Global News Headlines 01/12

[greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org]

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Greenpeace Daily Environmental News Headlines
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Wednesday, January 12, 2000
Greenbase Unit
Greenpeace International
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 ATMOSPHERE 

1) The Christian Science Monitor January 12, 2000, SECTION: 
WORLD; Pg. 7 HEADLINE: Are residents really breathing 
easier in Mexico City? BYLINE: Howard LaFranchi, Staff 
writer of The Christian Science Monitor DATELINE: MEXICO 
CITY HIGHLIGHT: The city hails 1999 as decade's cleanest, 
but some environmentalists BODY: On a clear day, Liliana ...

2) Financial Times Online January 12 2000 World News / 
Americas US: Religious groups go green By Nancy Dunne in 
Washington Call it "conservation theology" or simply 
"butting in", but increasingly US religious groups are 
flexing their consciences and financial muscle to push 
businesses to do the right thing for the environment. ...

3) Vancouver Sun January 12, 2000 EDITION Final News PAGE A8 
SUVs, minivans keep Canada's pollution going up: Research 
shows an SUV produces about a third more carbon dioxide 
than the average passenger car. Andrew Duffy OTTAWA -- 
Owners of sport utility vehicles and minivans continue to 
drive up Canada's auto emissions, a federal study shows. ...

4) 01/12 France pledges aid for storm, oil slick damage PARIS  (Reuters)
- The French government Wednesday pledged four  billion francs ($628
million) to help households, farmers,  forest owners and fishermen
cope with devastation from  storms and a huge oil spill off the west
coast over  Christmas. The government, which gave 140 million francs
in ...

 ENERGY 

5) Various uses of solar energy, HONGKONG STANDARD WITH a 
land area of over 3.2 million square km and a population of 
900 million people, India receives solar radiation  amounting to over
50X1015 kwh per year with daily average  energy varying between 4 and
7 kwh/m2 depending on the  location. With over 80,000 villages still
to be electrified ...

6) The Independent (London) January 12, 2000, SECTION: 
FEATURES; Pg. 1, 8 HEADLINE: ARUNDHATI AND THE DAM BYLINE: 
Peter Popham BODY: The best-selling author of The God of 
Small Things was arrested yesterday for her part in 
demonstrations against the giant Narmada Valley dam 
project. It's a world away from the cosy milieu of the ...

7) GM Unveils Fuel-Cell Technology at Detroit Auto Show By 
Ted Evanoff, Detroit Free Press Jan. 12--General Motors 
Corp. announced a step forward Tuesday in the race to 
replace the gasoline engine with a fuel cell that gets more 
than 100 miles per gallon and leaves no pollution in the 
air. ...

 FORESTS 

8) BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific - Political Supplied by BBC 
Worldwide Monitoring January 12, 2000 HEADLINE: Papua New 
Guinea: NGOs welcome decision to end large logging 
concessions SOURCE: 'Papua New Guinea Post-Courier' web 
site, Port Moresby, 12 Jan 00 BODY: A group of 
non-government organizations in PNG has applauded the ...

9) International Herald Tribune (Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) 
January 12, 2000, SECTION: Opinion; Pg. 9 HEADLINE: Finding 
Value in the Environment ; MEANWHILE BYLINE: Jared Diamond; 
New York Times Service DATELINE: LOS ANGELES BODY: At last, 
shared interests are producing signs of cooperation between 
two warring forces, business and environmentalists. On the ...

10) The Vancouver Sun January 12, 2000, FINAL SECTION: 
Business; D2 HEADLINE: Forestry focus shifts to Liberals: 
It seems Gordon Campbell will lead the next B.C. 
government, but there are suspicions about the Liberals' 
stance on forestry. BYLINE: Ken Drushka BODY: As the 
current provincial government whimpers off to oblivion, ...

11) Environmental Protection Doesn't Hurt Oregon, Economist 
Says The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore. 
Jan. 10--For more than a decade, Eugene economist Ed 
Whitelaw has been a leading voice in Oregon for the notion 
that environmental stewardship doesn't have to hurt the 
economy by taking away jobs in the lumber industry or ...

