Enviroblog

This post is by EWG's stellar media intern, Sameem.

The buzz on gas prices has people rethinking the way they travel. USA Today recently reported record breaking public transit ridership based on a study by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). For the months of January through March 2008 ridership increased 10% when compared to the same months in 2007. And while many riders are making the switch due to rising fuel prices, many of them stick to public transit for its “service and convenience," according to Linda Robson of Seattle's Sound Transit. For riders fortunate enough to live and work near major bus and rail lines, the shift makes a lot of sense.

But how many people really have this good fortune? According to the 2006 US census, only about 1 in 5 households. The logical solution: Make bus and rail lines more extensive. The bleak reality: No one wants to pay for it.

Most transit systems are already aging and underfunded. A recent study by the Brookings Institution reported that "45 percent of the nation's subway cars were over 20 years old." The report also noted that of this 45%, half are at least 25 years old – the age at which the Federal Transit Administration recommends replacement. The percentage of rail stations in good condition has fallen from 61% in 1995 to 35% in 2004. It’s evident that the transit system was in dire need of reworking even before these record breaking ridership numbers.

So where does the money come from? At the moment, most transit projects are state and locally funded, with some federal money. The Brookings report also noted that the federal government will generally match state and local funds up to 80-90% for highway projects, but only up to 50-60% for transit projects. Under current policy, it’s clear that spending on public transit takes a backseat. But with the recent increases ridership, it’s time policy makers rethink their spending habits.

APTA is hopeful that an increased investment in transit systems will lead to a reduction on CO2 emissions. According to an APTA report, public transit could potentially reduce CO2 emissions by 37 million tons annually. Currently, they estimate that 55% of household CO2 emissions are a result of privately owned vehicles. With policy and planning reform, this number could be reduced by 30%.

With all that said, I love driving. It’s fun, convenient, and sometimes very necessary. But, given the option, I’d rather have access to a walkable community with easy public transport for my day-to-day activities, and leave driving as a leisurely and/or occasional activity. At the end of the day, it’s important for people to have a wide array of affordable, clean, convenient and energy efficient options for transportation. Federal spending should reflect the changing needs and demands of its population.

Photo by Jorg Etilico.

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As a Seattle native I regularly browse my hometown papers, and last week I stumbled onto a story about a new supermarket opening up just a mile or so from my boyhood home. The idea that a news article about a new Safeway would pique my interest may seem a little strange, but in light of the dwindling number of grocery stores in the inner-cities of America, this article caught my eye.

Things in Bellevue, WA have changed a bit since I left for college 18 years ago, but not for the worse. These days those lucky enough to live and work on the Eastside of Lake Washington across from Seattle are awash in choices for restaurants, high-end clothing stores, cafés, theatres, and of course local supermarkets.

“Up to 40 percent of the produce is organic, the pharmacy in the back is outfitted with cherry wood and looks like a doctor's office and the wine cellar is temperature controlled, encased in glass and features bottles that cost up to $550. Safeway operates about 1,750 stores nationwide and just four have wine cellars.

To show off the new digs and lure in the public, Safeway will offer free food samples from 21 departments through Sunday. A baby grand piano has been set up near the cash registers to play live music through Sunday, too.

Among other upscale features, the seafood bar has doubled in size and features whole octopus, shark steaks and Chilean sea bass. As a promotion, king crab legs will be on sale for $10 per pound and Safeway has brought in a chef from Chateau Ste. Michelle to prepare crab leg samples.”

I HAVE to check this place out. From my count, since the opening of Safeway’s new "Elite" store, the good people of Bellevue (including its most famous resident and the world’s richest person, Bill Gates) will have a plethora of grocery choices within a short distance from their homes and offices. Competing with the city’s two Safeways for business include two Whole Foods, one QFC, one Thriftway, and of course life just isn’t the same without a Trader Joe's near by (for those great deals on a case of Pinot or a huge block of brie).

Meanwhile, access to fresh, healthy foods is becoming unavailable for millions of low-income, mostly African-American and Hispanic families in the inner cities of the same country where others stroll the sushi aisles and wine cellars while listening to Mozart. Grocery stores carrying healthy fruits, vegetables, and other staples of a healthy diet are disappearing, forcing many who live in these communities to either travel longer distances to stock their refrigerators with these essential items, or serve their families fast food.

“In one corner of southeast Queens, four supermarkets have closed in the last two years. Over a similar period in East Harlem, six small supermarkets have closed, and two more are on the brink, local officials said. In some cases, the old storefronts have been converted to drug stores that stand to make money coming and going — first selling processed foods and sodas, then selling medicines for illnesses that could have been prevented by a better diet.

