From: Lelani Arris <larris@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: sci.environment
Date: 14 Sep 92 17:30 PDT
Subject: ECIX Newsletter #11 - Sept 1992 (41
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1466601762:000:40399
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!larris    Sep 14 17:30:00 1992


From: Lelani Arris <larris>
Subject: ECIX Newsletter #11 - Sept 1992 (41K)


The EcoNet Energy and Climate Information Exchange Newsletter

Volume 2, Number 6
September, 1992

Edited by Lelani Arris

This month's issue features an essay on the meaning of roads and
cars in our culture.  We also have our usual lineup of EcoNet 
conference highlights and upcoming events.

The ECIX Climate Digest is published concurrently with this
newsletter - included in this month's issue is a special 
supplement on sustainable development, a discussion of climate 
change skeptics, information on some new publications, a 
discussion of energy supply as it relates to sustainable 
development, and more!  The digest can be found in the conference
<climate.news>.

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is an
international computer network of environmental activists and
educators with over 10,000 users worldwide. EcoNet is one of the
APC networks, based in San Francisco, with users connecting via
the Internet, SprintNet, international public data networks or
through one of the other APC networks. The ECIX project is funded
by a grant from the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, with
additional support from the Energy Foundation. For more
information about subscribing to EcoNet or one of the other APC
networks, send e-mail to support@igc.apc.org.

If you are not an APC subscriber, or if you are on an APC node
which does not have access to one of the listed conferences, and
you would like more information about any of the subjects covered
in this newsletter, please send e-mail to the editor at
larris@igc.apc.org, indicating the topic(s) that you are 
interested in.

If you are an APC user, you can find any of the referenced topics
by going to the specified conference and then (s)earching by 
(t)itle for the topic of interest.

Feel free to reproduce or distribute any part of this newsletter
with the appropriate credit. Contributions and letters are
encouraged, and can be sent to the editor at larris@igc.apc.org


Table of Contents

1. Editorial - An Ode to the Road
2. Conference Highlights - en.energy
3. Conference Highlights - en.climate
4. Conference Highlights - transport
5. Conference Highlights - other conferences
6. Calendar

******************************************************************

Editorial

An ode to the road.....

As I made my way one evening from productive human being to
semi-vegetative couch potato, remote control clutched in hand, I
stumbled across an old movie, "Duel", perhaps one of Steven
Spielberg's first.  And in that first flash of half-remembered
scenes from too many years past, I felt compelled to sit and
watch this strange drama of the road unfold yet again.

For those of you for whom the name of the movie does not trigger
those same flashes of memory, this is the bizarre story of a man
who sets off on a quite ordinary drive across the southwest, only
to be beset by a faceless truck driver who appears determined to
kill our hero for the rash act of passing him early in the film.
This strange journey lasts all of two hours with commercials
interspersed, with endless scenes of road and car and ancient
fuel truck in pursuit until it ends in the inevitable car and
truck crashing in slow motion down some dry ravine with driver
miraculously alive after it all...

Having seen the movie once before in the distant past, I found
that despite the urge to watch all the way to this foregone
conclusion, my mind drifted off into the remarkable way in which
the road, and its constant companion the automobile, has
insinuated itself into every aspect of our lives.  And wondered,
as a corollary to those thoughts, how we North Americans will ever
extricate ourselves from this deadly obsession.

My own fascination with the road extends far back into my own
childhood, perhaps to the very day that my parents drove me home
from the hospital.  My first memories are of Sunday drives and
longer summer trips; four-wheeling in the mountains and carrying
tools for my father while he cursed over an endless succession of
dysfunctional vehicles.  I watched as Interstate 70 obliterated
our small section of the old U.S. Highway 40, and saw how it
turned my small hometown into a bedroom community for the city,
now an easy commute.

Later, as a teenager, I rode the Greyhound bus from Denver to
Vermont, not once, but so many times that over three years I
spent a month and a half of my life on board a bus.  I grew to
know each highway, each station, those for whom the bus station
was home and the hundreds of strangers who, like me, were on
their way from somewhere to somewhere else...To me the road was a
peculiar interlude between two very different lives in two very
different places, linked only by my body which journeyed between
them.  And I was someone different each time, changed by the road
and my experiences along the way.

Since then, I have driven coast-to-coast several times; north to
the Arctic Circle and south almost to Mexico; driven freeways in
cities and active logging roads in the bush with equal
trepidation.  And although I am currently fortunate enough not to
have to drive to work, and in fact often go for days without
getting into a vehicle, there is still the occasional urge to get
in the old beater and go (tempered somewhat by the age of my car
and the price of fuel up here) - follow a road to see where it
goes, take a visiting friend to see the sights, drive to the city
(4 hours!) for supplies that just can't be found in this small
town.

