Public access to US critical energy data closed
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has finalized a plan that would restrict public access to a variety of information regarding power plants, natural gas pipelines and other energy infrastructure.
The final rule is intended to protect the American public by safeguarding certain information about the nation’s energy infrastructure, said the FERC. Within a month of Sept. 11, 2001, the Commission began examining its policies regarding critical energy infrastructure information, as did other agencies including the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. FERC has now become the first government agency to develop formal rules on how to handle its more sensitive information and records.
The final rule defines critical infrastructure as "existing and proposed systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, the incapacity or destruction of which would negatively affect security, economic security, public health or safety, or any combination of those matters." It includes proposed and existing systems. (ENS)

Oil spill protesters descend on Madrid
Wearing oil-stained clothes and demanding resignations, more than 100,000 people marched Feb. 23 to protest the Spanish government’s handling of Spain’s worst ecological disaster. A sea of pale blue and white flags of the northwest Galicia region colored a procession in the center of Madrid led by a float of the oil tanker Prestige, which broke in two and sank in November after bleeding petroleum for six days near the coast. The government estimates that it spilled about half its cargo of 77,000 metric tons of oil.
Protesters painted their faces with black tears and carried banners calling the prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, and his ministers everything from arrogant to absent. Hundreds of university scientists have signed a manifesto saying the government made critical mistakes at the outset. The whole mess might have been avoided, they said, if the government had towed the leaking ship into port or to calm waters to remove the oil, rather than rushed to get it far out to sea, as quickly as possible.
The accident devastated hundreds of Galacian beaches and the region’s fishing industry.
Much of the oil remains inside the ship, 2.5 miles under the Atlantic.
The interior ministry estimated that 100,000 marched while organizers -­ a coalition of ecological, labor, and social groups called Nunca Mas (Never Again) -­ told the national news agency Efe there were over a million. (AP)

Measure targets ‘eco-terrorism’
A bill to thwart ecological terrorism has environmentalists, animal rights activists and civil libertarians charging that the measure is overly broad and would be unconstitutional if it became law.
The Animal Rights and Ecological Terrorism Act filed by Rep. Ray Allen, likens some protests conducted by environmental and animal welfare activists to terrorism, say the bill’s opponents.
Under the proposed law, any two or more people organized for the purpose of "supporting any political activity" to obstruct or deter someone from an activity involving animals or animal resources could be tabbed an ecological terrorist organization. The law would not allow people to photograph a facility for the purpose of defaming it. It would also prohibit people who knowingly contribute to such an organization.
"We’ve been monitoring the growing violence among the growing fringe of animal rights groups and eco-freaks," Allan said. "It’s probably not a bad idea to start the discussion in Texas where valid First Amendment rights end and criminal behavior and criminal conspiracies begin." (Star-Telegram)

US losing war on cancer, ignoring prevention
Leading players in the war on cancer should do more to educate the American public about how to minimize its risk of contracting the disease, according to a new report from the Cancer Prevention Coalition (CPC). CPC chairman Samuel Epstein says the war on cancer has been undermined by the myopic focus on treatment rather than prevention by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a government agency, and the American Cancer Society (ACS), a nationwide, community-based organization. These organizations, he said, have been silent on a wide range of avoidable causes of cancer, other than personal lifestyle choices such as smoking. Epstein said there is enough evidence to warn people of the presence of industrial pollutants, the concentrations of pesticides in non-organic fruits and vegetables and the possible risks of irradiated foods. Mainstream cosmetics contain a wide range of carcinogenic materials, he said, and there are increased cancer risks from some prescription medications. Epstein said neither NCI or ACS has taken a strong stand on the dangers of exposure to carcinogenic pesticides or hazardous industrial waste.
Based on available data, the overall incidence of cancers in the American population is on the rise. Men have a little less than a one in two lifetime risk of developing cancer. For women the risk is a bit more than one in three. Cancer kills some 550,000 Americans each year and is the second leading cause of death. Some 1.3 million Americans contract cancer each year. (ENS)

States to sue EPA over air pollution standards
Seven states intend to file a lawsuit to force the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from the nation’s power plants.
This is the third lawsuit in the past two months that challenges the administration’s clean air policies, which many believe aim to relax regulations regardless of the impacts to the environment or public health. The Bush administration’s policy on carbon dioxide emissions, the filers of the lawsuit say, violates the Clean Air Act and contributes significantly to global warming.
"At a time when the rest of the world is taking steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, our nation is not even attempting to slow the rate of growth in its emissions," said New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer Feb. 21 at the announcement of the intent to sue.
In addition to New York, the lawsuit includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington. (ENS)

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