Daily Score Blog

We've heard a lot about caribou recently, mostly in the fight over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. But fewer people know that the Northwest is home to the last remaining caribou herd to inhabit the lower 48 states. They are considered the most endangered large mammal in the continental United States.

Woodland caribou once ranged in New England, the Upper Midwest, and as far south as the Salmon River in Idaho. Today, the last survivors, the tiny Selkirk herd, occupy only a small range in northeast Washington, northern Idaho, and an adjacent portion of British Columbia. Even in BC, where caribou are relatively abundant, their range has shrunk dramatically as logging, development, and other habitat disruption makes itself felt in the Canadian Rockies. (Click on the small map at right for a look at present and historical range.)

The Selkirk herd has mimicked larger trends in North American caribou. Once numbering between 200 and 400, the herd has clung to a precarious existence since its listing as an endangered species in 1993. At present, the herd comprises only 35 animals, down from a recent high of 52 in 1995, which was achieved partly by three years of "augmentation" during the late-1980s when caribou from northern BC were transplanted to sustain the dwindling population.

Ok, that's a dumb headline.  But the problem itself -- whether to diaper my babies with cloth or disposables -- was one I spent a bit of time agonizing over. 

But perhaps I shouldn't have.  A new study commissioned by the British Environment Agency (reported on here and here) suggests there's almost no difference between the two, at least in terms of environmental impacts.  Which is roughly the same answer that this 1992 study, at the website of our friends at the Institute for Lifecycle Energy Analysis, came to. 

The British study made some suggestions for ways that both disposables and cloth diapers could be improved, to reduce their impacts: for example, the study recommends reducing washing temperature, using efficient washers, and line drying for home-washed cloth diapers.  (Which, of course, is good advice for all your washing, not just diapers.)

From the Christian Science Monitor, evidence that consumers are beginning to think about gas prices as they make new vehicle purchases:

Last month, 49 percent of new-car buyers, the highest level ever, had changed their mind or were thinking strongly about buying a vehicle they would not have considered because of gas prices, according to a survey by Harris Interactive and Kelley Blue Book.

Over the short term, rising gas prices only affect consumption a little bit, because people have only so much flexibility to change their driving habits.  Over the long term, though, people start making more fundamental changes -- where they live, what they drive -- that can lead to more significant reductions in how much gas they use.

There's still plenty of room for skepticism.  Sales of hybrids are surging now, but some industry analysts are predicting that demand will top out, with hybrids commanding a small share of the market.  (Some of those skeptics, of course, are from car companies that don't produce hybrids -- so take those predictions for what they're worth.)  But then there's this:

Even McManus - the hybrid cynic-turned-believer - has serious doubts about how big an impact even a massive surge in hybrid sales will have on reducing America's oil dependence. His analysis, for instance, shows a "rebound effect." For every 1 percent decline in the cost of fuel, Americans drive 1.85 percent more.

That number seems way too high to me, and this lit. review by Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute seems to agree.  Still, all else being equal, increased vehicle fuel efficiency does tend to reduce the cost of driving a mile, which in turn increases the number of miles people drive.  Which leads to this seeming paradox:  in a world of hybrids, we might drive more, but still use less gas.

In other hope-inspiring vehicle news, cleaner diesel vehicles may be on their way.

Increasingly, corporate giants like Jeffrey Immelt (CEO of General Electric, the largest company in the United States), want mandatory controls on greenhouse gas emissions. Here's a NY Times editorial. And a lengthier thoughtful piece in Grist magazine.

There's something ironic about profit-driven corporations practically begging the federal government for regulation and clear rules, when DC leadership is still pretending there's no scientific consensus on climate change or any important international consensus on what to do about it.

News of the weird:  Idaho governor Dirk Kempthorne is lobbying California governor Arnold Swartzenegger to exempt fried potatoes from a list of foods that cause cancer -- even if they do, in fact, cause cancer.  Says one potato-head:

"If the french fry business in California drops, it would hurt everybody," said Keith Esplin, director of the Potato Growers of Idaho. [Emphasis added.]

Everybody, that is, except the folks who might otherwise develop tumors.

Backing up a bit -- frying potatoes and other carbohydrate-rich foods creates acrylamides, which are known to cause cancer in rats.  That evidence is strong enough that the World Health Organization and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization have recommended that people try to avoid acrylamides in their diet.  To be fair, a recent Swedish study found no apparent link between acrylamides and cancer in people, at least at concentrations found in the Swedish diet.  Still, economic risk to potato farmers is absolutely no reason to withhold information about dietary risks from consumers.

In other odd food happenings, (and coinciding with the release of the latest installment of the Star Wars saga), there's this.

Oregonians may not need to wait for the FDA to get over-the-counter access to the emergency contraceptive Plan B.

While the FDA stalls, the Oregon Senate approved a bill on Tuesday by a lopsided 22-6 margin making the medicine available without a prescription, as the Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report notes.

This is great news. If the Oregon House follows suit, Oregon's abortion rate and unintended birth rate will both decline, and it's population growth will abate slightly.

The Corvallis Gazette-Times has more.

The best post-mortem of Tuesday's BC provincial election in at The Tyee.