- 
 Stephen
Johnson
 Mary
E Peters
 Julie
MacDonald
 Jack
Abramoff
 Italia
Federici
 J
Steven Griles
 Earth_Day
Environment ARCHIVES
~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
  
 
 
"Rewriting
The Science." ... [NASA climate scientist Dr.James
E. Hansen] "... tells correspondent Scott Pelley that the
Bush administration is restricting who he can talk to and editing what
he can say. Politicians, he says, are rewriting the science." ... "Hansen
says his research shows that man has just 10 years to reduce greenhouse
gases before global warming reaches what he calls a tipping point and becomes
unstoppable. He says the White House is blocking that message.""
-60
Minutes -CBSNews
 
"Judge
Blasts EPA Ground Zero Appraisal." ... ""No reasonable
person would have thought that telling thousands of people that it was
safe to return to lower Manhattan, while knowing that such return could
pose long-term health risks and other dire consequences, was conduct sanctioned
by our laws," U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts wrote, calling Whitman's
actions "conscience- shocking."" -AP
via -CBSNews
|
|
ENVIRONMENT News:
20081222
Water
- Technology
-  Company
- Environment
-  Minnesota
-  Texas
"Nation's
First 'Underwater Wind Turbine' Installed in Old Man River."
... "The nation's first commercial hydrokinetic turbine, which harnesses
the power from moving water without the construction of a dam, has splashed
into the waters of the Mississippi River near Hastings, Minnesota." ...
"The 35-kilowatt turbine is positioned downstream from an existing hydroelectric-plant
dam and — together with another turbine to be installed soon — will increase
the capacity of the plant by more than 5 percent. The numbers aren't big,
but the rig's installation could be the start of an important trend in
green energy." ... "And that could mean more of these "wind turbines for
the water" will be generating clean energy soon." ... ""We don't require
that massive dam construction, we're just using the natural flow of the
stream," said Mark Stover, a vice president at Hydro
Green Energy, the Houston[ Texas]-based company leading the project.
"It's underwater windpower if you will, but we have 840 or 850 times the
energy density of wind."" ... "Hydrokinetic turbines like those produced
by Hydro Green and Verdant capture
the mechanical energy of the water's flow and turn it into energy, without
need for a dam." ... "Hydro Green's Stover hopes that his company's new
unit will help shorten that regulatory process by generating environmental
impact data that could ease concerns the turbines will disrupt river ecosystems
and habitats." -By Alexis Madrigal
-Wired
20081211
 Auto
-  Makers
- Emergency
- Money
- Politics
-  Workers
- Environmental
-  Laws
- Fuel
- Technology
- Emissions
- Government
-  Michigan
-  California
"Murky
future for auto rescue amid GOP opposition." ...
"A House-passed bill to speed $14 billion in loans to Detroit's [Michigan]
automakers stands on shaky ground in a bailout-weary Congress, undermined
by Republican opposition that could derail the emergency aid in the Senate."
... "Republicans are challenging lame-duck [Republican] President George
W. Bush on the proposal, arguing that any support for the domestic auto
industry should carry significant concessions from autoworkers and creditors
and reject tougher environmental rules imposed by House Democrats." ...
"The automakers initially asked Congress for $25 billion, then returned
two weeks later to plead for as much as $34 billion. But with the {Republican
President Bush] White House refusing to dole out new spending for the Big
Three [Automakers], congressional Democrats agreed to use an existing program
that was to help carmakers retool their factories to make more fuel-efficient
cars." ... "That fund yielded only $15 billion in emergency loans, and
when negotiators agreed to leave some money in the environmental program,
the amount fell to $14 billion." ... "Democrats agreed to scrap language
— which the White House had declared a deal-breaker — that would have forced
the carmakers to drop lawsuits challenging tough emissions limits in California
and other states. But they kept a provision to force the automakers to
abide by those states' limits — a kind of consolation prize for environmentalists,
who already were livid at the raid of the fuel-efficiency program." -By
Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Ken Thomas -AP
via -Yahoo
 Animals
- Federal
- Law
-  Enforcement
- Science
- Politics
-  History
-  Global
- Climate
- Ice
- Oil
- Emissions
-  Construction
- Money
"Environmentalists:
New rule guts Endangered Species Act." ... "In a
move environmental groups says strikes at the heart of the Endangered Species
Act, the [Republican President] Bush administration on Thursday announced
a new rule that would let federal agencies decide on their own whether
their projects harm endangered species, instead of requiring them in many
cases to get a second opinion from federal wildlife experts." ... "Opponents
said the move destroys the checks and balances that have helped the gove
rnment save hundreds of species from extinction under the 1973 law." ...
