Inside Wide, EDF Is Working to Create a Major Problem: Its Science Was Better Approach on the Gulf Badly Flawed

A BIMONTHLY REPORT TO MEMBERS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND VOL. XXIX, NO. 4 Letter SEPTEMBER 1998 Global Warming Could Raise Sea Level Up to 20 Feet missions of greenhouse gases projected next 100 years, could cause one or more of Eover the next century may lead to the the floating ice shelves surrounding West disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Antarctica to thin and eventually break Sheet, according to an article published up. Since ice shelves float, their disintegra- May 28 in the scientific journal Nature. tion does not increase sea level. But if the This would cause a 13- to 20-foot rise in flow of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet into sea level and major coastal flooding. Dr. the ocean increased as a result, global sea Michael Oppenheimer, EDF atmospheric level would rise. The rapid collapse of physicist and author of the peer-reviewed smaller ice shelves along the Antarctic article, concluded that if emissions con- Peninsula in recent years raises the possi- tinue unabated, the gradual loss of land- bility that the West Antarctic shelves based ice into the ocean is most likely to might disintegrate quickly once they have occur over the next five to seven cen- Art Wolfe/Tony Stone been thinned by warming. turies, and could become irreversible Global warming could ultimately cause the huge West Antarc- Continued on page 7. within 100 years. tic Ice Sheet to disintegrate, leading to increased calving of Eventually, if complete collapse of the icebergs and a 13- to 20-foot rise in sea level worldwide. How You Can Help West Antarctic Ice Sheet occurred, all of Join the EDF Action Network and support South Florida and more than 25% of permanently lost, according to an earlier action to reduce global warming; to join, Louisiana would be permanently sub- National Academy of Sciences report. send your name, e-mail address, and merged, as would parts of Washington, DC, The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is com- address where you vote to and other coastal cities. Areas where 10 % posed of ice streams, vast rivers of land- [email protected]. Or call EDF’s Member- or more of the population of Florida, based ice that end at floating ice shelves. ship Office at 1-800-684-3322 and ask for Louisiana, South Carolina, Virginia, New Warming of the deep ocean by only a few “20 Simple Steps to Reduce Global Warm- York, and New Jersey now live would be degrees, which is expected to occur in the ing,” or go to www.edf.org/more/10501. EDF Seeks to Curb Pollution from Factory Farms orporate farms housing thousands of untreated animal waste has harmed Chogs and poultry in assembly-line groundwater and human health. Nutri- conditions have multiplied in recent ents and bacteria from animal waste can years, spreading into many states that cause fish kills and harm shellfish in lack adequate environmental controls. contaminated streams, creeks, and estu- These “factory farms” produce an esti- aries. Dangerous and offensive odors and mated two trillion pounds of animal other air pollutants are also emitted. waste per year, posing one of America’s The Environmental Protection Agency serious pollution threats. has proposed a strategy for controlling A typical factory hog farm containing factory farm pollution, but EDF and oth- several thousand swine produces millions er environmental and family-farm groups of gallons of liquid waste (urine, feces, believe it falls far short of addressing and water) annually. Huge volumes of environmental and public health threats. hog waste are stored in primitive open- Robert Willet Most notably, EPA’s draft strategy would air holding ponds or lagoons and then Once primarily a feature of family farms, hog production has not require many factory farms to imple- aerially sprayed on adjacent land. increasingly become a corporate enterprise involving thou- ment better pollution controls until the Improper collection and disposal of sands of animals and assembly-line methods. Continued on page 8. Cleaning Up Shrimp Phony Science Tries to Environmental Hoopster 3Farms in Texas 4Discredit Kyoto Pact 6In environmental work just as in As concern grows about pollu- basketball, attorney Jim Marston An attack on the scientific consen- has learned to improvise. tion from shrimp farms world- sus on global warming had one Inside wide, EDF is working to create a major problem: Its science was better approach on the Gulf badly flawed. Tips for a Greener Office Coast of Texas. 7By making simple choices, office workers can make a big difference. 