Who among us has not experienced this overwhelming conditioning
from our earliest days -- the automobile and the highway as
integral parts of our lives?  The car and the road are not mere
conveniences to carry us to and fro, nor are they something that
given an alternative we could easily abandon - they are rooted
much deeper into our collective psyche than simple facts about
climate change and pollution and accident rates can ever hope to
eradicate.

From John Steinbeck to Easy Rider to Willie Nelson, how many
songs and stories and movies have exalted the road; have praised
it for the future that it promises or cursed it for the reality
it inevitably brings?  We are all children of the highway - it
lurks in our subconscious and reminds us that no matter how bad
things may seem there is always a road and some kind of vehicle
that will take us to those greener pastures that we know exist
somewhere around the bend.

How many subcultures have sprung up around this central facet of
our lives?  Truckers and bikers and those frightening caravans of
RVs replete with bright orange numbers and nametags, not to
mention the great mass of commuters that take to the roads each
and every day - all part of a daily existence so familiar that we
are hard pressed to envision life without these things.

Automobile commercials promise us love, sex, prestige, and access
to just about anywhere, provided we buy the right vehicle.  More
than that, our entire society is built upon the movement of
products from one place to another - our morning coffee from
South America, our tomatoes from California, lumber from the
Pacific Northwest, and lobster from Maine.  How many of us would
be content with only the products that could be grown or
manufactured within our local communities?

And though cars and trains and planes (and telecommunications)
have made the world a smaller place than it was a few decades
ago, it is also much less stable in many ways.  How many of us
still live in the same town we grew up in?  The same state?  How
many of us at least once in our lives have found the road an
easier solution to a problem than staying and working it
through?  How many relationships, families, even entire
communities have been lost to the siren song of the highway?

Perhaps it is not truly the fault of the gasoline fueled vehicle,
though surely it has given us a mobility much greater than
anything that came before it.  Our heritage, in North America at
least, is a product of the wanderlust that brought our ancestors
here.  From Europe to the east coast, and from there a steady
march westward over not so many generations - many of us are
descended from those who succumbed to the promise of something
better at the end of the journey.  Now that there is no longer a
frontier, we simply mill about - aimlessly driving down one
highway to the next, driven by a hunger that the road can never
fully satisfy.

Or perhaps it goes deeper still, back to our origins as
hunter-gatherers.  The amount of time since we first became
farmers and started settling in a single place represents a mere
one tenth of one percent of the time that humans have existed on
this planet.  The urge to move is more ingrained in our blood
than the urge to stay still - driven once by the need to find
food, we are now perhaps driven by the need to find some sense in
a world gone quite mad around us.

So, the question I would like to pose to all of you is: How can
we shift our collective urge to move, to drive, to be somewhere
else, into the infinitely more sustainable vision of community,
staying in one place, travelling only locally, and using wherever
possible local products and resources?  I strongly doubt that we
will get there with gasoline taxes and bicycle advocacy alone.
How do we shift the image of cars and roads from the current
romantic, "go anywhere - do anything" (i.e., FREEDOM) version to
one where cars are automatically associated with urban pollution,
visual eyesores, poor land use, and global warming?  And how do
we do this before the natural constraints of limited resources
and the capacity of the earth to absorb our poisons does it for
us?

(I originally wrote this piece solely for my own amusement, but
while casting about for a lead article for this month's
newsletter found it drifting about among old and forgotten
files.  I hope it will provoke some thought, as well as some
responses -- Lelani)

******************************************************************

Conference Highlights - en.energy

Wind Energy Weekly now online!

Back issues of the Wind Energy Weekly, a publication of the
American Wind Energy Association, are now being posted each week
in this conference.  Although each issue is about 3 months old
when posted, many the articles are still quite timely.  Recent
issues posted have included news on the effects of wind turbines
on birds, a discussion of CO2 emissions trading, results of a
U.S. survey on public support for renewable energy (62% support
it!), new wind turbine installations around the country, and
more!  Look for the topics with titles "***Wind Energy Weekly
#XXX***", followed by the articles whose titles begin with "--".

U.S. Elections and Energy Policy

Several new topics discuss Clinton's position on energy, and
Bush's record.  Be sure to see "Clinton on Energy Issues" and
"Democratic Platform on Energy" (8/18/92), "Clinton on Mileage
Standards" (8/25/92), "BUSH Administration Hushes Auto Eff"
(8/31/92), "BUSH: The "Energy President" (I)" and "BUSH: The
"Energy President" (II)" (9/1/92).

