Quicksilver כספית

Christian right seems to be doing the right thing on mercury, toxics, etc

"Mothers Facing Pollution Risks Find Allies in the Religious Right

The religious right and environmentalists are teaming up to protect women and their babies from the dangers of exposure to pollution and toxic waste.

By Teresita Perez                                      March 12, 2007

Tuli Hughes's first three pregnancies ended in miscarriage. During her fourth pregnancy, she gave birth prematurely to a baby with a fatal birth defect who died a few minutes after being born. On her fifth try, Tuli again gave birth prematurely; the baby weighed about one pound and also died within minutes.

An explanation may be found in the environmental conditions in Tuli's neighborhood of Bayview-Hunters Point, which is home to San Francisco's main power and sewage treatment plants and the now-closed Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, a Superfund toxic waste site.

…   Conservative evangelical Christians have begun to press for stronger environmental protections to ensure the health of vulnerable communities. Much attention has been given to recent efforts by prominent evangelicals pressing for action on global warming. But some are also taking on mercury pollution as a threat to the "sanctity of life."   …

Religious conservatives are starting to take note of this reproductive risk. At an anti-abortion-rights rally last year, evangelical leaders from the National Association of Evangelicals and the Evangelical Environmental Network actually carried a banner that read "Stop Mercury Poisoning of the Unborn" and distributed fliers that urged Christians to speak out against President Bush's Orwellian "Clear Skies Initiative."

"Clear Skies" purports to clamp down on mercury emissions and other air pollution, but in fact relaxes existing protections under the Clean Air Act. EPA's Children's Health Advisory Committee concluded that the plan "does not sufficiently protect our nation's children." Congress has failed to pass "Clear Skies" legislation, but the administration is putting in place major elements through regulation. …"

Read the rest here from American Progress.

FYI more on “Clear Skies” at U.S. PIRG or Sierra Club.

Recycling in halakhah (and in Europe)

"Take back" legislation in Europe is driving car makers to vastly improve recyclability (and recycling), as noted in articles in the NYT (9/19 HT Env Law) and Grist (9/20). Grist explains the "take back" laws which require manufacturers to assume end-of-life responsibility for the disposal of appliances, cars and certain other products. The New York Times argues that U.S. companies are lagging in recyclability work:

["Take back" legislation] is definitely not a cost of doing business in the United States, where such "extended producer responsibility" laws are not on the legislative agenda. "The U.S. has generally failed to match Europe in making producers responsible for their products, in large part because of its zealous overreliance on voluntary, market-based approaches," said Charles Griffith, auto project director for the Ecology Center, an environmental advocacy group based in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Meanwhile, the Kol-Chai listserv of Jewish environmentalists is mildly buzzing about more run-of-the-mill recycling, e.g. at Jewish schools and synagogues.

For an excellent Orthodox article on recycling, there is a Hebrew article in Techumin (Hebrew) by Rabbi Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer. This article looks in detail esp at the rules of bal tashkhit ("do not destroy") as they apply to various recycling scenarios. Rabbi Bechhofer argues that recycling is a discretionary positive commandment. He also offers an in-depth analysis of whether and when recycling of waste is required in order to avoid the negative command of bal tashkhit.

Rabbi Bechhofer also taped a teaching (shiur 98), Reversing Bal Tashchis: Recycling, which you may find at your local Orthodox school, yeshiva or maybe by mail order. ($5 each but soon to be on-line for free)

I also came across a sweet, idiosyncratic sermon by Rabbi Adilman. He cites Jewish sources on the reuse ("recycling") of various ritual items, such as the lulav , tzitzit (fringes), and foods, and he advocates reusing yahrzeit candles. Also, you may be interested in the Torah recycling network. Here, again, instead of "recycling" they might more accurately say reuse. Recycling of materials requires a significant amount of reprocessing, often with much attendant pollution. More environmentally sound are programs to reuse things, whether underutilized Torah scrolls or beverage containers, as with Israel's bottle bill program.

Kaspit

PS The Grist article also refers to the European law, "Restrictions on Hazardous Substances", which clamps down on lead, mercury (aka quicksilver), hexavalent chromium, PBBs and PBDEs (e.g. flame retardants). Reportedly, some U.S. businesses are not planning well for the European toxics use reduction deadline. The law is pushing manufacturers like Intel and Hitachi to make lead free electronics equipment.