100% Recycled (75% Post-Consumer) Paper Totally Chlorine Free Please Share or Recycle Regional News State Court Upholds Long Island Pine Barrens Protection Plan NY State Weighs Alternatives The world’s second largest pine barrens to Expanding I-287 ecosystem recently won further protection when a New York State court upheld the The task force assembled by New York Long Island Pine Barrens Protection Plan, Gov. George Pataki to discuss alternatives which preserves 52,500 acres of pine barrens to widening I-287 held its first meetings on eastern Long Island and fosters compact this summer. The proposed $400 million development in an adjacent 47,500-acre expansion of I-287, one of the New York- growth area. The Long Island pine barrens New Jersey metropolitan area’s most con- is not only a unique ecosystem, it also sits gested highways, has been a major target of atop the main recharge zone for Suffolk EDF’s efforts to slow growing traffic vol- County’s drinking water supply. ume and to remedy air quality problems in The developer WJF Corporation, owner the Northeast. of 272 acres of dwarf pine barrens within EDF and others sued in 1994, to ensure the protected core area, had challenged the that I-287 was not expanded without full constitutionality of the plan’s Transfer of evaluation of all other transportation alter- Development Rights (TDR) program. natives, including better transit service, car- TDR’s allow landowners within the protect- pooling incentives, and tolls that would ed core to transfer their development rights vary by time of day and by a vehicle’s num- to nearby areas deemed suitable for higher ber of occupants. Last January, Governor density development. The Suffolk County Pataki canceled the widening plans and Supreme Court ruled that, “The TDR pro- agreed to assemble the task force. He visions...do assure preservation of the real J. Kirk Condyles appointed five state officials and 12 adviso- economic value of the development rights ry members to the group,including EDF Jim Tripp in the Long Island Pine Barrens, which as they existed when still attached to the sits atop an underground aquifer that is the main General Counsel James T.B. Tripp. underlying property.” source of drinking water for Suffolk County. “This task force has the opportunity to EDF General Counsel James T.B. Tripp, create and implement the first comprehen- who helped engineer the TDR plan and is protects a valuable ecosystem and assures sive demand-reduction program in a con- chair of the Pine Barrens Credit Clearing the continued protection of safe drinking gested suburban corridor in the United House, welcomed the ruling. “The plan water for Long Island,” Tripp said. States,” said Tripp. Acid Rain Program Incentives Are Spurring Utilities to Reduce Sulfur Dioxide Emissions Responding to the incentives of the United States to cut emissions of 1990 Clean Air Act’s acid rain program, nitrogen oxides (NOx), which like- formerly high-emitting power plants in the wise contribute to acid rain. NOx Midwest and South have cut their emis- travels long distances and also sions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) by 30% more leads to the formation of urban than the law requires. The “cap and trade” smog, a major problem in cities in program, which EDF helped write, gives the Midwest and Northeast. power plants a financial incentive to Several years ago, EDF pro- reduce their SO2 emissions below the posed a region-wide cap on NOx mandatory level. It is too early to say for emissions, since the long-distance certain that the SO2 reductions are curbing movement of NOx makes state- acid rain, but in 1995 the U.S. Geological by-state controls insufficient. Survey recorded a noticeable decrease in States in the Northeast have Larry Ulrich/Tony Stone rainfall acidity of the sort associated with adopted this approach and the An Adirondack mountain lake. Acid rain has wiped out entire SO2 emissions. EPA recently put forward a pro- fish populations and other aquatic life in nearly 100 lakes in EDF has urged the Environmental Pro- posal to extend it to the entire New York’s Adirondack mountains, which lack buffering min- tection Agency and states in the Eastern Eastern United States. erals to neutralize rain that can be as acidic as lemon juice. National Headquarters California Office Rocky Mountain Office Texas Office 257 Park Avenue South 5655 College Avenue 1405 Arapahoe Avenue 44 East Avenue Letter New York, NY 10010 Oakland, CA 94618 Boulder, CO 80302 Austin, TX 78701 212-505-2100 510-658-8008 303-440-4901 512-478-5161 Editor: Norma H. Watson Assoc. Editor: Tim Connor ©1998 Environmental Defense Fund, Inc. Capital Office Membership Line: North Carolina EDF Project Office Published bimonthly at NY, NY ISSN 0163-2566 1875 Connecticut Ave., NW 800-684-3322 2500 Blue Ridge Road 6 Faneuil Hall Marketplace Raleigh, NC 27607 Boston, MA 02109 Visit EDF Online at www.edf.org Washington, DC 20009 Fax: 202-234-6049 202-387-3500 Internet: [email protected] 919-881-2601 617-723-2996 2 N Director’s Message Texas Will Control Shrimp Farms ressure from EDF Fairness on the Road Pand a broad citizens’ alliance led to the first- Car use not only causes air pollution ever requirement that and greenhouse gas emissions, but also Texas shrimp farms must leads to loss of open space and wildlife obtain state wastewater habitat through highway construction and discharge permits.

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