Greetings all, This is welcome news in my view. One must walk before running. Many disagree, thinking that radical & very quick change to 'the system' must occur to avoid massive culling of humans. I agree with the risks, but think that this is the best we can expect *now*, & that government policies like this should be supported while speed and intensity are constantly pressured. Population policy must also be added to the mix ASAP in my opinion for there to be progress; best case with growing populations is treading water with culling continuing. Steve (TOES is The Other Economic Summit) -------- Original Message -------- From: Lawrence Martin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: What do you think? To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SWEDEN TO CREATE CLEAN ECOSYSTEMS IN ONE GENERATION STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 30, 1999 (ENS) - The Swedish parliament has approved 15 environmental goals that it hopes will contribute to the achievement of sustainable development within one generation - as promised by prime minister G�ran Persson in September 1997. The fifteen goals call for the achievement and maintenance of clean air, unpolluted groundwater, living lakes and waterways, vibrant water meadows, a sea in balance and a living coastline, balanced use of fertilisers, absence of acidification, living forests, a rich landscape, healthy mountain ecosystems, a good built environment, a poison-free environment, absence of radiation, a protective ozone layer, and limited climate effects. They represent a boiling down of more than 150 previous policy objectives, and were conceived in parallel with the new national environmental code, which passed into law in January. This legislation rolled together Sweden's 15 major environmental laws and added in the use of the precautionary principle and the polluter pays principle for contaminated land, some recent European Union (EU) legislation such as environmental quality rules, and new powers for local authorities to impose on-the-spot fines for non-compliance with 25 different aspects of environmental regulation. <snip> The Swedish Chemical Industries Association broadly welcomed adoption of the policy, which it described as "negotiable and workable," while stressing that much depended on the prioritisation agreed by the committee and how it was put into practice. The most obvious targets for early action are thought to include brominated flame retardants and chlorinated paraffins. Greenpeace Sweden also threw its weight behind the chemicals policy, which it described as the most progressive of the 15 goals set by the government. "The aged and ineffective risk evaluation system which has dominated chemicals policy in the twentieth century is being abandoned," a Greenpeace spokesperson said. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr99/1999L-04-30-02.html
