Little Brother Forum

Mark Clayton/The Christian Science Monitor/September 28, 2007

With this week’s application to build a new nuclear plant – the first such filing in nearly 30 years – the industry says the US is on the verge of a nuclear power renaissance.

With virtually no greenhouse-gas emissions, reactors are touted as part of the solution to global warming. Over the next 15 months, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects a tidal wave of similar permit applications for up to 28 new reactors, costing up to $90 billion to build.

But the renaissance may be less robust than it looks. Even if the projects are successful and building proceeds at breakneck speed, the lead times are so long and costs so high that it’s unclear that the US can build enough nuclear plants to make a dent in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. They’re so financially risky, experts say, that the only reason building plans are under way is that the federal government has stepped in to guarantee investors against loan defaults. (more…)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND RESOURCE SERVICE/Michael Mariotte, Executive Director/September 25, 2007

NEW REACTORS IN SOUTH TEXAS WOULD SET U.S. ENERGY POLICY ON MISGUIDED COURSE

Today, NRG Energy said it is submitting an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build two new reactors at its South Texas nuclear site. This is the first full application for a new reactor in the U.S. in more than 30 years.

This project is emblematic of the failures of U.S. energy policy to effectively meet the needs of our nation. Nuclear power is a 20th century technology in a new world of climate crisis and a future that demands a distributed, sustainable approach to energy. Nuclear power requires massive taxpayer subsidies and yet still cannot compete environmentally with the sustainable energy technologies that will power our future. (more…)

Environment News Service/September 25, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC - NRG Energy, Inc of New Jersey and the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company have filed an application to build and operate two new nuclear power reactors at the South Texas Project nuclear power station site in Matagorda County.

This is the first full nuclear plant license application in the United States in 29 years, since Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island reactor had a partial meltdown in 1979. If the application is approved, NRG expects to bring the units on line in 2014 and 2015. (more…)

By Nancy Scola/AlterNet/September 19, 2007

Anyone hearing about central India’s ongoing epidemic of farmer suicides, where growers are killing themselves at a terrifying clip, has to be horrified. But among the more disturbed must be the once-grand poobah of post-invasion Iraq, U.S. diplomat L. Paul Bremer.

Why Bremer? Because Indian farmers are choosing death after finding themselves caught in a loop of crop failure and debt rooted in genetically modified and patented agriculture - the same farming model that Bremer introduced to Iraq during his tenure as administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, the American body that ruled the “new Iraq” in its chaotic early days.

In his 400 days of service as CPA administrator, Bremer issued a series of directives known collectively as the “100 Orders.” Bremer’s orders set up the building blocks of the new Iraq, and among them is Order 81*, officially titled Amendments to Patent, Industrial Design, Undisclosed Information, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety Law, enacted by Bremer on April 26, 2004. (more…)

By: Stefan Anitei, Science Editor/Softpedia/August 8, 2007

It looks like we will have to explain to our grandchildren what a Polar bear used to be, when the time comes. Now it seems we have to start with our kids first.

In 2007, summer melting of the Arctic sea ice is expected to set a record low by the end of September, as data for the 8th of August seem to indicate.

Measurements made by the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) have revealed that the Arctic ice surface on 8th of August was about 30% under the long-term average.
As the annual Arctic melting season lasts until the middle of September, it’s hard to believe a record won’t be set this year.

An American research has already forecast ice-free Arctic summers by 2040. (more…)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released the most extensive research to date on the impacts of environmental toxins on children’s health. The report indicates that over 30% of childhood diseases can be linked to exposure to environmental toxins. According to WHO researchers, 13 million deaths could be prevented annually by improving the environment. The vulnerability of children is increased in degraded and poor environments. The report states that due to environment-related diseases, one in five children in the poorest parts of the world will not live longer than their fifth birthday.

Source: www.who.int/en/

WASHINGTON (August 7, 2007) – The water at American beaches was unsafe for swimming a record number of days last year, according to the 17th annual beach water quality report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Using data just collected from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the report, “Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches,” tallied more than 25,000 closing and health advisory days at ocean, bay and Great Lakes beaches in 2006. The number of no-swim days caused by stormwater more than doubled from the year before.

“Vacations are being ruined. Families can’t use the beaches in their own communities because they are polluted. Kids are getting sick – all because of sewage and contaminated runoff from outdated, under-funded treatment systems,” said Nancy Stoner, director of NRDC’s water program. (more…)

Center for Health, Environment  and Justice, 7/10/07

(New York, NY) A new national study released today found for the first time ever that over 60% of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) packaging tested contains toxic heavy metals that violate state toxics in packaging laws in 19 states. Inks and colorants used on plastic shopping and mailing bags were the other packaging materials with frequently detected heavy metals. The study was conducted by the Toxics In Packaging Clearinghouse, a network of nine state environmental agencies coordinating toxics in packaging legislation. (more…)

By Laura MacInnis/Reuters/August 7, 2007

GENEVA (Reuters) - The world experienced a series of record-breaking weather events in early 2007, from flooding in Asia to heatwaves in Europe and snowfall in South Africa, the United Nations weather agency said on Tuesday.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said global land surface temperatures in January and April were likely the warmest since records began in 1880, at more than 1 degree Celsius higher than average for those months.

There have also been severe monsoon floods across South Asia, abnormally heavy rains in northern Europe, China, Sudan, Mozambique and Uruguay, extreme heatwaves in southeastern Europe and Russia, and unusual snowfall in South Africa and South America this year, the WMO said. (more…)

BBC/August 3, 2007(edited version)

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said he is disappointed by the lack of political progress in Iraq.

The Bush administration had probably underestimated the depth of mistrust among Iraq’s various factions, he said at the end of a Middle East tour.

Recent developments were discouraging, he said, citing the withdrawal of the main Sunni Arab bloc from government.

A recent surge in US troop numbers was designed to provide a breathing space to pursue reconciliation, he added.

Mr Gates’s comments have been seen by many as a vote of no confidence in the abilities of the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki.

Speaking to reporters on his way back from the Middle East, Mr Gates admitted political reconciliation between Iraq’s factions had been slower than expected.

Cheney insists Iraq surge working

BBC/August 1, 2007(edited version)

US Vice-President Dick Cheney has insisted that the recent increase of US troops in Iraq, or “surge”, has improved security there. In an interview with CNN, Mr Cheney said he believed a report on the US-led crackdown, due in September, would reveal significant progress…

Mr Cheney said he expected the report compiled by the US military commander in Iraq, David Petraeus, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker to be positive.

“The reports I’m hearing from people whose views I respect indicate that the Petraeus plan is in fact producing results,” Mr Cheney told CNN.