Carole Bass at E/The Environmental Magazine, writes:
Tiny Troubles: How Nanoparticles Are Changing Everything From Our Sunscreen to Our Supplements
Your sunscreen, energy drink and high-tech clothing may be among the 800-plus consumer products made with nanomaterials: those manufactured at the scale of atoms and molecules. Sunscreen that turns clear on the skin contains titanium dioxide, an ordinary UV-blocker in extraordinarily small particles. Odor-eating socks are made with atoms of germ-killing silver. Supplement makers boast of amazing health effects from swallowing nanosolutions that are completely untested for effectiveness or safety. And that stain-repellant clothing? The manufacturer won’t even tell you what nanomaterials are in it.
The problem is not just that you, the consumer, don’t know what’s in the products you use. The much bigger problem is that at the nanoscale, common substances behave in uncommon ways. And nobody—not even the world’s leading nanoscientists—knows what nanoparticles do inside the body or in the environment.
Nanotechnology, a fast-growing global industry, is essentially unregulated. Advocates and independent scientists agree that we need to get ahead of the risks before it’s too late. Some call for a moratorium on the riskiest nanoproducts. Some say we just need more research, and more protection for workers in the meantime. All are worried about unleashing a powerful new technology that could have vast unintended consquences. Nanomaterials are in food, cosmetics, clothing, toys and scores of other everyday products. Yet when it comes to trying to get a handle on them, we can’t answer the most basic questions. What companies are using nanomaterials, and where? What kinds, and in what amounts? How much of the potentially hazardous stuff is escaping into the air, water and soil? Into our food and drinks? Nobody knows. ...
Yet studies on nanotech’s downside are a mere nanospeck compared to the research that’s being done on how this technology can benefit humanity—and corporate profits. Of $1.5 billion in federal nano spending each year, only between 1% and 2.5% goes toward studying environmental, health and safety risks. Worse, there’s no national strategy for deciding what questions need to be answered, or what to do with those answers as they arrive. |
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The diary rescue begins below and continues in the jump.
cabaretic clued us in on an e-mail he received and responded to in Correspondence with PETA: "When even the liberal activists I consider close friends, acquaintances, and co-workers are united in their reservations and unfavorable judgments, then I acknowledge there's more to it then simply one person's critical opinion. One of them works for a female reproductive rights non-profit and her reservations with PETA are that, in her opinion, you care more for the lives of animals than for the well-being of women. The general consensus of nearly everyone I survey is that your organization's focus is very short-sighted and doesn't take into account the larger picture. It is very tempting for any activist group to embrace a purely navel-gazing perspective while losing sight of the fact that we are all connected. In my opinion, issue activism shouldn't be a myopic experience."
RLMiller took note that the Ninth Circuit Court Reversed Bush's Roadless Forest Rule: "Clinton set a ‘roadless rule’ to protect 60 million acres of national forest and other lands from road-building and logging. Bush spent most of his 8 years in office exempting approximately 59,999,999 acres of that land from the rule (when he wasn't lying us into pointless wars and other acts). The inevitable result was a flurry of lawsuits. Today, the Ninth Circuit -- the most liberal appellate court -- reversed Bush's exemptions. It labeled the Bush plan unreasonable, and noted that the Forest Service's efforts to claim that the environment wouldn't be affected by roads was likewise unreasonable...duh. This is not the end of the story. A different appellate court has struck down the original Clinton rule."
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The Overnight News Digest is posted. Included is the story, Government map shows dire Afghan security picture.
FishOutofWater said the climate bill is effectively dead in The Answer is Blowing in the Wind: "The climate bill didn't do what is needed to save the climate: transition from dirty coal to cheap and abundant wind power. The death of this bill gives us a chance to get it right: transition to renewable energy. Wind Resources in the contiguous United States, specifically in the central plain states, could accommodate as much as 16 times total current demand for electricity in the United States. ... Congress must hear the truth. Wind and solar power create good secure long-term jobs in America. American manufacturing can be revived by manufacturing renewable energy systems. American construction jobs can be revived building wind and solar power plants. Jobs, the economy and the environment are compatible. We don't lose jobs and hurt the economy by moving from fossil fuels to renewable power and fuel. We build the economy of the future."
International issues got more than usual attention in green diaries in the past 24 hours.
