Green tax on its way in South Africa

A new green tax in the form of a levy on a range of consumer goods will be introduced by the government in an attempt to promote recycling and reduce South Africa’s growing waste.

The new legislation, which has been approved by cabinet, will be tabled in parliament in the next two weeks.

The aim of the legislation is to put an economic value on waste which government hopes will discourage dumping and take the strain off the country’s growing landfill sites.

Compulsory deposits will be added to the purchase price of a variety of items — such as vehicle tires, bottles, cans and plastic.

These deposits can be redeemed by consumers when the items are taken to a recycling depot or returned for re-use. The green tax would also be a boost for the informal sector involved in recycling. (IPS/GIN)

Remote Hawaiian islands littered with trash

Hundreds of tons of debris — discarded fishing gear and familiar plastics such as cigarette lighters and bottles — collect each year in the 1,200 miles of coral reefs, atolls and small islands known collectively as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, brought there by ocean currents from all over the world.

Famed oceanographer Jean-Michel Cousteau completed a six week expedition through the Northwest Hawaiian Islands Thursday. He and his 21 member crew have explored and documented the wildlife and Polynesian culture along the islands and coral reefs that stretch 1,200 miles from the main Hawaii Islands, ending on the remote island of Kure.

Few beaches remain untouched, he said, as the system of currents sweeps in debris and trash from thousands of miles away.

When the crew arrived at Midway Island, 80 tons of discarded fishing gear greeted them at the pier.

All this trash and debris is having negative impacts on wildlife and the marine ecosystems. The crew found scores of dead seabirds, some with 10 ounces of plastic in their guts, as well as coral reefs littered with trash and discarded nets. (ENS)

Solar panels to light up remote households in Cuba

A plan got underway this year to bring electricity to some 100,000 homes in Cuba using solar panels, according to Luis Bérriz, president of the non-governmental organization Cubasolar, which promotes the use of renewable, green-friendly sources of energy.

The aim of the project is to bring electricity to the five percent of households in Cuba that are not connected to the national power grid.

In the past three years, more than 2,300 primary schools in remote parts of the country have been provided with electricity by means of solar panels and equipped with TV sets, VCRs and computers, to improve the quality of teaching.

There are also plans for two wind energy parks which, connected to the national power grid, would allow substantial savings of fuel and cut power plant emissions. (IPS)

Bush admin. targets Rockies for drilling

On Aug. 7, the Bush administration ordered federal land managers across the Rockies to look for ways to remove or reduce environmental restrictions on federal lands in order to make way for gas drilling.

The new rules issued by Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Kathleen Clarke order BLM officials to review environmental restrictions, speed up energy projects, streamline environmental restoration and maintain ties with industry.

Oil and gas drillers say land that is supposed to be open to drilling is locked up by partial but overlapping restrictions.

Clarke ordered BLM’s state and field offices to determine by Dec. 31 whether to change existing land-use plans to facilitate oil and gas exploration and development.

She also told land managers that when they require drillers to do environmental restoration to compensate for any damage, they should make sure it is the “least restrictive necessary” to accomplish the goal. In addition, she indicated that they are to look for ways to let gas companies do restoration outside of the targeted drilling zones.

“That means you can completely trash the Rocky Mountain Front, you can completely trash eastern Utah, western Colorado and the Powder River Basin if you promise to do good things somewhere else,” said Susan Daggett, a lawyer with Earthjustice. (Denver Post)

Clean-air ruling puts blame on Ohio utility

A federal judge ruled Aug. 7 that FirstEnergy’s Ohio Edison Co. violated the law by upgrading seven aging coal-fired power plants without installing anti-pollution equipment.

In his ruling, US District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. found that a “preponderance of evidence” showed that Ohio Edison had violated the Clean Air Act by making $136.4 million worth of improvements to the Sammis Station plant that far exceeded “routine maintenance” without adding the necessary scrubbers.

The owners of power plants built before 1970 are required to install anti-pollution equipment any time they make improvements that extend the life of the facility and increase production and pollution.

The judge also sharply criticized the Environmental Protection Agency for decades of inconsistent and dismal enforcement of the law, saying, “This case highlights an abysmal breakdown in the administrative process.”

The Bush administration has proposed substantially easing the clean-air enforcement program, known as New Source Review, saying that it creates uncertainty and discourages investment in new energy production, even as the Justice Department has continued to prosecute cases and seek settlements out of court. (The Washington Post)