1. NEW ZEALAND:
Raising a 'stink' over sheep emissions

For a high-ranking government official, New Zealand Climate Change Ambassador Adrian Macey is pretty comfortable talking about flatulence. Gaseous releases from New Zealand's 38 million sheep and 10 million cattle, after all, amount to about 1.5 million tons of methane emissions annually. That is more than half the country's total greenhouse gas emissions, and lowering it has been a difficult task as New Zealand tries to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2012. "You've heard of the fart tax?" Macey asked matter-of-factly over coffee in Washington recently. He was referring to the government's controversial 2003 proposal to raise about $4.7 million annually for livestock research from taxing farms and ranches. Go to story #1