Some interesting tidbits from some of these topics include the
news that due to pressure from the Bush Administration, the EPA
stopped publishing an annual report which showed that new car
fuel efficiency could be greatly enhanced without reductions in
vehicle size (the auto industry's classic argument against CAFE
standards).  Other Bush Administration statistics: From
1981-1989, federal funding for mass transit was reduced by 50%
and funding in the DOE budget for renewable energy research was
reduced by 90%!

In other recent news, documents published by the U.S. government
after litigation by the group Citizens Action show that, despite
vehement denials by the Bush Administration, the U.S. *has*
influenced the pricing of oil from Saudi Arabia.  The documents
show that pressure was exerted in 1984 to lower prices, and again
in 1986 to bolster prices.  They also show that the Saudis
informed Washington of proposed actions before OPEC meetings
("IPS: Bush, Saudis Collude on Oil", 8/18/92).

New Publications

A few new publications are out which are of interest to the
energy community.  "Renewable News" is for New Englanders who
generate their own power (or want to) and costs only $5 per year
- see response 18 in the topic "Energy-Related Publications"
(7/22/87) for details on subscribing.  "Energy Ideas" is a
monthly report on renewable energy and energy efficiency in the
U.S. government - see the topic "New Energy Efficiency
Newsletter" (9/4/92) for details.  Finally, a new report is
available from the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA),
entitled "Fuelling Development: Energy Technologies for
Developing Countries" ("Help Info on AP-600 Power Generato",
6/29/92, responses 3 & 4).

Renewable News & Resources

A novel experiment in rural electrification using solar energy is
taking place in Morapatawa, Sri Lanka ("IPS: Solar Energy in Sri
Lanka", 8/26/92).  Ground source heat pumps can be a good
alternative for home heating - see the topic "Ground Source Heat
Pumps - need in" (8/13/92) for some suggested resources for more
information.  And the topic "Solar Fuel Alcohol" (9/1/92)
contains a design for a simple solar still which can be used to
generate fuel alcohol.

Utility Issues

Are ratepayer owned electric utilities good or bad?  The topic
"Ratepayer-owned - GOOD or BAD??" (7/31/92) has an interesting
discussion of the pros and cons of this subject, with some
examples of how things have gone in the United Kingdom, as well as
the proposal to privatize Ontario's electric industry.

Coal is back on top as an electric generating fuel in the United
States.  The topic "King Coal Is Back" (8/22/92) discusses how
this has come about, and the implications.  According to this
article, coal now accounts for 54.9% of the electric power fuel
market, and U.S. coal production is expected to exceed one
billion tons this year.  As for its contribution towards global
warming, here's what one power company executive thinks...
"Global warming will make wastelands of some populated areas but
make some other places livable. Maybe you'll want to move some
people from Zimbabwe to Siberia, for example," says L.G.
Brackeen, a vice president at Houston Lighting & Power Co., a
unit of Houston Industries Inc.

CAFE Standards

The topic "auto fuel economy polling data" (9/2/92) contains a
report from the Communications Consortium about the history and
current status of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards
in the United States.  It also summarizes public polls taken over
the past few years which indicate that a majority of Americans
favor increased fuel economy standards even if they mean an
increase in new car prices.

******************************************************************

Conference Highlights - en.climate

Greenfreeze - New CFC-free refrigerator

In Germany, Greenpeace and DKK Scharfenstein have developed a new
refrigerator which contains no CFC-foamed insulation or CFC or
CFC-substitute coolants.  The coolant is a propane/butane
mixture, which has prompted concern about explosiveness.
However, the amount contained in these refrigerators is
equivalent to "about the amount of two lighter fillings" and thus
poses little risk, except perhaps in the manufacturing process.
The refrigerator operates with about the same energy-efficiency
as standard refrigerators using CFC coolants.  So far, over
65,000 orders have been placed for the new refrigerator.

For details, see the topics "Greenfreeze CFC-free refrigerator"
(7/28/92), "GREENFREEZE-the only fridge without" (7/30/92), "how
safe is the green refrigerator" (8/3/92), "GREENFREEZE: HELP
NEEDED" (8/3/92), and "GREEN FREEZE Update" (8/14/92).  These
topics have been collected into a file named "greenfrig" which is
available via anonymous ftp from igc.org, or via email from
ecixfiles@igc.apc.org.

Greenhouse Gases

According to a recent report in the journal Nature, methane
concentrations in the atmosphere are rising more slowly than they
were a decade ago.  Suggested reasons for the drop include a
levelling off of global rice production as well as the world's
cattle population, as well as changes in oil drilling practices
("methane buildup slowing down", 8/11/92).