"[Republican President Bush's] Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said
the reason for the rule change was linked to global warming." ... "Kempthorne
listed the polar bear as a threatened species in May but said that the
Endangered Species Act could not be used to try to halt global warming.
The new regulation specifies that there is no need for consultations when
the harm to endangered or threatened species is a result from a global
process that's too broad to measure." ... "Kempthorne said it's impossible
to pinpoint the death of any single animal from emissions from any single
polluter. In fact, emissions of heat-trapping gases disperse evenly in
the atmosphere around the globe and remain there for centuries. The resulting
warming and melting of polar ice have put the polar bear at risk of extinction
by mid-century, scientists have said." ... "The rule changes also go further
and specify that federal agencies are not required to consult with the
biologists of the two agencies that enforce the act — the Fish and Wildlife
Service and the National Marine Fisheries Services — if they think a project
such as a timber sale or construction of a power plant won't harm or kill
a threatened or endangered species. The changes do not rule out voluntary
consultations." ... "The Interior Department on Thursday also finalized
a rule implementing another section of the Endangered Species Act to clarify
that it will not protect polar bears from oil and gas development or greenhouse
gas emissions." -By
Renee
Schoof -McClatchyDC.com
20081210
Animals
- Seas
- Global
- Climate
- Science
- Emissions
- Economy
- 
- Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment
"Fifth
of world's coral reefs dead, say marine scientists:
Climate change linked to warmer and more acidic seas pose biggest threat
to coral survival, says report." ... "A fifth of the world's coral reefs
have died or been destroyed and the remainder are increasingly vulnerable
to the effects of climate change, a new study says." ... "The Global Coral
Reef Monitoring Network says many surviving reefs could be lost over the
coming decades as CO2 emissions continue to increase." ... "Corals are
crucial to the livelihoods of millions of coastal dwellers around the world.
The UN's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment says reefs are worth about $30bn
annually to the global economy through tourism, fisheries and coastal protection."
-By David
Adam-Guardian.co.uk
Global
Coral Reef Monitoring Network - www.GCRMN.org
20081209
Global
- Climate
- Floods
- Oil
- Companies
- Human
- Environmental
- Emissions
- Litigation
- Politics
-  UK
-  US
"Science
paves way for climate lawsuits." ... "People affected
by worsening storms, heatwaves and floods could soon be able to sue the
oil and power companies they blame for global warming, a leading climate
expert has said." ... "Myles Allen, a physicist at Oxford University, said
a breakthrough that allows scientists to judge the role man-made climate
change played in extreme weather events could see a rush to the courts
over the next decade." ... "He said: "We are starting to get to the point
that when an adverse weather event occurs we can quantify how much more
likely it was made by human activity. And people adversely affected by
climate change today are in a position to document and quantify their losses.
This is going to be hugely important."" ... "Allen's team has used the
new technique to work out whether global warming worsened the UK [United
Kingdom] floods in autumn 2000, which inundated 10,000 properties, disrupted
power supplies and led to train services being cancelled, motorways closed
and 11,000 people evacuated from their homes - at a total cost of £1bn."