[UPDATE 9-16] Katrina's environmental and toxic legacy

Katrina struck Gulf Coast counties with a heavy concentration of oil and chemical industry facilities. So, part of their legacy of hazardous waste has churned up, awash, and coming back to haunt us. Plus, toxic chemical storage that may have been spilled.                   (Other Katrina posts here.)

{9-16} Write EPA to better investigate and monitor the toxic waste disaster in New Orleans -- via OMB Watch. OMB also has a database of NOLA toxic chemical sites (thanks to long-time data guru Rick Puchulsky). The Sierra Club, besides handling right-wing attacks, has a fine post by Carl Pope.

It's too early to estimate the environmental and toxic aspects of the hurricane's damage, but here is some news and links:

{9-16} Coast Guard reveals more on oil spills (HT EffectM). Indeed, the spills are now 2/3 the size of the Exxon Valdez, for which "a team of economists estimated the aggregate willingness to pay of U.S. households to prevent another oil spill of that size in Prince William Sound to have a lower bound of $2.8 billion and a mean of $7.19 billion. (HT Enviro Econ).

{9-16} "The Mother of All Toxic Cleanups" reports BusinessWeek. EPA Chief on their hard choices, including the reg waivers (AP). An interview with EPA whistle-blower Hugh Kaufman criticizing the agency. (HT EffectM)

{New} More environmental resources. CS Monitor on toxics cleanup. EPA's updates. Fascinating info/photos on environmental impacts via US Geological Survey.

{9-8 update} EPA reports that it tested "priority pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs), total metals, pesticides, herbicides, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). ... Lead concentrations in water exceeded drinking water action levels. These levels are a concern if a child ingests large amounts of flood water. For the additional chemicals tested, we have yet to detect contaminant levels that would pose human health risks. ... EPA testing has focused on neighborhoods and not in heavily industrialized areas."

"Michael McDaniel, the Louisiana secretary of environmental quality, said it was "simply unfeasible" to attempt to filter the water before flowing it into the lake. The EPA granted the Army Corps of Engineers a waiver from treating floodwater before sending it into Lake Pontchartrain." Read interview. Any public input on this waiver?

{9-8 from Gristmill} "An article on CNN.com today quotes Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Mike McDaniel: "Everywhere we look there's [an oil] spill ... there's almost a solid sheen over the area right now." The story also describes destroyed sewage plants, natural gas leaks, and oozing vehicles of all shapes and sizes. It is, as McDaniel says, 'almost unimaginable'."

{News 9-2): Explosion at a chemical depot in New Orleans. Potentially huge oil spill into the Mississippi.

{News 9-6} Reports on the toxic brew and e-coli situation by CNN (E.g., Rodney Mallett, communications director for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, say there do not appear to be any choices other than to pump the water into Lake Pontchartrain or the Mississippi River, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico, a key maritime spawning ground. "I don't see how we could treat all that water," Mallett said.") Reuters (Bass and Murphy oil spills, 25 damaged sewage treatment plants)

[New] Just received an email from a guy who both warned about (in 2002) and survived hurricane Katrina, New Orleans environmental reporter Mark Schliefman, sent me this email:

Bit too tired to go thru all the toxic potential involved here, but in
general, you've got some 250,00 batches of household chemicals mixed
with leaking gasoline and kerosene from underground tanks, cleaning fluid
from dry cleaners, chemicals from a variety of businesses, etc. Then
you've got a myriad of tanks containing who knows what that would have
floated off their footings, breaking their connections and spewing their
contents. (9-2-05)

New Orleans now 'hazardous waste site,' experts say by Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer (August 31, 2005) Thanks and hat tip to Confined space.

Dave Roberts at Gristmill put up many links on environmental damage and debate about Katrina. Likewise, Risk World on damage to oil and energy resources.

The finger-pointing has already begun. Nobody causes a hurricane. Of course, there's a history behind the limited preparedness of this heavily industrialized region. But who bears responsibility for the concentration of industrial toxicality in the poor counties of Louisiana and Mississippi? The responsibility is dispersed, like barrels of pollutants in a toxic stew.

Kaspit

{Update} Gov't portal for environmental info to help interpret the Katrina and New Orleans situation.

