas. What we have ahead of us is more
improvements in materials, engines, aerodynamics, all of those are
going to contribute to fuel efficiency.”


Both Boeing and Airbus have unveiled shiny new planes that get more
miles to the gallon. So airlines should rush out and get the latest
models, right?


Well, it’s not that simple.


For starters, there’s the price tag: anywhere from about 14 million all
the way up to 300 million dollars.


Gueric Dechavanne is an airline industry analyst with OAGback Aviation
Solutions. He says it’s definitely in the airlines’ best interest to
upgrade their fleets. He says the cost of fuel has risen dramatically
over the past couple of years. But Dechavanne says even if airlines
can afford the newest model, it’ll be a long time before they can get
it:


“It’s not as easy as placing the order and getting the airplane today.
From the standpoint of the 787, the latest and greatest, 2014 or 2015
is the earliest delivery you can get it if you place an order today.”


Generally, the younger the airline company, the more fuel efficient
their fleet will be. Dechavanne says that means newer low cost
carriers such as JetBlue, Skybus and Spirit have the newest planes.


He says the so-called legacy airlines – such as Northwest and American
Airlines – have older fleets because they’ve been around for a while.
They have a much harder time upgrading their fleets. Dechavanne says
airlines don’t want to retire a plane before they’ve squeezed a full
life out of it:


“For the majority of U.S. carriers the fleet is still fairly young;
it’s tough for them to replace all of the inefficient airplanes just
because of the fact that fuel has gotten out of control.”


Dechavanne says, instead, some carriers are looking at less expensive
fixes – such as adding winglets to the plane to make it more
aerodynamic.


The experts have advice for travelers, too: Try to avoid connecting
flights.


Climate scientist Gidon Eshel says direct flights are better than
flights with several stops. And although it sounds counterintuitive,
it’s more efficient to take one really long flight a year than a bunch
of shorter flights.


That’s because airplanes have an ideal cruising height – about 30,000
feet up:


“To get there they need to climb a whole lot which makes short flights
relatively inefficient, sometimes very inefficient compared to long
flights.”


Another thing the experts recommend is lightening the load: pack light
and leave the hardcover books at home.


And as much as we all hate jam-packed planes, putting a lot of people
on one flight is actually better for the environment than having extra
legroom.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

Related Links

Target Drops Pvc

  • Target has finally agreed to stop using PVC in its products. (Photo by Lester Graham)

After a two year campaign against the retailer, Target says it will do what Wal-Mart and other retailers have already done. It will
stop using PVC plastic in its products. Lisa Ann Pinkerton Reports:

Transcript

After a two year campaign against the retailer, Target says it will do what Wal-Mart and other retailers have already done. It will
stop using PVC plastic in its products. Lisa Ann Pinkerton Reports:


Commonly known as vinyl, polyvinyl chloride, or PVC plastic contains phthalates, which are used to soften
hard plastic. But they are also believed to be toxic to humans, wildlife and the environment. Target says it
will phase out PVC in its products and ask its vendors to do the same.


Mike Shade with the Center for Health, Environment and Justice says large retailers are taking the lead on
PVC and that will influence the marketplace:


“By getting large manufacturers and large retailers to switching to safer materials that will drive costs down
and make it easier for smaller companies to do the same.”


Shade says many of Target’s baby accessories will be PVC free by January and most of toys by the fall of 2008. The next

step, he says, is to get retailers
like K-Mart, Sears, and Costco to do the same


For the Environment Report, I’m Lisa Ann Pinkerton.

Related Links

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.

Related Links

Climate and Plant Extinction

A new study finds that as plant species go extinct around the world,
ecosystems could become a lot less productive. Rebecca Williams
reports, this could be bad news for the services people depend on from
nature:

Transcript

A new study finds that as plant species go extinct around the world,
ecosystems could become a lot less productive. Rebecca Williams
reports, this could be bad news for the services people depend on from
nature:


Plants work overtime for us. They produce oxygen and food, among a lot
of other things. But many plant species are going extinct.


A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says as
we lose plant species, ecosystems could become half as productive as
they are now.


Brad Cardinale is the study’s lead author. He says preserving habitats
could slow the loss of species:


“For every place we build, every place we put a house, every place we
put a mall, we set aside another tract of equal size for the other 10 million
species on the planet to persist.”


