A new program is making it easier for Puget Sound residents to make their homes more efficient. Through a partnership with Efficiency Services Group (a division of Portland General Electric), HomeStreet Bank has started the

Mortgage Options for Resource Efficiency (MORE™) program. Participants in the program receive custom home energy analyses to help them determine which water- and energy-saving upgrades make the most sense, and then add $4,000 worth of improvements directly to their mortgages. Common improvements include replacing clothes washers, toilets, and showerheads, and upgrading insulation and airtightness. Homeowners typically save far more money on water and energy bills each month than the mortgage payment increase. See www.homestreet.com.

The

Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) was launched in December 2003, initiated by Meeting Strategies Worldwide, of Portland, Oregon. Recognizing that over a million meetings and events, and over 12,000 tradeshows, are held each year, GMIC is committed to “balancing economic, environmental, and community objectives as they relate to the meeting industry” by promoting a variety of green strategies. The organization hopes to play a parallel role in the meetings industry to that played by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in the building industry; with the help of Terri Stewart, GMIC interim board member and USGBC vice president for finance and operations, GMIC plans to develop a standard and certification system for green meetings. More information is available from Amy Spatrisano, at 503-731-8971 or amy@greenmeetings.info.

In an appendix to the draft environmental impact statement for the

World Trade Center reconstruction project in lower Manhattan is a set of sustainable development guidelines that should help green the huge 16-acre (6.5 ha) development. Already, construction equipment on the site is using low-sulfur diesel fuel and high-performance filters—a requirement that will be extended citywide. Other features in the guidelines include energy efficiency measures and reclamation of water from rooftops for indoor and irrigation uses. Daniel R. Tishman, chairman of Tishman Construction—the company that built the Condé Nast Building at 4 Times Square and is now building 7 World Trade Center and the new Freedom Tower—was among the authors of the guidelines. Current plans call for propeller-driven wind turbines in the Freedom Tower to supply up to 20% of the building’s electricity.

A recent study that compared development patterns to the health of over 200,000 people in 448 counties in major metropolitan areas around the U.S. found that

car-dependent suburbanites suffer from obesity and high blood pressure at a greater rate than city-dwellers. The report, “Relationship between Urban Sprawl and Physical Activity, Obesity, and Morbidity,” was published in the

American Journal of Health Promotion. Smart Growth America and the Surface Transportation Policy Project have published a companion report, “Measuring the Health Effects of Sprawl,” documenting much of the data behind the original study. Both reports are available online at www.smartgrowthamerica.com.

“Renewable energy sources could provide the equivalent to today’s production of both thermal and nuclear power combined.” While such a claim might be expected from environmentalists, this conclusion came from the

Clean Air Renewable Energy Coalition, a unique alliance of Canadian corporations (including energy producers Shell Canada, BP Canada, and Suncor Energy), municipalities, and environmental organizations. The coalition recently published a report, “Vision for a Low-Impact Renewable Energy Future for Canada,” as part of a campaign to encourage “long-term, broad, market and government incentives that will transform green types of electricity from a ‘niche’ player in the marketplace to a commonly utilized electricity source.” The report is at www.cleanairrenewableenergycoalition.com for further reference.

Meanwhile, University of Georgia researchers have found that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)—including fluoxetine and other common

antidepressants—delay both development in fish and metamorphosis in frogs. The affected animals eventually caught up with their drug-free peers, “but we know that in water, timing is everything,” noted aquatic toxicologist Marsha Black, who led the Georgia study. The timing of maturity is often linked to algal blooms or the filling of ephemeral ponds, for example, and delays can mean failure to reproduce.

Traces of fluoxetine hydrochloride, the active ingredient in the drug

Prozac, have been found in fish in central Texas, according to a Baylor University study led by toxicologist Dr. Bryan Brooks. “Maybe it makes you a happy fish and you’re kind of hanging out,” said Brooks, but he questions the drug’s effect on the ability of fish to catch prey and to avoid being preyed upon. Scientists speculate that the drugs wound up in fish after passing through human bodies, sewer systems, and wastewater treatment facilities.

A study by leading global climate scientist Dr. James Hansen and Dr. Larissa Nazarenko of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies suggests that carbon black (soot) from the

burning of diesel, biomass, and other fuels may contribute more than was previously thought to global warming, especially in polar regions. Soot accumulation on the surface of snow and ice reduces its reflectivity, increasing melting and contributing to higher temperatures in polar regions. This effect may account for as much as 25% of the warming in polar regions, according to the study, which was published in the January 13, 2004 issue of the

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Global climate change will prompt

widespread extinction within decades, according to an international group of 19 scientists. The group studied more than 1,000 species representing roughly 20% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface and found that, if current warming trends continue, 15–37% of them will be “committed to extinction” by 2050. The report, “Extinction Risk from Climate Change,” was published in the journal

Nature on January 8, 2004.

The year 2003 tied 2002 as the

second-hottest year on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). All five of the hottest years on record (since record-keeping began in 1880) have now occurred since 1997. Details are available on NOAA’s Climate Data Center Web site, at www.ncdc.noaa.gov.