China has signed a 25 million dollar agreement with the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment
Facility (GEF) to reduce air pollution and curb energy use.  The
agreement will focus primarily on more efficient use of coal and
recovery of coal-bed methane, a potent greenhouse gas released
during the production of coal.  China's reliance on coal as an
energy source currently makes it one of the world's largest
emitters of CO2 ("IPS: China cleaning up the air", 8/23/92).

A new report from the Washington-based Investor Responsibility
Research Center indicates that U.S. industry has adopted a
"wait-and-see" approach to reducing greenhouse gases, following
the lead of President George Bush.  As a result, U.S. industry
has fallen behind global competitors in developing and marketing
new technologies better suited for a greenhouse world ("IPS: US
industry not adapting", 8/23/92).

Ozone Depletion

Ozone Action groups are forming around Australia to campaign for
revisions to the Montreal Protocol.  To find out more, write to
Carrie Sonneborn, Australian Conservation Foundation,
acfgc@peg.apc.org ("Ozone action", 8/3/92).  Developing nations
are expected to be hit the hardest by the Montreal Protocol's
scheduled phase-out of ozone depleting chemicals ("IPS: CFC Phase
Out in Devel. Nation", 8/15/92).

Events in Eugene, Oregon on the National Day of Action for the
Ozone Layer, July 1, 1992, included the announcement of the
opening of the first appliance CFC recycling program in the state
in Lane County, with 4 reclamation sites where CFCs can be
recaptured from refrigerators and freezers ("Ozone Action
Follow-up", 8/30/92).

A new report in Science indicates that the sulphur dioxide
injected by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo last year may contribute
to ozone depletion in two ways: by increasing temperatures and
hence circulation in the lower stratosphere, and by providing
surfaces for the chemical reactions which destroy ozone ("IPS:
New report Pinatubo & Ozone", 9/6/92).

Kuwait Fires Revisited

A meeting convened by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
has concluded that the Kuwait oil fires were unlikely to have
affected weather or climate on a global basis, although they did
have significant short-term effects on the air quality and
weather of the region ("WMO Report on Kuwait Fires", 8/23/92).
Meanwhile, the US Veterans Affairs Department has launched a
study to look for health problems in Gulf War veterans related to
oil fire exposure due to a rising number of complaints ("Health
Effects Kuwaiti Oil Fires", 8/23/92).

Weird Weather

Regular reports from jstrahl continue in the longest-running
topic yet - "Coincidence or Disaster?" (7/30/91).  In the US,
this summer has been one of the coolest and wettest on record
("JULY CLIMATE DATA", 8/18/92), and Bob Howard reports from West
Australia of record rainfall in that area over much of 1992
("W.A. Climate Highlights", 8/22/92). However, drought continues
in China, Russia, central Europe and Africa, and late-season
monsoon storms have led to intense flooding in India and Pakistan.

Heat and drought in Hungary has led to heat-related deaths,
forest fires, and crop damage.  The 1992 drought is the latest in
a decade full of droughts - other serious droughts occurred there
in 1983, 1984, 1986 and 1990, prompting concerns about their
possible link to climate change ("IPS: Heat & Drought in
Hungary", 8/23/92).

The worst drought in a century in the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) has led to over 19,000 forest fires which have
burned more than 900,000 hectares of forest, taiga, peat bogs,
and crops. Particularly dangerous are the areas where forests
contaminated with fallout from the Chernobyl accident have caught
fire, and are releasing radionuclides into the atmosphere along
with the smoke.  The drought has also resulted in crop failures
and serious water shortages ("IPS: Drought & Fires in CIS",
9/6/92).

The Caspian Sea has risen 2 meters over the past two decades, and
predictions suggest it may rise another 3 meters by the year
2000. During previous decades the level of the sea had fallen
dramatically, and the exposed land was extensively developed.
These developments are now threatened by the rising water levels,
attributed to global warming, water supply from tributaries, and
sea surface evaporation ("IPS: Caspian Sea Flooding", 8/26/92).

New reports indicates that earlier predictions of a temporary
global cooling trend resulting from last year's eruption of Mt.
Pinatubo are beginning to be supported by current temperature
data.  These data indicate that temperatures since June of 1991
have dropped about 0.4 degrees C globally compared with average
temperatures for the 12 months preceding the eruption ('pinatubo
cooling "on schedule"', 8/11/92).

