WWF gives Turin Olympics mixed grade for eco-impacts
For the next few weeks the world will be glued to its TVs for a spectacle of heartbreak and triumph called … American Idol. But some folks might also watch the Olympic Winter Games. Are they green? WWF has given the Turin Games a mixed score, noting seven eco-positive outcomes including cleanly fueled public transport and recycling in the Olympic villages. But it slammed two ski jumps that cut into sensitive alpine slopes and dinged heavy artificial snow-making for damaging the ground and wasting water. WWF also blasted the 16-foot high Olympic flame as a “monument to waste,” saying it would burn roughly 105 million cubic feet of gas during the 17 days of the Games — enough to supply a town of 3,500 for an entire year. Olympic organizers counter that they are offsetting all carbon emissions produced, and also that Paris Bennett is totally winning Idol this year.