 GENETIC ENGINEERING 

12) 01/11 US Consumers Favor GM Crops to Curb Pesticides -  Survey
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Nearly three-fourths of American  consumers would
support genetically modified crops if the  technology means farmers
can reduce pesticide use,  according to a survey released Tuesday by
the American Farm  Bureau. The private survey was commissioned at a
time when ...

13) U.S. warns EU not to derail GMO talks By Michael Mann 
BRUSSELS, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The United States warned the 
European Union on Wednesday that if it pushes for food 
safety controls on genetically modified plants it will 
scupper negotiations on environmental dangers. Delegates 
will meet in Montreal this month to draw up a U.N.-sponsored...

14) 01/12 COMPANY DENIES PLANS FOR `HUMAN MILK' COWS By John  von
Radowitz, Medical Correspondent, PA News A British  biotechnology
company tonight played down reports that it  was working towards
breeding cows that produce human breast  milk. In a TV programme
being broadcast later tonight, a  senior executive of PPL
Therapeutics says the company is ...

15) 01/12 Swiss govt decides against GMO ban or moratorium  BERNE
(Reuters) - The Swiss cabinet decided Wednesday  against banning
release of genetically modified organisms,  an interim victory for
the Swiss pharmaceutical industry,  officials and industry sources
said. The decision against a  ban or moratorium means the Swiss
government will continue ...

 MILITARY 

16) BBC Summary of World Broadcasts January 13, 2000, 
HEADLINE: France to monitor test sites for 20 years SOURCE: 
Excerpts from report by Radio Australia on 11th January 
[Presenter Linda Lopresti] Well, after 37 years the French 
army is withdrawing from two South Pacific atolls used for 
nuclear testing. The 5th Foreign Regiment will leave the ...

17) 01/12 Energy Dept. Halts Contaminated Nickel Sale  WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Bill  Richardson on Wednesday
halted plans to sell radioactive  nickel that would be melted into
scrap metal and could find  its way into a range of consumer
products. The department  was hoping to sell to recycler British
Nuclear Fuels Inc. ...

18) 01/12 UK Firm Caught In US Nuclear Waste Dispute JACKSON,  Wyoming
(AP)--Some people in Jackson, Wyoming have gone to  court to try to
stop plans for building a nuclear waste  incinerator 100 miles away
in Idaho. The U.S. Department of  Energy has contracted with British
Nuclear Fuels Ltd.  (U.BNF) to build a facility near Idaho Falls,
Idaho at a ...

 NUCLEAR POWER 

(GREENPEACE)
19) ENVIRONMENT-MEXICO: CLOUDS GATHER OVER NUCLEAR ...
MEXICO CITY, (Jan. 10) IPS - Laguna Verde, Mexico's only 
nuclear power plant, has become the focus of a heated 
debate over the plant's safety that has drawn in 
international associations, former employees, the 
government, environmentalists and local civic groups. While ...

20) 01/12 Reports: Bomb Suspect Planted Others TOKYO (AP) --  The man
suspected of planting a bomb at the site of Japan's  worst nuclear
accident has told police he was involved in  two other explosions
last December, Japanese media reported  Wednesday. Police refused to
comment on the reports.  Tatsufumi Oshiba, 39, was arrested Tuesday
on charges of ...

21) 01/12 Moderate Quake Jolts Eastern Japan TOKYO (AP) -- A  moderate
earthquake jolted eastern Japan on Wednesday,  causing the shutdown
of an experimental nuclear reactor.  The magnitude 4.3 temblor took
the plant off-line at the  Japan Atomic Research Institute in
Tokaimura, about 70  miles northeast of Tokyo, spokeswoman Tsuka
Kanai said. The ...

22) 01/11 Chernobyl Zone May Be Resettled KIEV, Ukraine (AP)  --
Ukraine's government has drafted a development plan for  contaminated
land around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant,  calling for
resettling part of the area, a civil defense  official said Tuesday.
The plan suggests a partial revival  of the so-called zone of
alienation, an area about 20 miles ...

