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STATE SAYS DAIRY FUNDS MISSPENT
 
SACRAMENTO - Almost $70 million in state bond money earmarked for reducing pollution was used by California dairies to expand their operations, which resulted in more air pollution, reports a recent edition of the Los Angeles Times.

California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, who as head of the Pollution Control Financing Authority approved the loans, now says the money was misspent. The environmental impact of large dairies should have been studied more closely before the loans were OK'd, he said.

''We're going to stop financing dairies until we can do a comprehensive review,'' Angelides said. ''In the future, I'm going to press hard to make sure that any dairy we finance will be taking steps to resolve environmental problems, not contribute to them.''

He said none of the 18 dairies receiving loans since 2001 offered any plans to use new air pollution control technology.

The dairies qualified for the money through tax-exempt, low-interest loan programs by stating in their applications that expanding operations would provide an ''environmentally sound method of disposing of animal waste'' by spreading cow manure across a greater area and thus decreasing its impact on groundwater supplies, the paper said.

TAIWAN BIOTECH SECTOR POSTS RECORD GAINS

TAIPEI, Taiwan - The biotechnology industry in Taiwan is one of two industries on the island that has maintained double-digit growth since the second half of 2000.
 
In 2003, the production value of medical equipment in Taiwan reached an estimated $10.9 billion, with production estimated at $13.79 billion for 2004, according to a report by the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK) of Taiwan.

The figures represent a 22% growth in 2003 over 2002, and an additional production value growth of 27% in 2004 over 2003, the report concluded.

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