Are electric scooters a blessing or a curse for the environment? It has been 18 months since self-service electric scooters were introduced in the French capital and the two wheeled vehicles are now very much part of the Paris landscape, popular with both locals and visitors. But in the midst of the debate on global warming, they are causing environmental advocates to grind their teeth. Operators are stepping up efforts to reduce the environmental impact by repairing wrecks, recovering those thrown into the Seine and improving battery life. \\n IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES