European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 13, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday. February 13, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 5bush moves up ban to protect Ozone a file Epa administrator William k. Reilly from wire reports Washington alarmed by forecasts of a new Ozone Hole. President Bush changed course tuesday and announced a significant speedup in the phaseout of Ozone destroying chemicals by american manufacturers. Bush said the United states would phase out production of Ozone damaging chemicals mainly chlorofluorocarbons by the end of 1995, five years earlier than agreed upon under an International treaty the president said the United states was acting unilaterally. He urged other nations to follow suit. The policy authorized under the i to clean air act takes effect immediately. Last Friday the Bush administration reversed its opposition to such a plan and backed a Senate proposal to phase out the production of Csc s and other Ozone depleting chemicals As soon As possible rather than by 2000. The action tuesday not Only affects a dozen chemical companies and thou Sands of manufacturing workers across the country but also puts enormous pressure on makers of automobile air conditioners. Computer equipment fire prevention systems and refrigerators and other users of the chemicals to redesign their equipment. A it s a substantial step one that we believed was warranted by the scientific evidence. But nevertheless still a big Job for us Quot said Kevin Fay the executive director of the Alliance for responsible to policy a coalition of users and producers of the chemicals. A there is a scientific consensus that these chemicals Are destructive to Ozone in the atmosphere said William k. Reilly. The administrator of the environmental Protection Agency Quot and this administration has a record of responding quickly to that  experts with several of the nation s prominent environmental groups praised the action tuesday but said even More aggressive Steps were necessary to halt the deterioration of the Ozone Laver. A a this is a modest step in the right direction but not All that is required to protect the Ozone  said David Doniger of the natural resources defense Council in Washington. A what we be asked the environmental Protection Agency to do under the lean air act is to phase out one chemical halons. Immediately. We asked that Methyl chloroform be eliminated by beginning of next year. And we want to production to be eliminated by the end of 1994. That is w hat germans have already  the outer affects a family of chlorine and Bromine based chemicals widely used in american Industry As solvents refrigerants. Fire retardants and As feedstock for other chemicals. These chemicals Are tvs. Halons. Methyl chloroform and Carbon tetrachloride. Ozone in the upper atmosphere helps shield Earth from the destructive effects of ultraviolet radiation. Excess exposure to ultraviolet rays is known to cause skin cancer and cataracts and to suppress the human immune  blamed for producing most of rfcs from wire reports san Jose Calif. A the . Military is responsible for two thirds of the . Production of chemicals that eat away Earth a protective Ozone layer according to a study by environmental groups. The report released a week after Nasa revealed a a alarming Ozone depletion urged president Bush to change defense contractor specifications to eliminate the use of chlorofluorocarbons or rfcs. A the military recognizes it has a problem but it is moving very slowly to fix it Quot said Lenny Siegel the main author of the report. Military specifications Call for using Ozone depleting Cfc-113 As a solvent to clean Metal and electronic components according to the Boston based National toxics Campaign fund and the san Jose based Silicon Valley toxics coalition. Pentagon spokesman Glenn flood said the defense department is working with contractors to come up with alternatives for cleaning High tech equipment and Hughes aircraft has developed a non toxic citric acid solvent formula. But he said it takes time to replace the decade old cleaning method. A your Overall elimination goal is still the year 20 but we might eliminate rfcs before then if we come up with some workable alternative a flood said. In separate research on rfcs a scientist has found that ultraviolet radiation streaming through holes in the Ozone layer could raise or lower crop yields by tipping the balance of Competition Between crops and weeds. The Ozone layer absorbs much of the suns ultraviolet radiation particularly the so called ultraviolet a radiation or us a that is especially dangerous to plants and animals. New studies suggest that us a also can lip fragile ecosystem balances causing indirect damage to plants in ways hard to predict said Paul w. Barnes of Southwest Texas state University in san Marcos. Quot one May Only see the effect of us a radiation when we have a crop growing in Competition with weeds a Barnes said t tuesday at the annual meeting of the american association for the advancement of science. Barnes found that increases in us a radiation allowed wheat to do a better Job of outgrowing a Weed called wild Oats. In other cases though weeds May be Able to compete better against crops Barnes said. Scientists have so far been unable to predict which crops Are Likely to compete better and which Are Likely to do worse Barnes said. In the stars and stripes10 years ago feb. 13,1982 the Pilot of a polish lot Airliner on a Domestic flight faked a hijacking and flew to the . Air forces Tempelhof Central Airport in West Berlin. He asked for Asylum for himself and six relatives.20 years ago feb. 13,1972 a the purported autobiography of Howard Hughes written by Clifford Irving was denounced As a fraud by life Magazine which said it was cancelling its contract to publish excerpts from the book.30 years ago feb. 13,1962 a an army of 25,000 French police with tanks and armoured cars blocked thousands of leftists from staging a demonstration against the government to protest the killing of eight parisians during rioting.40 years ago feb. 13, 1952 a the new York port authority ordered the Airfield of the Newark . Airport closed after three passenger planes crashed within a Square mile of an Elizabeth ., residential area in less than two  Cross tracing holocaust victims by the los Angeles times Washington with the Aid of nazi concentration Camp records seized by the . Military nearly a half Century ago relatives of suspected holocaust victims will now have another Means of tracing the Fate of family members by completing a form at a local red Cross office. American red Cross president Elizabeth h. Dole on tuesday released information containing 7,000 names made available for this a humanitarian  she said that within a year information on As Many As 5 h ,000 other people would be microfilmed and integrated into the files of the International tracing service in a Olsen Germany which is operated by the International committee world War 50 years ago today 13 feb.1 a 9 4 2 the British defenders of Singapore Are forced Back under incessant japanese assaults British ships flee the port. In the Philippines . Forces Complete the elimination of a japanese salient in Central Bataan on the soviet front red army troops push into byelorussian but German resistance is stiffening in Berlin German leaders formally drop plans for the invasion of Britain of the red Cross. The records include transport lists a a death books lists of victims of medic a experiments and forced labor at nazi death Camps such As Auschwitz and Buchenwald. They were seized after the collapse of nazi Germany for use As evidence m War crimes trials. Robert resting of the . Holocaust memorial Council in Washington a who has been doing research at the National archives where most of the names from the death Camp records Are located a said Only historians and scholars had been using the files since they were declassified More than 20 years ago. Dole said that after a search request is filed at a local red Cross office it will be forwarded to the holocaust and War victims tracing and information Center in Baltimore where it will be recorded. It will then be sent to the tracing service in Germany to be Cross referenced. T he process will Trace the Fate of civilians who were separated from their families Between 1933 and 1952 in Europe Eastern Europe and the former soviet Union. Officials said it can take a year or More to research a request. Brewster Chamberlain of the memorial Council said the partnership Between the red Cross and other agencies in performing Quot essentially tragic searches was a significant Quot Public recognition of the cooperation that exists Between these entities to serve the living As Well As the  source 2194 Days of War w. H. Smith a publishers inc. World almanac Book of world War ii. Bison books corp .1981 a year ago Day 28 feb. 13 Allied warplanes destroy an underground shelter in Baghdad and officials there say 500 civilians were killed. The . Military contends it was a military command Center not a bomb shelter. A saudi f-5 is Tost on a Mission Over Iraq and the Pilot is missing a the second saudi plane lost the u n. Security Council confers on whether the allies have exceeded the u n. Mandate to use Force to drive Iraq from Kuwait