Green briefs (September 16, 2010)

NEW SHERIFFS IN TOWN: Birmingham has a new environmental watchdog. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) recently opened an office in the Magic City in order to take a more active role in environmental protection in the city and state. The office is staffed by attorneys Keith Johnson and Sarah Stokes, both Alabama natives. Johnson graduated from Vermont Law School, has a background in biology and specializes in the federal Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. Stokes recently received her degree from the University of Alabama School of Law and has worked in the Peace Corps. According to an email from the SELC, the Birmingham office will fight water pollution from surface coal mines and attempt to clean up coal-fired power plants, among other tasks. Green Space will follow their efforts in coming issues. To contact the Birmingham office, call (205) 745-3060. Read about the SELC at www.southernenvironment.org. AM

HOW GREEN WAS MY KITCHEN? This September, MyGreenBirmingham.com, along with Alabama Power, is hosting the second “My Green Home Giveaway.” One winner will get a home makeover, including a sustainable landscape redesign, energy- saving appliances and utilities, and environmentally friendly interior design, along with a feature in Birmingham Home and Garden magazine. All you need to do to enter is go to the web site and, in 500 words or less, explain why you want your home “greened.” You must also supply some information about your house and how you envision it as a model of sustainability. Entries will be accepted through September 25. For more information, including rules, terms and conditions, go to www.mygreenbirmingham.com. AM

WE’VE ONLY JUST BEGUN: It’s easy to sit back, relax and say that the whole Gulf oil spill debacle is now over, but researchers are just beginning to examine the true impact of the spill. The Gulf of Mexico Research Plan—put together by the intercollegiate Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant program and released in September 2009—is now being updated to account for the Deepwater Horizon spill. Priorities for research will likely change, and the research plan, which is used to identify where millions of dollars of research funding should be distributed, will reflect those changes. The Sea Grant Consortium encourages anyone who conducts research or uses research results related to coastal or marine issues in the Gulf of Mexico to go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/researchoilspill and take a 15-minute survey to help identify potential changes. AM

ECO-REPORTERS NEED LOVE…. AND MONEY: Grist is a Seattle-based non-profit that dispenses environmental news on its web site, but to continue this good work, according to founder and president Chip Giller in a recent email, the organization must raise $10,000 by September 21. C’mon, people. Give until it hurts. (All of us poor green writers need help, man.) You can donate as little as $5. If you give $100 or more, your donation will be doubled by an anonymous donor. To donate or learn more about the organization, go to www.grist.org. Neo-Luddites can mail old-fashioned checks to Grist at 710 Second Ave., Suite 860, Seattle, WA 98104. You also can spread the word about Grist on Facebook and Twitter. JC

DISASTER IN WAITING? Could British Petroleum (BP) be operating another deep-water well in the fragile Gulf of Mexico unsafely, opening the door to another stinking disaster? The Washington, D.C.-based consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch (FWW) thinks so. The group filed a lawsuit against BP in federal court in Houston, Tex., last week, alleging that the oil giant has violated numerous federal laws in operating the BP Atlantis oil and gas platform, one of the largest of its kind in the world. “We have evidence that Atlantis is unsafe and is in danger of creating an even worse spill than the one caused by the Deepwater Horizon explosion,” FWW executive director Wenonah Hauter says in a news release. Atlantis is located 150 miles off the coast of Louisiana, drilling at a depth of 7,000 feet, according to the release. In the suit, FWW and former BP contractor turned whistle-blower Kenneth Abbott allege that BP began producing oil and gas at its Atlantis facility without having, and then maintaining, a big chunk of the engineering documents that are needed for to operate the facility safely. The suit asks for the court to order BP to cease all production operations at the Atlantis, until they demonstrate that the rig is in full compliance with the law. According to FWW, the federal Minerals Management Service (MMS)—now the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE)—has known about the problem since April 2009 and has yet to complete an investigation. Learn more about FWW at www.foodandwaterwatch.org. JC

MARK YOUR CALENDARS, FOLKS. September 18 is World Water Monitoring Day, an international program meant to raise awareness about water conservation. Participation is simple. Just pay closer attention to how much water you’re using. For details, go to www.worldwatermonitoringday.org. By the way, American Leak Detection has a few simple tips to be a bit greener and save some money while you’re at it. Check for dripping faucets or shower-heads around your house. If the drip fills an 8-ounce glass in 15 minutes, it’s wasting 180 gallons of water a month. Pour a teaspoon of food coloring in your toilet tank. If you can see color in your bowl in 15 minutes, a new flapper valve will stop that leak. Just a few small changes can have a big impact on your environment (and your water bill). “If we don’t waste water by letting leaks go unattended and if we take steps to reduce our water usage in big and little ways, we can make a positive impact on water conservation efforts around the globe,” according to Stan Berenbaum, president of American Leak Detection, in a news release. For more information on those big and little ways to reduce water use, visit www.americanleakdetection.com. AM

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY: All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. Yeah, there’s something about mazes that always reminds me of that Stanley Kubrick picture The Shining. One of my favorite parts is when bat-guano-crazy writer Jack Nicholson (excuse me, Jack Torrance) chases his wife and son through the maze of hedgerows at the isolated Overlook Hotel with an axe, then gets lost and freezes to death. Man, I bet ‘ol Jack wanted to be back at his stony crib in the Hollywood Hills, watching a Lakers road game on his 52-inch TV and smoking a Thai stick with one of his buddies—maybe screenwriter Robert Towne or producer Bobby Evans. The maze that currently has me thinking bad thoughts is the corn maze that Mayfield Farm and Nursery has built for the tenth year in Athens, Tenn. The maze, described in a Mayfield news release as “twisting and winding,” is located on eight acres and, we’re told, “is sure to be easy for some and an adventure for others.” The maze will be open from September 17 to November 7. Mayfield’s other attractions include hayrides (boring, unless you have a hot date), a corn cannon and a “pumpkin chunkin’” slingshot (Those could be REALLY fun, if they let you shoot at other people) and animated cows that kids can milk by hand (Seriously, people; that’s just sick and wrong). The maze will be open during the week for groups with appointments and to the general public on weekends. For more information, including hours and admission costs, go to www.mayfieldfarmandnursery.com. JC

Jesse Chambers is a Birmingham Weekly contributing editor. Andy McWhorter is a Birmingham Weekly intern. Send your comments to jesse@bhamweekly.com or editor@bhamweekly.com.