About the makings of a disaster like Katrina, Impact Analysis and Mark Schleifstein's work. About fingerpointing (e.g., Agonist) , for instance, The Commons blog. For a quick photo of media justice, Hungry Blues.

[Update] Leaked DOJ memo, reg waivers, and other Katrina updates (9-16)

With the glut of texts about hurricane Katrina and its (mis)management, I'd add the following sources and items to my interim analysis:

{9-16} Under political "emergency response", the Mississippie Clarion-Ledger reports on a leaked DOJ email, showing the Bush Administration staff is working to shift the blame to environmentalists. (HT Sierra Club) This comes on the heels of similar efforts by right-wing writers to blame enviro demands for an enviro impact analysis for levee work. However, there's nothing wrong with environmentally-sound levees and -- furthermore, the levees involved were NOT the ones that broke. (Also: the story reports that the Bush Admin cut $400 million from Army Corps requests for flood control.)

{New} FEMA's fearsome and fascinating list of governmental "waivers and dispensations" from INS, DOT, DOE, HHS, Coast Guard, etc. Much laudable. But, for instance, it notes that, on 8/30, EPA issued an "enforcement discretion determination to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers facilitating the pumping of [toxic] water out of flooded areas." Also, "the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has issued emergency exemptions ... authorizing them to waive all hazardous materials transportation safety regulations (except those applicable to radioactive materials) on shipments to, from, and within the Hurricane Katrina disaster areas when necessary to support the recovery and relief efforts." How, if at all, is the FEMA allowing and handling public input and accountability on these reg waivers?!

(9-16) Joshua Marshall on behind the scenes legal fumbles at DHS by Chertoff (a Knight-Ridder story) and how Cheney responded rapidly (only) for a pipeline.

Follow the money. Tracking insider patronage with Halliburton (Effect Measure)(9-16). CNN on Halliburton's reconstruction contracts (HT to Adina Levin). Meanwhile, Bush suspends Davis-Bacon (Newman) and minimum wage law (Eyeteeth). The Administration is also weakening worker protection regs, eg DOT (HT Confined Space)(See new FEMA link, above.). Gas prices chart & (conservative) analysis.

{New} Terrific debunking of myths about Katrina. Local govt at fault, too. Brian's selection of Katrina links.

Wikipedia has an excellent series on Katrina, including one on criticism of government agencies and leaders. Discussion of crisis management, debris, etc at Impact analysis.

Media questions about Homeland Security (via Town Crier): Breakdowns Marked Path From Hurricane to Anarchy (NYT) and After 9/11, a master plan for disasters was drawn. It didn't weather the storm (LA Times)

Political misjudgments update by Eyeteeth.

Critique of federal aid package. Alternatives for Katrina donors, as recommended by Nathan Newman and Hungry Blues (the People's Hurricane Relief Fund). Sabbath Meals reports on "Sharon Wachsler, a disability rights activist, put together an email listing the organizations that are helping people with disabilities on the ground in New Orleans. She recommends donating to Food Not Bombs."

See also comments on interim report and my comment to Hassagot, who downplays the duties of the federal government. I welcome other suggested links for this post.

Kaspit

Orthodox and unorthodox Jewish environmentalists

Hazon recently wrapped up another successful New York Jewish environmental bike ride. This unorthodox group also runs an Israel ride, created a buying co-op between urban communities and organic farmers, and worked on developing Limmud NY. Hazon was recently listed among the top 50 innovative Jewish groups. (I would have reported on the Hazon bike rider earlier, but for hurricane Katrina. New Yorkers can still go to their celebration party on Sept. 21st.

Canfei Nesharim, a more Orthodox Jewish environmental group, issued another newsletter. One article deals with one of my pet peeves, the plastic and styrofoam waste on Shabbat at Orthodox homes and shuls. The author recommends bulk purchase of recyclables, but it would be better to use non-disposables. Also in the newsletter:

Rabbi Shmuel Simenowitz from Sweet Whisper Farms explains the halakhah on re-using "graywater" (that's wastewater except toilet waste). Graywater can be used for toilet flushing and lawn and garden irrigation. The freiliche* Rabbi S. says that, under Jewish law (halakhah) graywater shouldn't be used for ritual handwashing. He also explains that graywater was analyzed in daf yomi about 2 months ago:

Not only is wastewater reuse consistent with halachic principles, but the Talmud actually addresses the issue of graywater explicitly. In Shabbos 78a, the gemara discusses volumes of liquids which may be transported from one domain to another on Shabbos. The quantity given for wastewater is a r'viis. The gemara then inquires as to the uses for wastewater. The gemara replies that it can be used to mix with clay (an industrial use). The Tosfos (ad loc.) goes even further to differentiate between lightly used non-potable water which could still be used for washing cups and platters and heavily soiled or disgusting water which even then could be reused as suggested by the gemara.