... "There may also be grounds for a case on the basis that firms have
tried to misinform the public - as in US [United States] cases against
tobacco firms - about the effects of their business." ... "Owen Lomas,
head of environmental law at City firm Allen & Overy, said: "If you
look at the extent to which certain major companies in the US are accused
of having funded disinformation to cast doubt on the link between man-made
emissions and global warming, that could open the way to litigation.""
-By David
Adam and Afua
Hirsch -Guardian.co.uk
 Plants
- Animals
-  Food
- Water
-  Soil
- Global
- Climate
- Science
- Government
- US
-  Canada
"Tree's
rapid decline sounds alarm on global warming." ...
"The whitebark pine, a tree found in the high elevations of the western
U.S. [United States] and Canada, is being killed as a consequence of global
warming and should be protected as an endangered species, an environmental
group formally told the Interior Department Tuesday." ... "If the federal
government accepts the scientific arguments in a petition by the Natural
Resources Defense Council, it would be the first time a wide-ranging tree
has been added to the list. The NRDC [Natural Resources Defense Council]
also sees an endangered designation as a warning about worsening climate
change." ... "The whitebark pine has declined dramatically due to a triple
threat — a disease called the white pine blister rust; the mountain pine
beetle, which thrives in the warmer high-altitude conditions produced by
the burning of fossil fuels, and forest management practices that have
allowed other trees to crowd it out, the NRDC's petition said." ... "Warming
also will limit the range of the whitebark pine, the petition said. Many
live more than 500 years." ... "The whitebark pine stabilizes the soil
and shades the snow, providing water over longer periods for other plants.
Grizzly bears, smaller mammals and birds eat its seeds, and elk, grouse
and other mountain animals find shelter beneath it." -By
Renee
Schoof -McClatchyDC.com
Gov Reference: "Whitebark
Pine Communities"
20081208
 Stephen
Johnson - Religion
- Science
- Corporate
- Environmental
- Politician
-  RI
"EPA
Administrator Stephen Johnson: There’s ‘not a clean-cut division’ between
religion and science." ... "A Philadelphia Inquirer
profile
of [Republican President Bush's Environmetnal Protection Agency] EPA Administrator
Stephen
Johnson this weekend reveals that the chief steward of our environmental
protection is unwilling — or unable — to separate religion from science.
The Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson notes that, when questioned by reporters,
Stephen Johnson admitted he does not see a “clean-cut
division” between the two:"
"It’s
not a clean-cut division. If you have studied at all creationism vs.
evolution, there’s theistic or God-controlled evolution and there’s variations
on all those themes."
"Johnson’s
approach at EPA has been marked by putting his faith in corporate polluters.
This past summer, [Rhode Island Democratic Senator] Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse
(D-RI [Democratic-Rhode Island]) called on him to
resign. Read more at the Wonk
Room [Stephen Johnson]." -By Faiz
Shakir -ThinkProgress.org/Wonk
Room
20081202
 Barack
Obama - Stephen
Johnson - Water
- Earth
- Coal
- Companies
- Government
- Law
- Enforcement
- Politics
-  Kentucky
-  Tennessee
"EPA
to gut mountaintop mining rule that protects streams."
... "The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday approved a last-minute
rule change by the [Republican President] Bush administration that will
allow coal companies to bury streams under the rocks leftover from mining."
... "The 1983 rule prohibited dumping the fill from mountaintop removal
mining within 100 feet of streams. In practice, the government hadn't been
enforcing the rule. Government figures show that 535 miles of streams were
buried or diverted from 2001 to 2005, more than half of them in the mountains
of Appalachia. Along with the loss of the streams has been an increase
of erosion and flooding." ... "The 11th hour change before President George
W. Bush leaves office would eliminate a tool that citizens groups have
used in lawsuits to keep mining waste out of streams. Mining companies
had been pushing for the change for years." ... "It also means that [Democratic]
President-elect Barack Obama's administration will have to decide whether
to try to restore and enforce the rule, a process that could take many
months of new rulemaking. Obama's transition team declined to comment on
its plans on Tuesday." ... "Another option would be for opponents to go
through the courts. Opponents have argued that the rule change is illegal."
