World News Clips

Cementing our Doom
UK -- The vision of a thriving global economy is inextricably tied to massive growth: construction booms, urban sprawl, high-rises and highways. Growth means cement and making cement produces CO2 - vast amounts of it. Joseph Davidovits of the University of Picardy's Geopolymer Institute in France estimates that producing 1.4 billion tons of cement each year also produces 7 percent of the world's planet-warming CO2 - more than is produced by all the world's aircraft. With cement production growing 5 percent a year, the cement industry could account for 10 percent of global CO2 emissions by 2000. Cement-making is not only highly polluting, it is also energy-intensive, requiring temperatures of 1450° C (2642° F) to convert calcium carbonate into calcium oxide. Davidovits has called for a global effort to reduce the use of cement and develop less-polluting alternatives. This may be a hard road: According to New Scientist, a 1997 EU proposal to cut Europe's CO2 emissions through energy taxes specifically exempted the cement industry "because its energy use is so high that it was thought a tax would damage it."

Situation Nornal
UK-- The futuristic world of the Terminator movies - wherein large, implacable combat machines wage war on humans - has moved a little bit closer. CyberLife, the company that created the on-line computerized entities known as "norns" (once created, they socialize and breed on their own, learning and evolving as they go) has joined forces with the British Ministry of Defense (MOD). MOD has placed norn "pilots" inside virtual fighter jets. According to Newsweek, the tiny Terminators quickly learned how to "evade attackers, shoot down enemy aircraft and complete reconnaissance missions." CyberLife's Anil Malhorta told Newsweek, "We're building them their own miniature plane to pilot in the real world. They'll be taking off in about six months."

Cities Band to Beat Global Warming
US -- Fifty-five US cities and counties have joined Cities for Climate Protection, a campaign to cut CO2 emissions at the local level. Recognizing the folly of waiting for the US Congress to act on ratifying global CO2- reduction agreements, CCP cities are preparing "local action plans" that will cut 44 million tons of greenhouse gases - equivalent to removing 6.7 million cars from the road. The CCP cities, home to nearly one-tenth of the US population, are responsible for 8 percent of the country's CO2 emissions. The CCP is promoting energy efficiency programs, bicycling and recycling. [CCP-US, 1429 Bancroft way, Berkeley CA 94702]

Big Oil's Greenhouse Scam Exposed
US -- An eight-page memo leaked to the New York Times exposed a secret American Petroleum Institute plan to discredit the global warming phenomenon and hire 20 "respected climate scientists" to undercut "prevailing scientific wisdom." The API plan called for spending $5 million over two years to push "scientific views consistent with ours on Congress, the media and other key audiences." A sum of $600,000 was to have been spent courting science writers, editors, columnists and TV reporters. When the plan was exposed, embarrassed API officials tried to disclaim it as a "very, very tentative" document. When the Times contacted companies listed as participating in the plan, Chevron admitted taking part; Exxon did not respond. On another front, the US Chamber of Commerce and the Committee to Preserve American Security and Sovereignty have enlisted Lawrence Eagleburger and James Schlesinger, former respective Secretaries of State and Defense, to attack the Kyoto Climate Treaty as a threat to US "foreign policy, national security and military readiness."

Suharto, Kissinger and "Jim Bob" Moffett
INDONESIA -- "Risky Business: The Grasberg Gold Mine" is designed to look like a corporate annual report, but PT Freeport Indonesia can't be too happy about the publication. "Risky Business" was actually produced by Project Underground, a mining watchdog group that wastes no time in exposing the company's role in the destruction of the land and water and the deaths of local people.

The report describes PT Freeport as "the Suharto family and regime's biggest pet piggy bank" and cites Amien Rais (leader of the Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah) who argues that the Grasberg mine violates Article 33 of Indonesia's Constitution. The constitution states that the country's earth, water and natural resources are to be used for the good of all the people of Indonesia.

Project Underground's annual report identifies James "Jim Bob" Moffett as "easily the most overpaid chief executive officer in the mining industry." Moffett heads PT Freeport's parent company, US-based Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold. Joining Moffett on the Freeport McMoRan board are Henry Kissinger and former US Senator J. Bennett Johnston. The handsomely illustrated, heavily footnoted, 28-page report is available from Project Underground [$6 US, $8 international. VISA, Mastercharge or check to: 1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94703, (510) 705-8981, www.moles.org]

Ad Nauseam
Climate changing? Polar ice-pack melting? Worried about floods? Relax. Noah had the Ark. We've got Hondas. This appalling ad - which suggests that cars offer an escape from the consequences of global warming when they are, in fact, the cause - appeared in Audubon magazine.

The Journal's runner-up award goes to the creators of a General Motors ad homage to perpetual adult infantilism: "The Dodge Caravan. Think of it as a tree house for adults."