23) The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo) January 12, 2000, SECTION: Pg. 7 
HEADLINE: Putting safety before profits-- lessons for the N-
power industry BYLINE: Tatsuo Nakajima Yomiuri Shimbun Staff
Writer ; Yomiuri BODY: Japan's plutonium -thermal project, 
in which plutonium - uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel is used 
in nuclear power reactors, has been put on hold at nuclear ...

(GREENPEACE)
24) The Independent (London) January 12, 2000, SECTION: NEWS; 
Pg. 2 HEADLINE: BRITISH NUCLEAR FUEL REJECTED BY JAPANESE 
BYLINE: Steve Connor Science Editor BODY: A CONSIGNMENT of 
nuclear fuel is to be returned to Britain from Japan after 
revelations that British Nuclear Fuels falsified data about 
its quality. BNFL's Japanese customer, Kansai Electric ...

25) Mainichi Daily News January 12, 2000, SECTION: Page 12; 
DOMESTIC HEADLINE: Mayor seeks re-election to fight nuke 
power plant DATELINE: NIIGATA BODY: Mayor Takaaki Sasaguchi 
of Maki, Niigata Prefecture, on Tuesday registered his 
candidacy for Sunday's mayoral election, then immediately 
pledged renewed efforts to fight a 30-year-old plan by ...

26) South China Morning Post January 12, 2000 SECTION: News; 
Pg. 12 HEADLINE: Nuclear fiasco stirs debate on energy 
strategy BYLINE: PETER HADFIELD BODY: More than three 
decades ago, the Government devised a spectacular plan to 
rid Japan of its dependence on imported oil and become 
self-sufficient in energy. It would start with nuclear ...

27) The Toronto Star January 12, 2000, Edition 1 SECTION: NEWS 
HEADLINE: NO NEED TO RELEASE NUCLEAR REPORT, LAWYER ARGUES 
BYLINE: Kate Harries BODY: ONTARIO REPORTER The Atomic 
Energy Control Board had no obligation to make public a 
consultant's report recommending design changes to a 
nuclear waste site on the shores of Lake Huron, a court has ...

 OCEANS 

(GREENPEACE)
28) JAPAN BERATED FOR ANTARCTIC WHALE SLAUGHTER Tokyo, Jan 12, 
2000 (EFE via COMTEX) -- The Argentine govenrment has  expressed its
"concern" over Japan's practice of  slaughtering 400 minke whales
each year in a supposedly  protected zone of the South Atlantic.
Officials said  Wednesday a note sent to Tokyo stopped short of a
formal ...

(GREENPEACE)
29) WSJ(1/12): THE WALL STREET JOURNAL / NORTHWEST: For 
Greenpeace, Pollock Is The Fish That Got Away By Helen Jung 
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal / Northwest If 
only pollock had charisma. The bug-eyed bottom-feeders 
generate the most revenue of any processed fish in the 
U.S., but they sure don't command much affection from the ...

 TOXICS 

30) 01/12 Fraud Alleged at Weapons Incinerator WASHINGTON (AP)  --
Officials at the Army's chemical weapons incinerator in  Utah rigged
tests and misled state regulators to conceal  the plant's inability
to safely destroy nerve agents,  charges the plant's former permit
manager. Gary Harris also  said Tuesday that officials at Tooele
Chemical Agent ...

31) 01/11 Scientist blames faulty design of Union Carbide  pla... By
MAZHAR ULLAH BHOPAL, India (AP) -- Faulty design and  poor
maintenance caused a poisonous gas leak at a Union  Carbide plant in
1984 that killed thousands of Indians in  the world's worst
industrial accident, a scientist ...

32) Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Food scares hit consumer 
confidence DATELINE: PARIS, Jan 12 BODY: Public confidence 
in food safety has been seriously undermined following a 
series of food poisoning epidemics ranging from listeria in 
cold meats and cheeses, salmonella in eggs, E. coli in 
hamburgers and dioxins in a variety of foodstuffs. ...

33) The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo) January 12, 2000, SECTION: Pg. 6 
HEADLINE: Editorials / R.P. case bares inadequacy of waste 
rules BYLINE: Yomiuri BODY: The illegal export of hazardous 
waste by a Japanese company to the Philippines can only be 
termed a disgraceful international environmental crime. 
About 2,700 tons of Japanese garbage in 122 containers was ...

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