Thanks to a maple syrup-making Rabbi, Talmudic environmentalism lives on...

Kaspit

* "The freiliche farmer - Rabbi ShmuelL Simenowitz is one of the finest guitarists on the Jewish musical scene. Well versed in Jewish liturgical and folk melodies, he blends the different musical styles that shaped his life - Hebraic chant, Southern blues and rock, bluegrass, jazz and reggae. The result was "The Jewish Blues" released in 1980 with long-time friend and musical mentor, guitar legend Roy Buchanan. Simenowitz has toured extensively with his band, "The Jewish Blues" at concerts in colleges and festivals throughout the US, and has accompanied Shlomo Carlebach, Piamenta, and others. In 1995, Shmuel and his family established Sweet Whisper Farms, a horse-powered, organic maple syrup farm in rural Vermont. He heads "Project Ya'aleh V'Yavo" introducing day school students to farming. The Freilicher (happy) Farmer will perform his jolly tunes, and also sell his own maple syrup products, and offer maple syrup tasting."

Risk-taking with a Talmudic frame of mind [DRAFT]

Risks in the modern sense are not systematically addressed by Talmudic thought. Last week, the Talmudic daf yomi reading (bShabbat 129b) covered the risk-taking principle of “The Lord preserves the simple” (shomer peta’im HaShem -- see smoking example). In this post, I’ll try to get a handle on the overall Talmudic context for risk-taking, esp. as it may apply to environmental and occupational hazards. I’ll analyze the shomer peta’im HaShem principle later. [This post and accompanying chart are in draft form. Feel free to comment or ignore…]

Risks are somehow wrapped up in dangers, yet risks are not the same as dangers. So, to judge environmental, occupational, consumer, and other health risks from Talmudic state of mind, we first need to ask, what are dangers?

From danger to risk. Danger is a common term throughout halakhic literature. Dangers include anything that works to one’s serious disadvantage, causing loss, pain, damage, or injury. Life is an awesome and marvelous gift, yet danger is omnipresent. Some basic human activities hurt, like giving birth and dying. Plus, accidents happen. And God happens. In Judaism, the omnipresent HaShem (d/b/a The Almighty) is awe-inspiring and fearsome. Merciful and kind, God is also utterly dangerous. Arguably, any serious loss or harm is caused by HaShem or, at least, under God’s watch.

Danger can be felt. You can have an intuition of danger or look at the white of its eyes. Stand in the eye of the hurricane and then experience its destructiveness. Danger is about as real as pain and death.

“Risk” is a step removed from danger. Risk is a concept, a category of understanding (Kant) that adds to danger another element: chance, hazard, probability. Risk = danger + probability. Probability is found in two types of Talmudic reasoning about uncertainty.[1]

However, in modern thought, probability goes beyond uncertainty. Thanks to probability theory, nowadays ‘risk’ mixes danger with a dose of randomness. For Judaism, randomness seems to cut against a pure theology of divine power. By the same token, randomness throws a wrench into the theological machinery of free will. Perhaps this explains why, in futile protest to the arbitrary and random, Jewish law (halakhah) does not quite have a traditional Hebrew term that translates into ‘risk’

Luckily, Jews tend to eschew systematic theology. Classical Judaism works more smoothly with archetypes than abstract definitions. So, in our narrative and legal discourses, traditional Judaism does not define ‘risk’ yet it talks about numerous risks. Though it may be theologically contradictory or paradoxical, the Talmudic tradition also allows for fate, chance and the random.