Stranded Wind took us on a trip to Chile in The Dead Gods Of Atacama: "The Atacama Giant, an 86 meter tall geoglyph in the Chilean desert on Cerro Unitas was a deity to the natives of the region from about 1000 AD to 1400 AD. Less well known but even more important were the fossil nitrate deposits of the region. Not a god in their own right, but more a god’s facilitator, this source of biologically available nitrogen is an unheralded unpinning of America’s manifest destiny of the 19th century – the Growth god’s will for the United States to expand and dominate north America was backed by millions of years of wind blown sea salt and lightning formed nitrates that fell in the driest lands on Earth."
kuutnustroolboot wrote that the Tasang Dam in Burma's Shan state is An Impending Nightmare: "The report ‘Roots and Resilience’ by the Shan Sapawa Environment Organization focuses on the ecologically unique area of Keng Kham, a community of 15,000 that was forcibly relocated over ten years ago; the majority have fled to Thailand. Today the estimated 3,000 that remain are managing to maintain their livelihoods and culture despite the constant threats of the Burma Army and the impending Tasang dam. Indigenous Shan cultural practices, river-fed farms, sacred cave temples and pristine waterfalls are depicted in photos from this isolated war-zone, together with updated information about the dam project, which has been shrouded in secrecy. The 7, 110 MW Tasang Dam is the biggest of five dams planned on the Salween River; the majority of the power from the dam will be sold to Thailand. Project investors include the Thai MDX Company and China's Gezhouba Group Company."
And Grassroots International explained how and why Violence Sparked by US-Peru FTA Highlights the Need for Stronger Communal Resource Rights: "The National Coordination of Communities Affected by Mining in Peru (CONACAMI), a Grassroots International grantee, was one of the leading organizers of the IV Continental Indigenous Summit. The Summit not only brought together indigenous representatives of organizations from across the Hemisphere but over 500 international observers, including indigenous people from Africa and allied organizations from the United States and Europe. Prior to the main summit, indigenous women also organized the I Summit of Women Indigenous of Abya Yala. The event’s final declaration highlighted free trade agreements and the growing criminalization of social movements as major threats to the defense of indigenous people’s human and resources rights in the Western hemisphere."
California Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi dropped in to discuss A Green Industrial Revolution for a Golden State: "Incentives for renewable energy generation and installation are also fueling the growth in green jobs. In just the first four months of 2009, solar installations nearly tripled compared to the year prior. Homeowners, businesses, and government all benefit from the California Solar Initiative (CSI), which provides incentives that reduce the total cost of installed systems by an average of 20 percent. Signed into law in 2006, the CSI aims to install 3,000 MW of new solar power by offering $3 billion in solar rebates over 10 years. Additionally, businesses and homeowners qualify for a federal investment tax credit of 30 percent on renewable energy systems. According to the California Community Colleges Centers of Excellence, the solar industry in California is on pace to produce 40,000 new jobs by 2016. We are seeing real progress. Today’s global economic crisis can be combated with a strong commitment to green job growth."
A Siegel explained a big problem with "Cash for Clunkers" in Robbing an Environmental Peter to Pay a Stimulus Paul: CFC's funding stream: "Many concerned over peak oil, global warming, and creating a sustainable future are justifiably concerned over the great attention given to Cash For Clunkers / the CARS Progam, correctly stating that we are spending resources to reinforce America's car culture at a time when we should be fighting, furiously, to create a properous, climate-friendly America. Even with these legitimate concerns, the CARS Program should be extended: it is one of the few ‘stimulus programs’ that the average American is seeing having real and meaningful impact. We have to be clear here: this is an economic stimulus and jobs program which happens to have some energy security and environmental benefits. Yet, the funding stream for the CARS Program extension will come out of a renewable energy pot of money. This is a mistake on multiple levels."
nonnoboy suggested a way to fund the CARS program: License Fees.
zwerlst took a poke at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in The Real Clunkers: "[McConnell], in effect, appears to be saying that, ‘I was right in the first instance to vote against the cash for clunker program because it would turn out to be popular. And I’m surely not going to be fooled this time—I plan again to vote against this over-successful program. And, to boot, I will also vote against healthcare reform because that too may turn out to work.’"
Phil In Denver believes that EVs Will Sound the Death Knell of the US Auto Industry: "[The Nissan Leaf] is not a plug in hybrid, it is a plug in electric, and like the Zenn, it does not consume a single gallon of gasoline. It is currently based on an upgraded lithium-Ion battery pack which can be charged in under 8 hours using a 220 volt circuit or under half an hour (to 80% capacity) using a quick charger which Nissan plans to make available. Unlike Zenn, Nissan has deep pockets and is investing billions in their production lines to produce the Leaf. They expect to release the first production models in late 2010 and to produce up to 200,000 of them by 2012. Nissan has decided to bypass the hybrid craze altogether and jump straight to all electric vehicles."