Many people in low-income neighborhoods are spending their food budget at discount stores or pharmacies where there is no fresh produce,” said Amanda Burden, the city’s planning director. “In our study, a significant percentage of them reported that in the day before our survey, they had not eaten fresh fruit or vegetables. Not one. That really is a health crisis in the city.”

One organization helping bring an end to these and other serious systemic problems in these communities across the country is the Prevention Institute. Their ENACT tool helps communities establish better nutrition and higher activity levels through a series of goal-oriented projects.

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Does your sunscreen work? Probably says so on the bottle, but don't be so sure. In this edition of Mixed Greens, we break down how to choose a better sunscreen based on EWG's updated 2008 sunscreen report. Plus, we reveal the brand-leading company without a single recommended product.

Mixed Greens is EWG's environmental health podcast. You can subscribe in iTunes or in a reader, or listen right here in your browser. Check out previous episodes for more Mixed Greens goodness!

Links for Mixed Greens 013

• Top sunscreen picks
  
• Sun protection tips
  
• Who's protecting consumers?
  

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4 out of 5.

That's how many sunscreens failed EWG's examination this summer season. Seriously -- 4. Out of every 5. That's WAY too many.

I mean, I guess it could be because we set the standards so high. We actually expected sunscreens to be safe and effective. Silly us!

Our researchers investigated nearly 1000 products, from brand leaders like Coppertone and Neutrogena, to small-scale producers making specialty products. The results were disheartening, to say the least, but we did manage to fine more than 140 products we're willing to recommend. They tend to have a few things in common:

• The active ingredient is at least 7% zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, not oxybenzone or benzophenone-3.
  
• They don't contain bug repellent. Ingredients in sunscreen can make more of the pesticide absorb into the skin.
  
• They're not spray-on or powder, because those forms are too easy to inhale, and you don't want that.
  
• They don't come from market leaders Coppertone, Neutrogena, or Banana Boat. Fewer than 5% of their more than 100 products were recommended.
  

We've been waiting 30 years for FDA to produce mandatory, comprehensive sunscreen standards. Late last summer they proposed rules for UVA protection, but they still haven't even finalized that! What's the hold up, FDA?

Photo by amuderick.

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In April, I told you about how citizen protests had forced the state to rethink its plans to spray an artificial pheremone over urban Northern California to eradicate a pest called the light brown apple moth. Now, upon further deliberation, the state has decided it won't spray after all, but will do what anti-spray forces had called for all along: Release sterile light brown apple moths, let nature take its course and the pests will die out.

It's a great victory for public health, common sense and people power. What's annoying is the state's refusal to admit that the will of the people was what forced its hand. After the decision not to spray was announced, the state's secretary of agriculture, A.G. Kawamura, wrote an op-ed (which the Chronicle dutifully printed) in which he tried to claim that was his department's idea all along:

In early 2007, we sought the advice of an international panel of scientists who are apple moth experts, and they advised us to begin emergency eradication efforts using the pheromone treatments - but they also advised a substantial investment in adapting the sterile insect technique for use against this pest.

This technique eradicates an infestation by releasing large quantities of sterilized, infertile insects so that the wild population cannot reproduce. It has been successful for more than 30 years in California and around the globe against a variety of insects; indeed, it was the alternative that ended California's use of aerial Malathion treatments against the Mediterranean fruit fly.

Raising a captive insect colony and adapting the technique to the new pest are technically and biologically complex tasks, so we were advised that this work could take several years to bear fruit. Fortunately, our scientists have surprised us with a breakthrough - we now plan to begin releasing the sterile moths in early 2009.

Wait a minute, Mr. Secretary. Did you say that this safe, non-toxic method was previously used successfully against the notorious Medfly? And it worked? So why didn't you try that first this time?

No matter, says Cameron Scott of The Thin Green Line. It's a victory for the precautionary principle -- the no-brainer idea that if you don't know something is safe, don't expose people to it.

. . . [T}he change represents the victory of a "presumed dangerous until proven safe" approach to chemicals over the United States' standard "presumed safe until proven dangerous" approach. As Mark Schapiro's book, Exposed, reveals, European countries have long adopted the approach California citizens backed by demanding more proof that the pesticide caused neither immediate nor long-term damage to humans. Europe, for reasons likely including this legal bias, has better health outcomes than the United States.

Cameron Scott (and Mark Schapiro) are right to contrast U.S. policy, which allows industrial chemicals on the market without proof of safety, with the more precautionary approach of Europe. But there's a movement building in the U.S. for an even father-reaching revolution in chemical regulation. It's called the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act, and you can learn more about it here.

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