Talmudic writings on risk-taking are expressed through various literary forms, e.g. as principles, rules, and cases/examples. To gain an overview of the various Talmudic approaches to risk-taking, I am trying to organize the material in a chart. This DRAFT chart of Talmudic risks takes into account the type of halakhic norm (e.g., prohibition or advice), the subject’s response to the risk (e.g., prevent or take risks), and the risk characterization (level of danger + probability of harm). The chart shows the breadth of risks and range of rabbinic approaches; it also calls attention to the difficulty in formulating a consistent theory of risk-taking for Jewish law.

I would appreciate getting feedback on this work in progress, but it may contain errors so please read it at your own risk.

Good shabbos,

Kaspit

[1] Moshe Koppel analyzes two types of Talmudic reasoning about uncertainty: (1) When the rabbis can count up the possibilities in an uncertain situation, they calculate the odds. The halakhah is then decided with the majority (rov - RDIK). (2) When an uncertainty cannot be counted, I think that the sages reason from ballpark estimates. They then devise an ad hoc probabilistic rule to decide with the majority (rov - RDLK).

“Considering how dangerous everything is, nothing is really very frightening.” (Gertrude Stein)

Sources: [JD Bleich, M Slae, D. Cohen, M Koppel, N Rabinovitch, forthcoming...]

Mercurial Congress lets weak reg's through

EPA's weak mercury emission rule has passed another hurdle on its way to law. Senators Leahy and Collins did not quite get enough votes (47-51) to overturn the pending EPA regulations. As NRDC reports, an appeals court reject a lawsuit against the regs brough by environmental groups and 14 states. Some New England states are trying to move forward with their own regulations, though they obviously can't curtail the emissions coming from big midwestern utilities.

Photo of bald eagle, evidently found with high mercury levels in Indiana.

Kaspit

PS Here's a still relevant post about the prenatal and other hazards of mercury exposure through fish, etc.

Bottle recycling program defended in Israeli court

Israel's "Bottle recycling consortium to continue" reports Haaretz. Yesterday an antitrust court decided to allow a specially-authorized monopolistic consortium to continue collecting returned bottle because dismantling the consortium would harm public interests. Read the whole story, which also noted:

"The organization Adam Teva V'Din [Israel Union for Environmental Defense], which joined the judicial proceedings as a respondent, announced yesterday that the court had acknowledged the importance of the Deposit Law and its implementation. However, the organization added that the law needs to be amended to oblige beverage manufacturers and importers to collect bottles actively, and to cover 1.5 liter bottles." Having drafted Israel's bottle bill in 1999, IUED seeks to improve the program (eg automatic deposit machines).

The first bottle bill passed in Oregon in 1971, pioneering one of the most effective methods of material recycling and reuse. As in Israel, U.S. environmentalists have struggled against bottling companies and retailers to expand the scope of the law, e.g. to cover bottled water.

Israeli greens lose on destructive railway plan

Israel's high-speed train line into Jerusalem will be built along a route that is opposed by environmentalists. Opponents include the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and local activists. Haaretz reports:  "environmentalists claim that the most sensitive section is the bridge over the Yitlah Stream, whose construction and the concomitant extraction of dirt from the region will significantly damage the landscape."

Environmentalists apparently feel betrayed by the park authority, which had worked with them to demand changes to the railway construction plan. Haaretz reports:

The environmental groups criticized the Parks Authority's withdrawal from the struggle. "Having led this campaign, it has now changed its mind at the critical moment. We do not understand the reason for this decision," said a group spokesperson. "The decision by the Nature and Parks [Protection] Authority and its director general will cause tremendous damage to nature and the landscape in this area," said Avraham Shaked, the SPNI's regional coordinator for environmental matters in the Judean Hills, "and we will do everything to prevent this damage."

Read "The Jerusalem high-speed train does not stop for green" here. (HT Hadar Susskind at COEJL) Keep in mind, of course, that mass transit is sorely needed in Israel as an alternative to traffic congestion, road construction, and vehicular air pollution.

Kaspit

NJ labor + environmentalists defend right-to-know access

"New Jersey's Office of the Attorney General has announced the state will abandon plans to establish controversial restrictions to its Open Public Records Act (OPRA). The restrictions, proposed in a state rule change, would have required requesters to prove a "need-to-know" before the state would release information about chemical hazards." From OMB Watch.

Kudos to Rick Engler, executive director of the New Jersey Work Environment Council and a labor union leader who has long struggled against NJ's chemical industries on right-to-know and other toxicality issues.