... "For now, however, the EPA's approval means there are no further obstacles
to the Office of Surface Mining's plans to change the rule. The White House's
Office of Management and Budget approved it on Monday. The Department of
Interior, which includes the mining office, plans to make the rule final
in December after briefing members of Congress, and it will go into effect
30 days after that, said spokesman Peter Mali." ... "The timing means the
rule is expected to be in effect when Obama takes office in January." ...
"In approving the change in writing as required by law, [Republican President
Bush's Environmental Protection Agency] EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson
rejected the appeals of environmentalists and some coal-country officials,
including Kentucky [Democratic Governor] Gov. Steve Beshear and Tennessee
[Democratic Governor] Gov. Phil Bredesen, both Democrats." ... "In a letter
in November to Johnson, Beshear said his state had to protect its water
and that while coal was important to the economy, it should be mined in
environmentally responsible ways." -By Renee Schoof
and Bill Estep -Herald-Leader
-McClatchyDC.com
20081111
Animals
- Environment
- Global
- Climate
- Gases
- Industrial
- Science
-History
"Report:
Greenhouse gases imperil oceans' web of life." ...
"Corals, lobsters, clams and many other ocean creatures — including some
at the bottom of the food chain — may be unable to withstand the increasing
acidity of the oceans brought on by growing global-warming pollution, according
to a report Tuesday from the advocacy group Oceana." ... "Based on scientific
findings of the past several years, Oceana's report "Acid Test" examines
the far-reaching consequences of the accumulation of heat-trapping gases,
particularly carbon dioxide, in the world's oceans." ... "A high level
of carbon dioxide in seawater depletes the carbonate that marine animals
need for their shells and skeletons. Creatures who are at risk if trends
continue include corals, which provide habitats for about a quarter of
the world's fish; things many people like to eat, including shrimp and
lobster; and pteropods, or swimming sea snails, which are an important
part of the base of polar and sub-polar food chains." ... "The acidity
of the oceans' surfaces has increased 30 percent since before the Industrial
Revolution, and the current trend would increase it 100 percent by the
end of this century, exceeding levels of the past 20 million years, the
report says." -By Renee
Schoof -McClatchyDC.com
Report:
"Acid
Test: Can We Save Our Oceans from CO2?" [PDF
Full Report] - Oceana.org
20081110
 Al
Gore - Barack
Obama - Global
- Climate
- Technology
- Money
- Environmental
- Emissions
- Law
- Politics
- San
Francisco - California
"Gore
urges US to try for 100% renewable energy within a decade."
... "[Democratic President-Elect] Barack Obama should set drastic targets
to force the US [United States] to switch to renewable energy in an effort
to slow down climate change, according to the former [Democratic] vice
president Al Gore. Gore said that one of Obama's first acts as US president
should be to demand a move to 100% renewable energy within 10 years." ...
""We can do that," he said during the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco [California]
last Friday. "The declaration from [Democratic] President [John F] Kennedy
that we would land a man on the moon and bring him back safely was thought
by many to be impossible."" ... "During his presidential campaign, Obama
promised to invest $150bn (£96bn) in renewables over 10 years as
part of the plan to increase US energy security amid fear of oil shortages,
while also cutting carbon emissions. Many hope to see those policies enacted
with a far-reaching climate-change bill that would bring the US back into
the global environment fold." -By Bobbie Johnson
-Guardian.co.uk
20081020
Environmental
- Politics
"The
League of Conservation Voters Is Friendlier to Republicans than Democrats."
... "The LCV [League of Conservation Voters] scorecard is the major scorecard
for the environmental movement, this is their measure of how friendly to
the environment a candidate is, a selection of key votes that set goals
for the large and sprawling set of green groups." ... "Basically, what
the data suggests is that LCV has two sets of standards, one for Democrats,
who have to meet a certain bar for support, and one for Republicans, who
have to meet a lower bar for support." -By Matt
Stoller -OpenLeft.com
20081007
 Sarah
Palin - Terrorism
- Politics
-  Alaska
-  Iran
-
- History
- US
- Federal
- Law
-Enforcement
- Earth
- Environment
- 2008
Election
"The
Palins' un-American activities." ... ""My government
is my worst enemy. I'm going to fight them with any means at hand."" ...
