Volume 13, Issue 29 ~ July 21-27, 2005
Way Downstream

In Washington, the U.S. EPA, whose reputation has plummeted in this administration, is venturing into the realm of propaganda. The New York Times reported this week that the EPA is spending $5 million for a PR firm to ghostwrite pro-administration articles in scholarly journals and magazines. Documents obtained by the paper said that among its duties, the PR firm will be “creating slant.” …

In Annapolis, Mayor Ellen Moyer was among 50 or so mayors from across the country to take part in a summit on climate protection at Robert Redford’s Sundance resort in Utah. Among the highlights, the mayors heard Mayor Richard M. Daley tell how Chicago, a city that knows its quid pro quos, deals with the Wal-Marts of the world: “All of our major big boxes have to do green roofs.” …

In Virginia, wind energy fans won a big victory when the Highland County Board of Supervisors voted 2-1 to allow the project to move forward. It would be Virginia’s first wind farm, and would generate enough power to supply 15,000 to 20,000 homes …
Also in  Virginia, wildlife officials are trying to unravel the mystery of why hundreds of sea birds are washing ashore along the Atlantic coast. They included about a dozen greater shearwaters discovered at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia Beach. Authorities are trying to learn if the birds were felled by pollution, infection or something else …

Our Creature Feature comes from Reedville, Va., where the plight of Chespeake Bay menhaden is drawing wide concerns and a new combatant: Greenpeace. The global environmental group that made its reputation for high-seas confrontations plans a Chesapeake action offshore this weekend to protest the continuing plunder of Bay baitfish by a Texas company.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering a proposal to slap a limit on how many menhaden that the company, Omega Protein, will be allowed to harvest with its spotter planes and factory ships. Greenpeace wants to go a step further: halting the industrial harvests along the coast until the health of the menhaden population is properly studied.

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