Cardinale says we should start setting aside more land soon. Some
estimates suggest as much as half of all known species on Earth could
be extinct by the end of this century.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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Preserving the Classic Thanksgiving Turkey

  • John Harnois raises Narragansett turkeys, one of the so-called heritage breeds. He also raises a few Bourbon Reds, another heritage breed. (Photo by Rebecca Williams)

The type of turkey you buy for your big holiday feast isn’t always an easy decision. You can choose the usual supermarket bird, or you can get a kosher turkey, or one that’s been fed only organic feed. You can also buy a heritage turkey that’s got a little wilder history. Rebecca Williams has the story of farmers who are trying to keep these older turkey breeds from going extinct:

Transcript

The type of turkey you buy for your big holiday feast isn’t always an easy decision. You can choose the usual supermarket bird, or you can get a kosher turkey, or one that’s been fed only organic feed. You can also buy a heritage turkey that’s got a little wilder history. Rebecca Williams has the story of farmers who are trying to keep these older turkey breeds from going extinct:


John Harnois talks turkey.


“The turkeys pip, they bark, they gobble, (Harnois makes gobbling sound and turkeys respond in unison).”


He’s got a yard full of turkeys, mostly males. They’re trying to look all big and macho as they strut around in front of the hens. These turkeys are Narragansetts, one of the so-called heritage breeds.


“They’re old time turkeys, much closer to wild. They don’t have the broad breasts, so proportionally for eating (turkeys gobble, Harnois laughs), they have more dark meat to white meat.”


People who’ve tasted a heritage turkey say the flavor is stronger too. Sara Dickerman is the food editor for Seattle Magazine. She taste tested different types of turkeys, from the Butterball brand, to kosher, to heritage.


“When you taste one of these heritage breeds you’re getting more of a… it begins to taste more like a distinct meat, and I’m afraid our vocabulary is so ill suited to describing it, except that it tastes meatier, it tastes more intensely, and it just has a resonance that you’ll never get in a Butterball.”


Dickerman says still, you’ve got to be pretty committed to buy a heritage turkey. They can cost upwards of $100.


Taste and cost aren’t the only things that set heritage turkeys apart from the turkeys you find in the grocery store. Your common grocery store turkey is a breed called the Broad-breasted White. These turkeys have been bred over the years to produce a lot of meat in a short period of time. As a result, they’re large breasted birds with short little legs.


John Harnois says that means they can’t mate naturally.


“One of the things about heritage birds is they’re small enough to mate as opposed to the broad-breasteds which is artificial insemination. With that big breast they just can’t do the deed.”


But even though heritage turkeys can mate naturally, they haven’t been doing so well on their own.


“These birds, the heritage breeds, were real close to dying out. It’s funny, you gotta eat ’em to keep ’em going. To keep their genetics in the gene pool, there has to be a market for them.”


That’s where the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy stepped in. It’s a non-profit group trying to keep rare breeds from going extinct. Marjorie Bender is the group’s research manager. She says just three companies own the rights to the commercial turkey breeds.


“And they’re all very, very closely related and it’s that narrow genetic pool that has been of particular concern to us, and what makes the conservation of these other lines of turkeys and these other varieties of turkeys so important.”


Bender’s group is encouraging farmers to raise rare turkeys so there will be a larger genetic pool of the birds. And they’re helping to market the turkeys. Bender says now, there are more of these heritage turkeys than there were a few years ago.


“In terms of the breeds themselves, they’re not out of the woods, in terms of the farmers and the market. It’s so young that many farmers are really investing capital in them to make this a viable option, but they are making some money off the birds, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it.”


(turkeys gobbling in background)


John Harnois says he is earning money from his heritage turkeys, but it’s not easy money. Heritage turkeys cost a lot to raise, and it takes longer to get them to market weight. And unlike the commercial turkeys, the heritage birds can fly the coop.


“You’re chasing them, and it’s dark out, and you don’t know if you’re going through poison ivy, if you’ve got shorts on you’ve gotta change your pants to long pants… it’s a pain.”


But he says the late night chases and extra turkey TLC are worth it.


“When there’s no more Narragansetts the gene line is done. You can never pull on that. You don’t want everything being the same, and if you only have one thing and something happens to it, there’s no more. Where are the turkeys going to come from?”


Harnois says he feels like it’s his job to make sure there will always be plenty of different kinds of gobblers to go around.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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