"The quote is from Joe Vogler, the raging anti-American who founded the
Alaska Independence Party. Inconveniently for [2008 Election Republican
Vice Presidential Candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah] Palin, that's the
very same secessionist party that her husband, Todd [Palin], belonged to
for seven years and that she sent a shout-out to as Alaska governor earlier
this year. ("Keep up the good work," Palin told AIP members. "And God bless
you.")" ... "AIP chairwoman Lynette
Clark told me recently that Sarah Palin is her kind of gal. "She's
Alaskan to the bone ... she sounds just like Joe Vogler."" ... "So who
are these America-haters that the Palins are pallin' around with?" ...
"Before his strange murder in 1993, party founder Vogler preached armed
insurrection against the United States of America. Vogler, who always carried
a Magnum with him, was fond of saying, "When the [federal] bureaucrats
come after me, I suggest they wear red coats. They make better targets.
In the federal government are the biggest liars in the United States, and
I hate them with a passion. They think they own [Alaska]. There comes a
time when people will choose to die with honor rather than live with dishonor.
That time may be coming here. Our goal is ultimate independence by peaceful
means under a minimal government fully responsive to the people. I hope
we don't have to take human life, but if they go on tramping on our property
rights, look out, we're ready to die."" ... "This quote is from "Coming
Into the Country," by John McPhee, who traipsed around Alaska's remote
gold mining country with Vogler for his 1991 book. The violent-tempered
secessionist vowed to McPhee that if any federal official tried to stop
him from polluting Alaska's rivers with his earth-moving equipment, he
would "run over him with a Cat and turn mosquitoes loose on him while he
dies."" ... "Vogler's greatest moment of glory was to be his 1993 appearance
before the United Nations to denounce United States "tyranny" before the
entire world and to demand Alaska's freedom. The Alaska secessionist had
persuaded the government of Iran to sponsor his anti-American harangue."
... "That's right ... Iran. The Islamic dictatorship. The taker of American
hostages." ... "AIP leaders allege that Vogler, who was murdered that year
by a fellow secessionist, was taken out by powerful forces in the U.S.
before he could reach his U.N. platform." -By David
Talbot -Salon
20080919
Political
- Science
-  Psychology
-  DNA
- Nature
-  Nurture
-  Nebraska
"Are
you a born conservative (or liberal)? A new study
suggests that your political attitudes are wired in from the beginning."
... "It's literally in their DNA." ... "People with strongly conservative
views were three times more fearful than staunch liberals after the effects
of gender, age, income and education were factored out." ... "Kevin B.
Smith, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
and a study author, said conservatives were more vigilant to environmental
threats, and he speculated that this innate tendency led them to support
policies that protect the social order." ... "Fowler said the study added
to the growing research suggesting that over millions of years, humans
have developed two cognitive styles -- conservative and liberal. Cautious
conservatives prevented societies from taking undue risks, while more flexible
liberals fostered cooperation." ... ""For the species to survive, you need
both," he said." ... "But Jon Krosnick, a political science professor at
Stanford University, said it was impossible to draw any conclusions from
a study with so few people, all from a small Midwestern town." ... "The
study is the latest to challenge the long-standing dogma that upbringing
and environmental factors determine political attitudes." -By
Denise Gellene -LAtimes
20080916
Sarah
Palin -  Don
Young - Money
- Politics
- Federal
-  Transportation
- Construction
- Animals
- Environment
- Alaska
- 2008
Election
"Palin
supports $600 million 'other' bridge project." ...
