News Briefs: EU's environmental performance

FEBRUARY 15, 2004 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY □ 71A ... research rather than policy actions ... ments in EU policies since 2001,...
1 downloads 0 Views 52KB Size
energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies but castigates the Administration for its continued promotion of technologies such as clean coal and hydrogen from fossil fuels, which, in his view, are likely to result in fewer greenhouse gas reductions. Both Davies and Rajan also fault the reports for omitting information on the conditions that would cause greenhouse-gasreducing technologies to be adopted and the potential for modest lifestyle changes to further reduce emissions. According to DOE, the agency coordinating the CCTP, the United States has the world’s largest climate change research budget, with increases requested for Fiscal Year 2004. A DOE spokesperson was not able to point to specific numbers in the 2004 budget request because it is allocated among so many different agencies. However, in 2002 the government spent $1.6 billion on CCTP programs, roughly one-third of the $4.5 billion spent on all climate change programs. To see the reports Research and Current Activities and Technology Options for the Near- and LongTerm, go to www.climatetechnol ogy.gov. KELLYN S. BETTS

Stanton Miller (1931–2003) Stanton Miller, former longtime managing editor of ES&T, died on December 17 at his home in Reno, Nev. Miller joined the ES&T A-page staff as an assistant editor in 1967 and was appointed managing editor in 1973. In 1993, he was promoted to executive editor and retired one year later. Julian Josephson, who worked closely with Miller for 20 years, remembers that Miller was well known by many of the important environmental leaders of his day. “Stan set up interviews with scientists, high government people, and corporate managers,” Josephson recalls, which led to informative articles. “Within logical limits, Stan used to give his staff quite a lot of freedom to seek out topics,” he adds. In a 1995 editorial, then ES&T Editor William Glaze paid tribute to Miller by crediting him for leading “ES&T through good and bad years, but he always held to high principles of scientific journalism.” Glaze also recalled a promise made to readers in a 1973 editorial, in which Miller wrote that “ES&T intends to keep readers aware of what is really happening on the environmental scene, to dig beneath the surface for facts and insights.” Miller is survived by his wife of 42 years, Kathleen, 4 children, and 8 grandchildren. —ALAN NEWMAN

News Briefs EU’s environmental performance The European Union (EU) has made progress on reducing the greenhouse gases implicated in climate change, conserving biodiversity, improving environmental health, and managing its natural resources more effectively, according to the European Commission’s first systematic overview and analysis of environmental policies, which was published in December. The main purpose of the Environmental Policy Review is to report on developments in EU policies since 2001, including the 6th European Environment Programme, and highlight current priorities. To view the report, go to http://www.europa.eu.int/ comm/environment/docum/index. htm.

Hybrid named Car of the Year The Toyota Prius, a hybrid electric vehicle, was named 2004 Motor Trend Car of the Year by Motor Trend, the magazine that has bestowed the automobile industry’s most coveted and recognized award for 55 years. “We realize the selection of a hybrid vehicle is going to stir controversy, but we believe the performance, engineering advancements, and overall significance of the Toyota Prius merit the distinction,” according to Kevin Smith, Motor Trend’s editor-in-chief. “[The Prius] provides a promising look at a future where extreme fuel efficiency, ultralow emissions, and exceptional performance will happily coexist.” The editorial staff at Motor Trend tested 26 vehicles. The six-year-old Prius was eligible because of engineering changes that propelled the formerly compact car into the mid-sized class for this model year.

FEBRUARY 15, 2004 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ■ 71A

TOYOTA

cal optimism expressed in the CCTP agenda seems naïve and misplaced,” he says. The CCTP’s organizers also need to identify important cross-cutting issues that should be addressed from the perspectives of both science and technology, says Robert Socolow, a professor at Princeton University’s Environmental Institute. “One example is the investigation of the environmental impacts of the deployment of energy and environmental technologies at the huge scale required to contribute significantly to the mitigation of climate change. Priority needs to be given in the two plans to investigations, for example, of the consequences for climate change of very large-scale wind harvesting, the stability of methane clathrates under large-scale production, and the ecological consequences of large-scale biological storage of carbon in forestry and agriculture,” he says. The Administration’s focus on research rather than policy actions also continues to draw fire. The reports dwell too heavily on “future solutions when there are damned good solutions now,” says Kert Davies, a research director for the environmental group Greenpeace. He praises the reports for including