******************************************************************

Conference Highlights - transport

Vehicle Subsidies

Two new postings have been added to the "TOTAL CAR COST TO THE
ENVIRONMENT" topic (11/9/89) which contain some revealing
estimates about what vehicles actually cost the taxpayer.
Response 9 of this topic contains a summary of several studies
done in the US, with estimates of subsidies ranging from $5.21 to
$10.07 per gallon of gas, $2185 to $4110 per vehicle per year, or
some $378 to $730 BILLION dollars total automotive subsidies per
year in the U.S.  These subsidies include such things as air
pollution, highway maintenance, the effect of the trade deficit
(die to importing oil) and so on.

Compare the above to the case in Germany (response 10).  The
German example is from a 1991 report (pre-unification), and
contains a considerable amount of detail about how subsidies were
figured.  This report estimates subsidies in Germany to be DM
6000 (about $4200 US) per vehicle per year, or DM 5.50 per liter
of gasoline (14.72 DM/$10.30 US per US gallon).

These postings, and the rest of the statistics in this topic, are
available in the file 'carcosts' via anonymous ftp from igc.org or
via email from ecixfiles@igc.apc.org.

Bicycles

Good news for cyclists in New Jersey and the San Francisco area -
pilot programs in both places are allowing bicycles on commuter
trains.  In New Jersey, the August through November pilot program
applies to off-peak and weekend trains on the New Jersey Coast
Line ("New NJ Transit Bike on Train Prog", 7/31/92).  In
California, the demonstration project begins on September 19 for
some off-peak and all weekend trains on the Cal Train system
("Bikes on CalTrain commuter rail!", 9/5/92).

Ontario has released a new bicycle policy which promotes the use
of cycling for both recreation and commuting.  For details, see
the topic "New Ontario Bicyle Policy is Here" (7/27/92).
According to the press release about the new policy, there are
more than 3 million bicycles and 2 million cyclists in Ontario
and 6% of Ontarians (460,000 people) over the age of 15 use
bicycles for primary transportation. They save an estimated 156
million litres of oil a year, or 78 million (Canadian) dollars.
Ontario utilitarian cyclists reduce the amount of pollutants per
year by an estimated 80,000 tonnes, by not driving cars.

Along with the new bicycle policy, a mandatory helmet law is also
being proposed for the province.  This has generated an
interesting debate about the pros and cons of mandatory helmet
laws - see the topic "Mandatory Helmets in Ontario" (7/27/92) for
the debate and to add your own thoughts...

News about bicycle policies in cities around the United States is
summarized in the topic "Big Cities go for Bikes!" (9/12/92).
Check out this topic to see what is happening in your city!  If
you think more should be done, see the topic "Ask candidates NOW:
R U 4 Bikes?" (8/26/92) for information about how pre-election
questioning of candidates for local offices can affect bicycle
policies after the election.  A sample list of questions is
included.

For local bicycle news, events, policy and more, be sure to see
the topics "Spinning Crank Sept/Oct 92" (8/24/92) and "*the
tubular times* (SF Bike News)" (9/4/92).  The Spinning Crank is
published by the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, and the
Tubular Times is published by the San Francisco Bicycle
Coalition.  These newsletters are regular online features in this
conference.

Finally, you can find a comprehensive list of publications
available from the Bicycle Federation of America in the topic
"Bike Fed Publication List" (9/12/92).  And Dave Snyder of the
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is putting together a networking
list for bicycle advocates.  If you are involved with a bicycle
advocacy group and have access to electronic mail, contact
davesnyder@igc.apc.org for details ("attn:bike advocates",
8/20/92).

ISTEA Updates

If you are working on a plan for bicycles and pedestrians in your
area, be sure to see the topic "Bike/Ped Plan - Example"
(8/17/92) for a draft plan which you can use as a model for your
community.  The Bicycle Federation of America is providing grant
money to communities who are working on such policies - for
information and an application, see the topic "Bike Advocacy
Grants" (9/12/92).  Finally, a new coalition of the Highway Users
Federation called the Coalition for Efficient Transportation has
been formed to promote the spending of ISTEA funds on "efficient"
transportation - which apparently means highways to this
organization ("ISTEA: New anti-bike/ped lobby!", 8/31/92).

Transportation at the Earth Summit

The full report from the seminar "Sustainable Transportation -
Strategies and Development", which was held at the Global Forum
in Rio during the Earth Summit, can be found in the topic "Rio 92
Transportation Agenda" (8/31/92).  The report contains
recommendations on transportation for governments and NGOs, and
some distressing statistics.  For example, according to the
report, the world car industry is producing cars at a rate of
1.09 cars per SECOND, and given the current rate of increase, the
world fleet of cars could double in 20 years from its present
figure of 550 million cars to over 1 BILLION cars in the year
2012.  This file is also available via anonymous ftp from
igc.org, filename 'rio92transp', or send email to
ecixfiles@igc.apc.org for a copy.

