Air Date: Week of October 11, 2002

New developments in stories we’ve been following recently.

Transcript

CURWOOD: Time now to follow-up on some of the news stories we've been tracking lately.

A federal judge is giving a green light to the first offshore wind farm plan for North America. A coalition of environmental groups and residents of Cape Cod, Massachusetts filed suit to block construction of the wind power research tower in Nantucket Sound. They claim the tower would cause irreparable damage to marine life. But Jim Gordon, president of Cape Wind, the company in charge of the project, says the proposed wind power is needed.

GORDON: This wind farm will produce 420 megawatts of clean, renewable energy. It will contribute to lower electric costs, and less reliance on imported energy.

CURWOOD: If all goes as planned, the wind farm will be up and running by 2005.

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CURWOOD: The U.S. government is assisting the Colombian military in keeping oil flowing through the Occidental Petroleum Pipeline. Since the 1980's, rebel groups have bombed the pipeline nearly a thousand times. But Steve Lucas, a spokesperson for the U.S. Southern Command, says the U.S. will help the Colombian military adopt proactive tactics.

LUCAS: What we hope to do is encourage them to take the offensive against these illegal armed groups, instead of simply being in the defensive role and trying to protect hundreds of kilometers of pipeline.

CURWOOD: During the next two years, U.S. Special Forces will train about 4,000 Colombian officers in military skills and intelligence gathering.

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LUCAS: A team of students from the University of Colorado at Boulder is the first prize winner of the Solar Decathlon held among fourteen schools on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Each strove to design creative, efficient, and livable homes. Mathew Henry was the project manager for the construction on the UC Boulder winning team.

HENRY: Everybody is really excited, and passionate about bringing solar and sustainable, and really other energy uses, to the public and to the legislature. I mean, we were there, right on the doorstep of the Capitol building.

CURWOOD: The house featured solar water heating and a modular design that would make it easy to replicate and conform to any region of the country.

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CURWOOD: And finally, in honor of the one-hundredth anniversary of the teddy bear, the auction house Christie's will hold a special sale. Some of the more exotic stuffed bears include one made to mark the period of national mourning in England after the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. But if you go, you'd better bring a bear-sized wallet. The fanciest teddies are expected to fetch as much as $45,000.

That's this week's follow-up on the news from Living on Earth.

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