Newsbriefs

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have jointly released an

update on the status of ozone depletion, confirming the effectiveness of international measures to restrict the use of ozone-depleting substances. The new report, “Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion – 1998” (an executive summary was released in June), was prepared by more than 200 scientists from around the world. According to the assessment, the combined total abundance of ozone-depleting compounds in the troposphere (the lowest part of the atmosphere) peaked in 1994 and is now slowly declining—except for bromine, which is still increasing. Levels of ozone-depleting substances in the stratosphere (12-45 km above the ground) have been leveling off and are expected to peak around the year 2000. The report suggests that it might take another 20 years for conclusive evidence that the ozone layer is recovering and that a full recovery of the Earth’s protective ozone layer could occur by the mid-21st Century if the Montreal Protocol and follow-up international agreements are fully implemented. The report will be published in its entirety later this year. Contact Robert Bisset, UNEP Media and Communications Officer in Nairobi: +254-2-623084 (telephone) or robert.bisset@unep.org (e-mail).

The Last Straw, a quarterly newsletter about strawbale building, has been transferred from its founders, Matts Myhrman and Judy Knox, to Network Productions, Inc. in Kingston, New Mexico, a nonprofit organization devoted to sustainability education. The publication will be maintained on a quarterly basis through the leadership of NPI co-founder Catherine Wanek. Myhrman and Knox will concentrate their seemingly boundless energy on strawbale educational workshops and inspiration to new strawbale builders through Out On Bale, (un)Ltd., 1037 E. Linden Street, Tucson, AZ 85719. To contact the newsletter: The Last Straw, HC 66, Box 119, Hillsboro, NM 88042; 505/895-5400; thelaststraw@zianet.com (e-mail). The Spring 1998 issue has a series of excellent articles on moisture issues with strawbale building.

The developers of STAPLES Center sports arena in Los Angeles achieved a remarkable

98% recycling rate for demolition waste when razing the existing North Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center. More than 16,000 tons of waste were kept out of area landfills through the effort, which was done in conjunction with the City of Los Angeles Integrated Solid Waste Management Office, the Citywide Sustainable Design Task Force, and the Community Redevelopment Agency. Most of the demolition waste (concrete) was crushed and used on-site as backfill and grading. For information, call the Integrated Solid Waste Management Office at 213/847-1444.

A dozen San Francisco Bay communities, including the most recent, Windsor, have now adopted

urban growth boundaries. According to the May/June issue of

Common Ground, three city counselors who had faced recall elections because of their support of urban growth boundaries have held their seats by a wide voter margin.

Arizona residents will vote on governor Jane Hull’s proposal to spend $190 million over 10 years to

preserve open space according to the May/June 1998 issue of

Common Ground. The measure would be paid for with corporate income taxes. Another ballot initiative in Arizona, this one requiring cities to adopt urban growth boundaries, is being proposed by Citizens for Growth Management (602/254-8581).

Newsbriefs

Plants are in trouble. The first-ever worldwide assessment of the status of vascular plants (these are the dominant land plants) does not look good. “The IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants,” published by IUCN – The World Conservation Union, shows that

one in eight

plant species is at risk of extinction. In the U.S., 4,669 vascular plant species, or 29% of the total, are threatened, while on some island nations the percentages are far higher: 41% on St. Helens and 39% on Mauritius. This report is the result of a 20-year effort, led in the United States by The Nature Conservancy, the National Museum of Natural History, and the New York Botanical Garden. For information or to purchase the report ($52.65), contact the New York Botanical Garden at 718/817-8721.

Recent rains have abated

Indonesian fires that razed an estimated 620,000 acres (250,000 hectares) this year. Klaus Toepher, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), says the situation could become “one of the greatest ecological disasters of the millenium.”

Awards & Competitions

The

1999 EnergyValue Housing Award, recognizing leadership in residential energy efficiency, is accepting applications postmarked by August 15, 1998. Entries postmarked by June 15 qualify for a reduced entry fee. Contact the NAHB Research Center at 800/638-6556 x700, 301/249-3265 (fax), or through their Web site: www.nahbrc.org.

Energy production and consumption data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the U.S. Department of Energy showed 1997 to be another record year.

Total U.S. energy consumption was 90.6 quads (95.6 x 10

¹² MJ). While this is less than a 1% increase over 1996, it does not bode well for achieving targeted reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, which are roughly proportional to energy use. Reflected in these numbers are a 2.1% increase in coal consumption compared to 1996, a 0.12% increase in natural gas consumption, and a 1.3% increase in petroleum consumption. At the same time, there was a 6.7%

decrease in nuclear power use to 6.7 quads (7.1 x 10

¹² MJ)—the second consecutive annual reduction in nuclear output. Hydroelectric consumption was up 2.3% at 3.9 quads (4.1 x 10

¹² MJ). The “other” category, with wood, waste-to-energy, wind, photovoltaics, and solar thermal, still barely registers on the EIA tables, with total 1997 consumption of 0.039 quads (41 x 10

⁹ MJ), just 0.04% of the total. Net energy imports in 1997 grew 5.9% to a record 20.4 quads (21.5 x 10

¹² MJ), with net dependence on imports (47.9%) reaching a record for the third year.

The recently formed

Wisconsin Green Building Alliance (see

EBN Vol. 6, No. 8) has gotten a big boost with a $68,000 grant from the

Recycling Market Development Board. WGBA is sponsoring an impressive series of events and other initiatives, and is seeking members. Contact

WGBA director Abby Vogen at 608/280-0360 or by e-mail at avogen@

wgba.wi-ei.org.

Newsbriefs

In what is, to our knowledge, a first, the

State of Vermont has exempted the sale of donated, used building materials from sales tax. Bill number H. 771, signed into law by Governor Howard Dean on April 29, 1998, officially exempts “sales of scrap materials generated in the course of construction or demolition and diverted from waste disposal at the construction or demolition job site; provided that the sale is not by the generator and is by a person who received the materials from the generator with no payment.” This bill was reportedly introduced as a result of lobbying by Cindy Blakeslee of Residuum, a used building materials store in Barre, Vermont.