Beyond the Headlines ?- Noisy Oceans and Wind Power in Spain

CURWOOD: Time now, to peer behind the headlines with Peter Dykstra, who publishes the Daily Climate.org and Environmental Health News. He joins us now from Conyers, Georgia. Hi there, Peter. DYKSTRA: Hi, Steve. CURWOOD: So what have you got for us this week? DYKSTRA: Well, how about we start off with a little good news: wind power. Wind power reigns in Spain. There was a government report, a Spanish government report out that says Spain got 21.1 percent of its electricity last year from wind power. That edges out the number two source: nuclear. Theres also been an increase in hydropower in Spain, the hydropower because they had a wet year and, of course, if youre in Spain, and you have hydropower, the source of hydropower is, of course, is the precipitation in Spain. CURWOOD: Ah, yes, how precipitous was Spain about this? I mean, is this conscious, or just a result of Spains bad economy, and the fact that factories arent using as much conventional power these days? DYKSTRA: Well, its a little bit of both. The coal and nuclear for electric generation declined in Spain last year. Thats certainly partly due to the fact that the slower economy needs less electricity. But Spain has also built windpower in as part of the path out of a bad economy. Its a booming business in Spain just like it is in other European countries like Denmark and Portugal. CURWOOD: So, thats our dose of good news for the week, thats Spains top source of energy is wind, but, Peter, I suspect you have some of that other kind of news, huh? DYKSTRA: Im afraid so. As we aggregate the news each week at EHN.org, we picked up a story from a mid-sized newspaper, one that deserves a lot of credit for doing a great job of consistently covering the environment, thats the Wilmington News-Journal, the biggest paper in the tiny, very low-lying state of Delaware. And a reporter there named Molly Murray filed a piece on our noisy oceans. Thats not a totally new topic, but with marine mammals and fish species so dependent on sound – they use it for communication and they use it for navigation – the increase in ship noise and other human activity is a big deal and a potentially big change in the marine environment. CURWOOD: So the natural ocean is more like being in a library, and now the oceans become more like being in a factory? DYKSTRA: Thats right. Molly Murray, the reporter, called it the urbanization of the ocean. I think thats a pretty apt phrase. Because were not just dealing with ship noise, theres military activity, including weapons testing, and on the East Coast, off the coast of Delaware, theres the possibility of oil exploration using seismic testing. Seismic testing is the use of these immense, noisy cannons that shoot airbursts at the sea floor, and they read the signals they get back from the sea floor and figure out whether or not theres oil beneath that part of the ocean. The scientists dont know how much ultimately this noise is going to impact whales and dolphins and some fish species and all the marine life, but they know its going to have some kind of impact so well just have to wait and see. CURWOOD: It doesnt sound good to me, Peter, I have to say. And, well, finally, bring us something from the environmental calendar, would you please. DYKSTRA: You know, one of my favorite environmental things ever said by an American President: 1970 State of the Union speech, 44 years ago this week, and I quote, Restoring nature to its natural state is a cause beyond party and beyond factions. It has become a common cause of all of the people of this country. Those words spoken by President Richard Milhous Nixon. Richard Nixon on the campaign trail in 1968. He used environmental issues to his political advantage, but privately he was scornful of environmentalists (photo: National Archives) CURWOOD: Richard Nixon. And before he was forced out of office, he signed the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and he founded EPA. But, tell me. Peter, was Richard Nixon really a tree-hugger? DYKSTRA: No. Richard Nixon wasnt a tree-hugger. You've got to remember that he also vetoed the Clean Water Act. He said it was too costly. Congress overrode his veto and made the Clean Water Act law. Nixon was a shrewd politician. He needed an issue to blunt the unpopularity of the Vietnam War which he inherited. He needed to get a little cozier with an environmentally-minded Congress. But when the cameras were off in the privacy of the Oval Office – and we know this thanks to that Oval Office tape recorder that later got him in a whole lot of trouble – he gave a very different view of environmentalists. He met with auto executives, and he said, environmentalists wanted to make Americans live Like a bunch of damned animals, but when the TV cameras were rolling, he told us to play nice with each other, and with the planet. CURWOOD: And thank you, Peter, for playing nicely today. Peter Dykstra is publisher of Environmental Health News and the DailyClimate.org. Til next time, Peter. DYKSTRA: My pleasure, Steve. Thanks. CURWOOD: You can find links to all these stories at our webpage at LOE.org.