Urban Transport Options

Are high speed rail and other high-speed transportation options
really worth the cost?  Is the money better spent on other means
of getting around?  For an interesting discussion of this
subject, see the topic "The Question of Speed" (8/9/92).  In this
discussion, Ivan Illich is quoted from his book "Energy and
Equity" as saying that taking into account all expenses of car
ownership and figuring in the time to earn that money the average
working car owner travels at an average speed of 5 MPH -- much
slower than on a bicycle.

In Toronto, the decision on whether or not to discontinue
Toronto's electric trolleys will be made in mid-October.  If you
would like to get involved in a movement to save the trolleys,
contact formo@web.apc.org for more information ("Toronto's
Trolley Armageddon", 8/23/92).

******************************************************************

Conference Highlights - Other Conferences

New Conference

A new conference, <gef.report>, has been created to post
documentation about the Global Environment Facility.  Information
in this conference will include reports, meeting summaries,
working papers, newsletters, and upcoming events pertaining to the
GEF.

Energy

europe.energy - France has installed three 100 kW wind turbines
manufactured by U.S. Windpower on the South Pacific islands of
New Caledonia ("French Install USW Turbines", 8/14/92).  The
Folkecenter for Renewable Energy is looking for partners in EC
countries to cooperate on renewable energy projects for THERMIE
1993 funding .  Contact Peter at folkcenter@pns.apc.org for more
information ("EC THERMIE 1993 cooperation?", 8/18/92).

foe.press - Friends of the Earth charged that the UK utility
NORWEB was misleading customers by distributing leaflets that
promoted electricity consumption and claimed that "use
electricity, and you really could be saving the earth" ("Norweb
cons public over elec", 8/20/92).  Friends of the Earth has also
received approval from most Regional Electricity Companies in the
UK for their proposal to provide greater incentives for saving
energy ("Elec cos seek incentives t", 8/27/92).


Climate

climate.news - Be sure to check out the latest GECR Highlights
(14 August 1992) for the latest climate information, including
the news that global CO2 emissions rose about 2% from 1989 to
1990, while US emissions fell about 1%, an article about a US
utility offsetting its carbon emissions by improving Malaysian
forestry practices, and other energy efficiency and climate news.

en.unced.general - The topic "E&D #31 Earth Summit" (7/28/92),
response 9, contains a summary of the biodiversity and climate
conventions signed at UNCED.

en.unced.news - The topic "Network '92 #18 (June-July)" (8/5/92)
contains reviews of the activities and accomplishments of the
Earth Summit, including a review of future NGO strategies
(response 2), and a critique of the Climate Convention by Jim
Bereen and Aubrey Meyer of the Global Commons Institute (response
6).

unced.canada - The topic "CPCU Report on UNCED (32K)" (7/28/92)
contains an exhaustive report on Canadian government and NGO
participation at UNCED.  According to this report, at UNCED, the
Canadian government committed to: quick-start ratification and
implementation of the Climate Change Convention within the
calendar year; pressing for an early meeting of the Conference of
the Parties; preparation of a national report outlining and
assessing the impacts of policies and measures both underway and
planned; and preparation of an updated inventory and projection of
greenhouse gas emissions by June 1993.


Transport

ecotopia.news - In "ECONEWS, September 1992" (9/2/92), response
11, there is a report on hydrogen-powered vehicles, with a brief
discussion of the technology involved.

******************************************************************

UPCOMING EVENTS:

The following calendar lists events related to energy, climate
change, and transportation issues. For detailed information about
the listed events, check the specified topics in the relevant
conference.

** NEW FOR IGC USERS **

There is now an online Calendar of Events database, where you can
search for or enter events of interest.  At the main menu, select
(d)ata, then select 7: EVENTS from the menu.
 
                         ** 1992 **

September 13-17.  Conference Velo Mondiale, Montreal, PQ,
Canada.  Contact Conference Velo Mondiale, phone +1-514-847-8356.

September 13-17.  Fourth International CO2 Conference,
Carqueiranne, France.  Contact Martine Revillon, INSU/CNRS, 77
Avenue Denfert Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France, phone
+33-1-40-51-20-08, fax +33-1-40-51-21-49.

September 13-18.  2nd World Renewable Energy Congress, Reading,
UK.  Contact Professor A.A.M. Sayigh, Dept of Engineering,
University of Reading, Reading, UK.