"[Alaska Republican Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin may eventually have said
"no thanks" to a federally funded Bridge to Nowhere [after supporting it
even after Congress had stopped it]." ... "But a bridge to her hometown
of Wasilla [Alaska], that's a different story." ... "A $600 million bridge
and highway project to link Alaska's largest city to Palin's town of 7,000
residents is moving full speed ahead, despite concerns the bridge could
worsen some commuting and threaten a population of beluga whales." ...
"Local officials already have spent $42 million on plans to route traffic
across the Knik Arm inlet, a narrow finger of water extending roughly 25
miles northeast of Anchorage toward Wasilla. The proposal exists thanks
to an earmark request by Republican [Alaska Representative] Rep. Don Young,
whose son-in-law has a small stake in property near the bridge's proposed
western span." ... ""This is basically an incredibly expensive project
that doesn't help commuters, doesn't help create jobs and may drive whales
to extinction," said Justin Massey, an attorney advising environmentalists
opposed to the proposal. "It is also a project that serves the area where
the governor is from, which is near and dear to her heart."" ... "Palin
still supports the second bridge, officially named Don Young's Way in honor
of the congressman." -By Garance Burke
-AP via -Yahoo
20080829
Sarah
Palin - Science
- Politics
- Global
- Climate
- Atmosphere
- 2008
Election -  John
McCain - Alaska
-  Arizona
"Palin
Not Convinced on Global Warming." ... "Some scientists
believe Alaska will be among the first to feel the impact of global warming,
but [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin
told voters there she wasn't sure climate change wasn't simply part of
a natural warming cycle." ... ""I will not pretend to have all the answers,"
Palin said about global warming, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
Her spokesman clarified at the time that "she's not totally convinced one
way or the other. Science will tell us . . . She thinks the jury's still
out."" ... "Palin shared her views in the run-up to the 2006 governor's
race, at an Alaska Federation of Natives convention, where delegates passed
a resolution calling for a mandatory reduction in pollution affecting the
atmosphere." ... "Answering a question from the Daily News, Palin cautioned
against "overreaction."" ... "Those were among the comments that brought
condemnation today from Greenpeace to her selection as [2008 Election Republican
Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's running
mate on the Republican ticket. The environmental group's Alaska Global
Warming Campaigner, Melanie Duchin, described Palin as "one of the most
anti-environment records of any governor in the United States." -By
Matthew Mosk and Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost
Sarah
Palin - Alaska
- Lawmakers
- Investigation
- Global
- Climate
- Ice
- Environment
- Species
- 2008
Election
"Palin
candidacy raises eyebrows in Alaska." ... "State
lawmakers have launched a $100,000 investigation to determine if [2008
Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah]
Palin dismissed Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan last month because
Monegan wouldn't fire a state trooper involved in a messy custody battle
with her sister." ... "She also is under fire from environmentalists for
opposing the [Republican President] Bush administration's decision in May
to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species
Act because global warming is melting the polar ice cap." ... "Dermot Cole,
a longtime columnist for Alaska's second-largest newspaper, the Fairbanks
Daily News-Miner, called McCain's choice of Palin reckless and questioned
her credentials." ... ""Sarah Palin's chief qualification for being elected
governor was that she was not Frank Murkowski," Cole said of her enormously
unpopular predecessor, who lost favor with Alaskans in part because of
unpopular budget cuts. "She was not elected because she was a conservative.
