Environment

Boy Scouts Logging Raises Questions

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The Boy Scouts of America, known for its dedication to conservation, faces scrutiny for the logging and commercial sales of land often donated for recreational purposes. A Hearst Newspapers investigation found that dozens of Boy Scout councils nationwide repeatedly logged in or near protected wildlife habitat, allegedly disregarding conservation and planning policies. At 99 years old and boasting 2.8 million members, the Boy Scouts is one of the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit organizations. However, membership has fallen by 600,000 in a decade, and the Boy Scouts ban on gays and atheists in the ranks has further diminished funding. Public records indicate that many councils practice sustainable forestry that benefits local habitat — and Scout representatives say that trees are renewable and that logging is often used as a last resort to meet budget needs.

Economy

Is there a Carbon-Credit Bubble?

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Carbon trading, which seeks to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions through market-based incentives, is being threatened by the global economic downturn, the BBC reports. Carbon trading in the European Union and the United States enables governments to set limits on the amount of climate-changing pollution a company can produce. If carbon dioxide emissions exceed that limit, the offending company can buy emission credits from companies that pollute less; thus, credit buyers pay to pollute, while sellers are rewarded for reducing their own emissions. Yet the global recession is reducing industrial productivity, resulting in lower carbon emissions, and so creating a surplus of carbon credits whose market value has plunged. Critics of market-based carbon trading say the whole system is flawed and warn of a “carbon bubble.”

Featured

Wurst for Worse

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Hoping to combat climate change — but risking the wrath of its wurst-wolfing citizens — Germany is pushing for a more Mediterranean national cuisine that limits meat consumption to once a week and special occasions. Photo: Berlin wurst fans/Lang Heinz

Public Health

Scientists Fault 'Off Label' Pharma Marketing

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A major drug distributor used “deception and misinformation” to promote the unapproved, “off label” use of an epilepsy drug, two researchers from the University of California-San Francisco claim. What’s more, they claim the practice is widespread in the pharmaceutical industry, while other sources say the side effects of off-label prescriptions can be deadly. Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the UCSF researchers say their review of a 1995 lawsuit against Parke-Davis revealed a “systematic” marketing campaign by the company to promote Neurontin, approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat epilepsy, for unapproved conditions such as pain, migraines and bipolar disorder. The company, now owned by Pfizer, pleaded guilty in 2004, and paid over $430 million in fines for trying to suppress publication of unfavorable peer-reviewed research, allowing sales reps to pitch “off label” uses to doctors, and providing gifts and financial compensation to doctors to attend presentations about Neurontin. The researchers say the extensive marketing and influence campaign was “disguised” as educational programming for researchers, and amounted to a manipulation of the medical establishment that pushed Neurontin sales from $93 million to $3 billion in a decade.

Environment

Wurst for Worse as Germans Ponder Less Meat

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Risking the wrath of its wurst-wolfing citizens, Germany’s government is asking them to eat less meat in an attempt to curb the effects of climate change. The government’s environmental advisor is urging citizens to adopt a more Mediterranean diet and limit meat consumption to once a week or special occasions, reports the Guardian. The Federal Environmental Agency said agriculture accounts for 15 percent of Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions, and meat production is a huge part of that. Agency head Andreas Troge said eating less meat “hardly means sacrificing quality of life,” but the advice may be hard to swallow for most Germans, who eat a great deal more meat than their European neighbors. Vegetarianism is not widely practiced and meatless dishes are “frowned upon” according to a Germany vegetarian association.