Earth Day Planet-Saving Report Card

Impose special taxes on carbon-dioxide emissions

This proposal, designed to head off global warming, has gone nowhere, despite the efforts of the United Nations Environment Program to forge a worldwide treaty limiting the release of carbon dioxide. In the U.S., a primary producer of CO2, new taxes are anathema to the current Administration in any case. The President has declared that global warming is a problem that needs study, not immediate action.

Toughen auto fuel-efficiency standards

In the absence of higher gasoline taxes, setting strict fuel-efficiency requirements for new cars is an alternative route to conservation. The technology exists to boost the average mileage achieved by U.S. cars from 26.5 m.p.g. to 45 m.p.g. by 2000. But under President Bush, the federally mandated average will be raised only to 27.5 m.p.g. this year.

Launch a mammoth international tree-planting program

This idea is a favorite of everyone's, from industrial giants like Union Carbide, which has promised to plant half a million trees by 2000, to the leaders of the U.S. and Australia, who have promised a billion trees each. Still unclear: Will the funding come through?

Ban CFC production completely

Under the 1987 Montreal Protocol, the major nations have already pledged a 50% reduction in the production of ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons by 1999. Last year the European Community and the U.S. tentatively agreed to push for a complete ban by the end of the century. The task now is to translate that understanding into a formal treaty, which should include all nations, especially the Soviet Union and East European countries. In the meantime, plastic-foam manufacturers in the U.S. say they will stop using CFCs in their products, and Vermont has decreed that the chemicals must be eliminated from auto air-conditioners in new cars sold in the state after 1993. Major CFC suppliers like Du Pont are developing substitutes that are much less harmful to the ozone.

Ban the export of waste

Last year representatives of 105 nations agreed to the Basel Convention governing international shipments of waste. The document would not ban waste exports altogether, but it would impose tight restrictions. No waste could cross national lines unless adequate environmental precautions were taken and the government of the importing nation gave its approval. The convention has been ratified by the governments of three nations, and will go into force when it is approved by 17 more.

Make birth-control information and devices available to every man and woman.

Many countries have increased their contributions to the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, the pre-eminent organization in the distribution of birth-control information and devices. The Soviet Union began giving UNFPA hard currency last year for the first time. But the U.S. has contributed nothing to the fund since 1985. Reason: UNFPA conducts programs in nations like China, where abortions are encouraged -- a situation politically unacceptable to the Reagan and Bush Administrations. The U.S. also refuses to give money to the International Planned Parenthood Federation because it actively supports abortion.

Develop local organizations and educational programs to impress upon people the value of nature's genetic diversity

Such programs have been slow in getting started. In at least one important region, though, there has been encouraging progress. The island of Madagascar is home to a stunning array of animal, plant and fish species, most found nowhere else in the world. Under intense pressure from a burgeoning population, the island is already largely deforested. But conservationists and government officials, making personal visits to more than 100 villages surrounding the Ranomafana primal rain forest, have taught indigenous people about the region's genetic diversity and shown them ways to survive without plundering the forest. Ranomafana is soon to be named a national park.

Promote waste recycling

As the world's biggest per capita garbage producer, the U.S. has the greatest potential for recycling. The good news: all over the country, local communities and states have passed laws requiring separation of various types of trash for community recycling. New York City, whose estimated 27,000 tons of municipal solid waste per day might seem an intractable problem, launched a program last year. The goal is to recycle 25% of the city's trash within five years.

Encourage debt-for-nature swaps

Such programs, which involve the granting of debt relief to developing nations in exchange for steps to protect rain forests and other resources, have not taken off in a big way. In the past year or so, only $100 million in debt has been forgiven in return for preserves in Costa Rica and elsewhere. The sticking point: Who will bear the cost of the debt relief? So far, private environmental groups have bought small amounts of Third World debt securities from commercial lenders, but the governments of the developed nations will have to put in more money if the debt-for-nature concept is to pick up momentum.