She was not elected because of her grasp of issues or because of her track
record as the mayor of Wasilla [Alaska]."" -By Dan
Joling with contributions by Sharon Theimer and H. Josef Hebert
-AP via -Chron
John
McCain - Sarah
Palin - Science
- Politics
- Oil
- Money
- Wildlife
- History
- Global
- Climate
- Ice
- Law
-Alaska
- Arizona
- 2008
Election - US
- Canada
"McCain
VP Pick No Friend to Polar Bears." ... "Alaska [Republican]
Governor Sarah Palin has ignored research showing that polar bear populations
are declining in the quest to plumb new sources of energy, according to
scientists, and environmental groups who fought to put the bears on the
endangered species list." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate
and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain tapped Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
to be his vice presidential candidate Friday. Palin is only the second
woman to be on a major party's ticket as VP -- the first was Geraldine
Ferraro, who ran with Democrati Walter Mondale in 1984." ... "The 44-year-old
Palin, a beauty pageant winner and former mayor of a small town in Alaska,
is an advocate of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
She has infuriated environmentalists for her support of the aerial
shooting of wolves as a way to build up herds of moose and caribou. She's
also sued the Interior Department for putting
polar bears on the endangered species list." ... "In the lawsuit, filed
this month in federal district court in the District of Columbia, Palin
argues that the government's move to list polar bears as endangered is
not based on sound science, and restricts oil and natural gas development.
The Interior Department had put the bears on the list in response to a
lawsuit filed by environmental groups, who argued that the bears are being
threatened by global warming." ... "In an interview on the conservative
CNN talk show hosted by Glenn Beck earlier this year, Palin said that she
was worried that environmentalists are using the Endangered Species Act
to block the extraction of oil and gas." ... ""In fact, the number of polar
bears has risen dramatically over the past 30 years," she said. "Our fear
(is) that extreme environmentalists will use this tool, the ESA, to eventually
curtail or halt the North Slope production of very rich resources that
America needs."" ... "But biologists who have studied polar bear populations
counter that the facts simply do not support Palin's assertion that polar
bear populations are on the rise." ... ""Polar bear populations have not
been increasing for the past 30 years, and that's a well-known fact," said
Ian Stirling, an emeritus scientist with Canada's Department of the Environment
and an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta in an interview.
Stirling has studied polar bears for 37 years -- the longest of anyone."
... "In fact, the polar bear population has actually declined by 20 percent
in Alaska's Southern Beaufort Sea since the mid-1980s, he says, referring
to peer-reviewed research that he's conducted with other scientists for
the US Geological Survey. The reason: Loss of their habitat in the form
of melting ice." -By Sarah Lai Stirland
-Wired
20080828
Global
- Climate
- Ice
- Science
- History
"Arctic
ice shrinks to second-lowest level ever." ... "Arctic
sea ice, which melts partly during each polar summer, has shrunk more this
year than in any on record except for 2007, the National Snow and Ice Data
Center has found." ... "Scientists said the data provided more ominous
indications that a global warming "tipping point" in the Arctic seems to
be happening before their eyes: Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is now at its
second lowest level in about 30 years." ... "With several weeks left of
the melting season, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported yesterday
that sea ice in the Arctic now covers about 2.03 million square miles.
The lowest point since satellite measurements began in 1979 was 1.65 million
square miles, measured on Sept. [September] 16, 2007." ... "Declining ice
as a result of warmer temperatures in the air and ocean threatens to amplify
global warming because the sea is darker than ice and absorbs more sunlight."
-Newsday.com
20080825
 WATCH
- 2008
Election - Politics
- Noteworthy
- US
-  Iraq
-  Military
- Global
- Climate
- Environment
- Fiscal
- History
-  Iowa
"Full
Text: Former U.S. Rep. Jim Leach Speech to Democratic National Convention."