September 14-18.  Interacting Stresses on Plants in a Changing
Climate, Wye, Kent, UK.  Contact Dr. M.B. Jackson, University of
Bristol, Dept. of Agricultural Sciences, Long Ashton Research
Station, Bristol, BS18 9AF, UK.

September 15.  Environmental Forum: Common Visions, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, USA.  Contact Ann Johnson, Office of the Attorney
General, +1-612-296-0924 (cnu.information, "US Citizens Network
Newsletter #15", 7/8/92, response 1)

September 20-25.  Energy and Life: 15th Congress of the World
Energy Council, Madrid, Spain.  Contact World Energy Council -
15th Congress, Avenida de America, 32-9a, 28028 Madrid, Spain.
(climate.news, "Tiempo Issue #5 - May, 1992", 6/4/92, response 4)

Sept. 21-25.  Short- and Long-Term Global Changes - Records and
Modeling: 4th International Conference on Paleoceanography, Kiel,
Germany.  Contact ICP IV Organizing Committee, c/o GEOMAR
Research Center for Marine Geosciences, Wischhofstrasse 1-3/
Bldg. 4, D-2300 Kiel 14, Germany; tel. +49-431-7202-115 or 116;
fax +49-431-725391 or 725650.

September 23-25.  39th Annual Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting
of the American Geophysical Union, Victoria, BC, Canada.  Contact
George Spence, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of
Victoria, PO Box 1700, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2 Canada, phone
+1-604-721-8844, fax +1-604-721-6200.

September 24-25.  Global Environmental Accords: Implications for
Technology, Industry, and International Relations, Cambridge, MA,
USA.  Contact Conference Coordinator, Room E38-508, Industrial
Liason Program, MIT, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA
02139-4307, USA, telephone +1-617-253-0423.

September 25-27.  The Citizens Respond to the Earth Summit:
Convergence of Knowledge and Action, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.
Contact US Citizens Network on UNCED, 300 Broadway #39, San
Francisco, CA 94133 USA, phone +1-415-956-6162, fax
+1-415-956-0241, email citizensnet@igc.apc.org (cnu.information,
"MSU Network Conference details", 7/23/92)

September 29 - October 1.  International CFC and Halon
Alternatives Conference, Washington, DC.  Contact Int'l CFC
Conference, PO Box 236, Frederick, MD, 21701, USA, phone
+1-301-695-3762.

September 30 - October 3.  Thirteenth International Pedestrian
Conference, Boulder, CO, USA.  Contact Tara Milhaupt, Pedestrian
Conference Coordinator, GO BOULDER, PO Box 791, Boulder, CO 80306
USA, phone +1-303-441-4260 (transport, "13th Int'l Ped conf. in
Boulder", 9/4/92)

October 3-4.  Third Annual Frontier Thinking Series: Results From
Rio, Anchorage, Alaska, USA.  Contact Helen Nienhusser, phone
+1-907-277-9330 or +1-907-762-2660 (cnu.information, "US Citizens
Network Newsletter #15", 7/8/92, response 1)

October 9-10.  Fourth Annual Solar & Electric Vehicle Symposium
Car & Trade Show, World Trade Center, Boston, MA, USA.  Contact
Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, 23 Ames Street,
Greenfield, MA 01301, phone +1-403-774-6051 (en.calendar,
"10/9-10 Solar Electric Vehicle Bos", 9/8/92)

October 10-11.  Human Health and the Environment.  Contact
Physicians for Social Responsibility, +1-617-497-7440.

October 11-16.  International Conference on Mountain Environments
in Changing Climates, Davos, Switzerland.  Contact Dr. Martin
Beniston, ProClim, National Institute for Climate and Global
Change, P.O. Box 7613, CH-3001 Bern, Switzerland (en.climate,
"Upcoming Events", 10/14/91, response 13)

October 13.  Unplug North America - Give Mother Earth A Rest, US
nationwide.  Contact Indigenous Environmental Network, 19
Ellicott Blvd., Tonawanda, NY 14150 (EVENTS database).

October 13-15.  15th World Energy Engineering Congress, Atlanta,
Georgia, USA.  Contact Association of Energy Engineering, 4025
Pleasantdale Road, Atlanta, GA.

October 13-16. International Symposium on Climate Change and
Northern Fish Populations, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Contact The Symposium Secretary, Department of Fisheries and
Oceans, Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C., Canada V9R 5K6
Phone: (604) 756-7260, Fax: (604) 756-7053 (en.climate, "Upcoming
Events", 10/14/91, response 7)

October 19-20.  Fourth Annual In Business National Conference:
Environment and Business, Philadelphia, PA, USA.  Contact In
Business Conference Coordinator, phone +1-215-967-4135.