... [Speech by Iowa Republican Representative Jim Leach:] "In troubled
times, it was understood that country comes before party, that in perilous
moments mutual concern for the national interest must be the only factor
in political judgments. This does not mean that debate within and between
the political parties should not be vibrant. Yet what frustrates so many
citizens is the lack of bipartisanship in Washington and the way today’s
Republican Party has broken with its conservative heritage." ... "The party
that once emphasized individual rights has gravitated in recent years toward
regulating values. The party of military responsibility has taken us to
war with a country that did not attack us. The party that formerly led
the world in arms control has moved to undercut treaties crucial to the
defense of the earth. The party that prides itself on conservation has
abdicated its responsibilities in the face of global warming. And the party
historically anchored in fiscal restraint has nearly doubled the national
debt, squandering our precious resources in an undisciplined and unprecedented
effort to finance a war with tax cuts." ... "America has seldom faced more
critical choices: whether we should maintain an occupational force for
decades in a country and region that resents western intervention or elect
a leader who, in a carefully structured way, will bring our troops home
from Iraq as the heroes they are. Whether it is wise to continue to project
power largely alone with flickering support around the world or elect a
leader who will follow the model of General Eisenhower and this president’s
father and lead in concert with allies." ... "Whether it is prudent to
borrow from future generations to pay for today’s reckless fiscal policies
or elect a leader who will shore up our budgets and return to a strong
dollar. Whether it is preferable to continue the policies that have weakened
our position in the world, deepened our debt and widened social divisions
or elect a leader who will emulate John F. Kennedy and relight a lamp of
fairness at home and reassert an energizing mix of realism and idealism
abroad." ... "The portfolio of challenges passed on to the next president
will be as daunting as any since the Great Depression and World War II.
This is not a time for politics as usual or for run-of-the-mill politicians.
Little is riskier to the national interest than more of the same. America
needs new ideas, new energy and a new generation of leadership." ... "Hence,
I stand before you proud of my party’s contributions to American history
but, as a citizen, proud as well of the good judgment of good people in
this good party, in nominating a transcending candidate, an individual
whom I am convinced will recapture the American dream and be a truly great
president: the senator from Abraham Lincoln’s state—Barack Obama. Thank
you." -By Jim Leach via
-Clips&Comment
WATCH:
Jim Leach, Republican of Iowa at the Democratic National Convention
20080805
John
McCain - Oil
- Money
- Politics
- 2008
Election - New
York - Texas
- Ocean
- Environment
"Oilman
greases skids for McCain campaign: Among the donors
from John B. Hess' company are an office manager and her husband, who pony
up $57,000." ... "On June 10, John B. Hess, a top executive at the oil
company with his family name, summoned friends to the 21 Club, a former
speakeasy in Manhattan [New York], and delivered $285,000 to [2008 Election
Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain and the Republican National
Committee." ... "A week later, McCain traveled to Texas and announced his
support for offshore oil drilling." ... "Hess Corp. is an East Coast gasoline
retailer with major refining and exploration operations, some of which
happen to be offshore in the Gulf of Mexico." ... "Hess was one of half
a dozen hosts who tapped friends for the maximum $28,500 donation to the
GOP. Others included investor Henry Kravis and hedge fund mogul Paul E.
Singer." -By Dan Morain-LAtimes
20080619
Disaster
- Environment
- Human
-  Agriculture
- Land
- Science
- Iowa
- History
- Weather
"Iowa
Flooding Could Be An Act of Man, Experts Say." ...
"[Cedar Falls, Iowa college professor and City Council member Kamyar] Enshayan,
director of an environmental center at the University of Northern Iowa,
suspects that this natural disaster wasn't really all that natural. He
points out that the heavy rains fell on a landscape radically reengineered
by humans. Plowed fields have replaced tallgrass prairies. Fields have
been meticulously drained with underground pipes. Streams and creeks have
been straightened. Most of the wetlands are gone. Flood plains have been
filled and developed." ... ""We've done numerous things to the landscape
that took away these water-absorbing functions," he said. "Agriculture
must respect the limits of nature."" ... "Officials are still trying to
understand all the factors that contributed to Iowa's flooding, and not
everyone has the same suspicions as Enshayan. For them, the cause was obvious:
It rained buckets and buckets for days on end. They say the changes in
land use were lesser factors in what was really just a case of meteorological
bad luck." ... "But some Iowans who study the environment suspect that
changes in the land, both recently and over the past century or so, have
made Iowa's terrain not only highly profitable but also highly vulnerable
to flooding." ... "" (1, 2)
-By Joel Achenbach with contributions by Kari Lydersen
-WashingtonPost
20080612
Health
- Science
- Environmental
-  Safety
- Laws
- Manufacturing
- Industries
-  EU
- US
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