October 19-21.  Global Change Assessment for Forestry,
Agriculture and Water Resources, University Park, PA, USA.
Contact Eric Barron, Earth System Science Center, 248 Deike Bldg,
University Park, PA 16802 USA, fax +1-814-865-3191, email
eric@essc.psu.edu (Internet) or e.barron (Omnet).

October 24.  The Earth Summit and its Lessons for the Sonoran
Bioregion, Tuscon, Arizona, USA.  Contact Bill Altaffer, phone
+1-602-327-0266 or Susan Ward, phone +1-602-881-7060
(cnu.information, "US Citizens Network Newsletter #15", 7/8/92,
response 1)

October 27-29.  Changing Climate and Water Resources, Charleston,
SC, USA.  Contact David Smith, Director, Southeast Regional
Climate Center, 1201 Main St., Suite 1100, columbia, SC 29201
USA, phone: +1-803-737-0849, fax: +1-803-765-9080.

November 1-5.  AWRA 28th Annual Conference & Symposia: Managing
Water Resources During Global Change, Reno, Nevada. Contact
Raymond Herrman, WR-CPSU, Colorado State University, Fort
Collins, CO 80523, phone 303-491-7825, fax 303-491-2255, email
wrcpsu@lamar.colostate.edu (en.climate, "Upcoming Events",
10/14/91, response 8)

November 4-6.  Fourteenth New Zealand Geothermal Workshop,
Auckland, NZ.  Contact Mr. Barry Williams, Centre for Continuing
Education, University of Auckland, Private Bag, Auckland, New
Zealand, phone +64 9 373 7999 ext. 8903, fax +64 9 373 7419
(en.energy, "Alternative Energy Network 3/24", 3/25/92)

November 11-16.  Energy Opportunities '92, Saratoga Springs, NY,
USA.  Contact Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, 23 Ames
Street, Greenfield, MA 01301, phone +1-403-774-6051 (en.calendar,
"11/16-18 NSEA Energy Opp Conf, NY", 9/8/92)

November 18-20.  4th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, Copenhagen,
Denmark.

November 23-27.  Africa and Global Change, Niamey, Niger.
Contact IGBP Executive Director, Prof. Thomas Roswall, IGBP
Secretariat, The Royal Academy of Sciences, PO Box 50005, S-104
05 Stockholm, Sweden, fax: +46-8-166405.

December 2-7.  AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA.  Contact
Meetings, American Geophysical Union, 2000 Florida Ave. NW,
Washington, DC 20009 USA, phone +1-202-462-6900, fax
+1-202-328-0566.

December 7-9.  10th Miami International Congress on Energy,
Environment and Economics, Miami, Florida, USA.  Contact Clean
Energy Research Institute, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL.

December 7-11.  First International Conference of the African
Meteorological Society on Recent Climate Anomalies, Nairobi,
Kenya.  Contact Mr. Stephen Njoroge, Chairman, Local Organizing
Committee, PO Box 30259, Nairobi, Kenya.

December 7-11.  American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San
Francisco, CA, USA.  Contact Meetings, AGU, 2000 Florida Ave NW,
Washington, DC 20009 USA, phone +1-202-462-6900, fax
+1-202-328-0566.

December 9.  Is Climate Prediction Possible? (Royal
Meteorological Society/Dynamical Problems Group), London, UK.
Contact Dr PL Read, Hooke Institute, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks
Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK; phone +44-865-272082

December 28-31. Symposium on Climate and Climate Change (in
memory of Professor Yale Mintz), Jerusalem, Israel. Contact (1)
Dr. J.R. Bates, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 911,
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 USA, phone +1-301-286-7482, fax
+1-301-286-2717; (2) Dr. E.H. Steinberger, Department of
Atmospheric Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904,
Israel, phone +972-2-639926, fax 972-2-2-2-666804

                         ** 1993 **

January 17-22.  American Meteorological Society Fourth Symposium
on Global Change Studies, Anaheim, CA.  Contact Dr. Eric J.
Barron, Earth System Science Center, 248 Deike Building, Penn
State University, University Park, PA 16802 USA, phone
+1-814-865-1619, fax +1-814-865-3191.

February 8-19.  Coupled Climate Systems Modeling: A Southern
Hemisphere Perspective, North Ryde, Australia.  Contact Dr. Julia
Porter, Climatic Impacts Centre, School of Earth Sciences,
Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia, fax
+61-2-805-8428.

February 15-16.  Climate Change Symposium XVII, Palmerston, New
Zealand.  Contact Agronomy Dept., Massey University, Palmerston
North, New Zealand, fax +64-6-350-5614.


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Lelani Arris                            * Project Director 
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