NEWS ROUNDUP

Canada won't meet Kyoto emission targets Canada's conservative government acknowledged Thursday it will not meet its Kyoto Protocol targets and announced a new environmental plan with a less ambitious goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Under the 1997 Kyoto accord on climate change, the former Liberal government committed to a 6 percent cut in greenhouse emissions from 1990 levels by 2012. But the country's emissions are now 30 percent above 1990 levels. The new goal of a national environmental initiative announced Thursday is to reduce the level of current emissions 20 percent by 2020. That means Canada will not meet its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol — which requires 35 industrialized countries to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that act like a greenhouse, trapping heat in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming. "I can't take responsibility for 10 lost years, but I can fully, and our government is prepared to fully, accept our responsibilities today," Environment Minister John Baird said in blaming the former Liberal government. The plan to tighten emissions controls on industry will cause Canada some economic pain, Baird warned. The government predicts price increases for cars, home appliances, electricity and fuel....
2008 Candidates Rely on Private Jets A flock of small jets took flight from Washington Thursday, each carrying a Democratic presidential candidate to South Carolina for the first debate of the political season. For Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden, it was wheels up shortly after they voted in favor of legislation requiring that U.S. troops begin returning home from Iraq in the fall. No one jet pooled, no one took commercial flights to save money, fuel or emissions. Thursday's debate, set on the campus of South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, S.C., made for some whirlwind scheduling. Clinton, for instance, was scheduled to return to Washington Friday morning for an 8 a.m. address to the New York State United Teachers 35th Annual Representative Assembly, then fly back to South Carolina for an 11 a.m. event in Greenville....
Poll Finds Majority See Threat in Global Warming Americans in large bipartisan numbers say the heating of the earth’s atmosphere is having serious effects on the environment now or will soon and think that it is necessary to take immediate steps to reduce its effects, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll finds. Ninety percent of Democrats, 80 percent of independents and 60 percent of Republicans said immediate action was required to curb the warming of the atmosphere and deal with its effects on the global climate. Nineteen percent said it was not necessary to act now, and 1 percent said no steps were needed. The poll also found that Americans want the United States to support conservation and to be a global leader in addressing environmental problems and developing alternative energy sources to reduce reliance on fossil fuels like oil and coal. But when it comes to specific steps to foster conservation or produce more energy, the public is deeply torn, the poll found. Respondents said they would support higher gasoline prices to reduce dependence on foreign oil but would oppose higher prices to combat global warming. By large margins, respondents opposed an increase in pump prices of $2 a gallon, or even $1, to deal with environmental and energy-supply concerns. Three-quarters said they would be willing to pay more for electricity generated by renewable sources like solar or wind energy....
Panel weighs effects of oil, gas projects Westerners affected by oil and gas development on public lands testified Thursday about proposed changes in how the federal government handles leasing and permitting of energy projects. The hearing focused on the use of exemptions from some environmental analysis for certain projects and the problems that can arise when the government leases mineral rights under land lived on by private owners. Two House Natural Resources subcommittees jointly held the oversight hearing on land-use issues arising from energy development. Two federal officials testified in favor of the continued use of certain exemptions, but a representative of Western governors advocated for changes to it. A section of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 allows "categorical exclusions" to be used to exempt certain drilling projects from requirements to prepare an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement. John Emmerich testified on behalf of the Western Governors Association and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies that changes are needed. He and the WGA want the 2005 act to be modified so that categorical exclusions cannot be used in crucial habitat areas and wildlife corridors. Steve Adami, a rancher and certified public accountant in Buffalo, Wyo., testified that 12 of those wells are on his ranch. Adami did not know about the subsurface mineral rights when he bought his ranch in 1993. He told his story of a company coming onto the land and beginning development even while he waited for his appeal to be heard. Adami, who testified on behalf of the Powder River Basin Resource Council, asked for surface-owner input and accommodation as well as compensation for damages to be required in split-estate situations. He urged passage of a new federal split-estate law....
Industry: Relax wildlife rules Coal-bed methane industry representatives on Thursday asked federal regulators to loosen wildlife restrictions that shut down much of the industry's operations in Wyoming's Powder River Basin this spring. During breeding periods for sage grouse, eagles and other wildlife, the federal Bureau of Land Management imposes monthslong shutdowns of coal-bed methane work to prevent disturbance of the birds' nests and mating grounds. Researchers from the University of Montana say sage grouse populations in the Powder River Basin have suffered a sharp decline inside active coal-bed methane fields over the last decade. As coal-bed methane production shifted onto federal land during the last year, the restrictions meant to protect the birds came into play more often. That curtailed the drilling of new wells and prompted layoffs of some industry contractors. In response, the Petroleum Association of Wyoming this week hosted a two-day "sage grouse workshop" in Casper involving coal-bed methane companies, state and federal regulatory agencies and independent researchers. BLM officials would not comment on the request to modify its restrictions but agreed to work with the industry in the future....
Government renews focus on cross-Nevada rail line to nuclear dump The Energy Department is refocusing plans for a cross-Nevada railroad to a national nuclear waste repository, after an Indian tribe said it won't let radioactive waste cross its reservation, a top Yucca Mountain official said. A north-to-south railroad corridor that would have crossed the Walker River Paiute reservation in Mineral County no longer will be considered, Ward Sproat, director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, said Wednesday. The department will instead focus on completing studies of the so-called Caliente rail corridor, a 319-mile route that would be built from eastern Nevada across the state to the Yucca Mountain repository at a projected cost of more than $2 billion. Sproat made his comments during a presentation in Washington, D.C., to a conference organized by the U.S. Transport Council, whose members are tied to the shipping of nuclear materials. Sproat, the Energy Department's Yucca project chief, said it was too late to remove the 280-mile Mina corridor from an environmental impact study the department expects to make public in October. He said the Mina route could have been cheaper and faster to build, but said planners now expect the decision will favor the Caliente route. The Walker River Paiute tribe announced April 17 that it was withdrawing from environmental studies of the Mina route, named after a site south of Hawthorne. The tribe's participation was key to Energy Department plans to use existing railroad rights-of-way through old mining districts to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas....
Backers await Army's response on Pinon Canyon Supporters of the Army's plan to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site believe the Pentagon will be able to make a compelling case to increase the training area - despite the growing list of state and federal lawmakers who are opposed to the expansion. "Once the Army has identified its area of interest around Pinon Canyon, they can begin to have a dialogue with area landowners," said retired Air Force Col. Brian Binn, president of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Division. "Tomorrow's Army needs larger training areas and Pinon Canyon and Fort Carson are inextricably linked." That's an argument that didn't persuade Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., who sent the Army a letter on Wednesday spelling out his opposition to any expansion of the 238,000-acre training area southwest of La Junta. Pinon Canyon is in Salazar's 3rd Congressional District and he joins Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., in sending the Army a blunt refusal to support expanding Pinon Canyon by 418,000 acres. Musgrave's 4th Congressional District includes Eastern Plains areas that could be affected by the expansion. "My decision has been coming for some time now," Salazar said Thursday, saying his own analysis of the proposed expansion indicates it would ruin the agriculture and ranching economy of the area. "The Army has broken a lot of promises over the years about Pinon Canyon. The fact is, the agriculture community doesn't have much voice in government and I couldn't stand by and let this happen to them again."....
Pair of endangered wolves released into remote area of Gila Two more endangered Mexican gray wolves have been released into a remote area of New Mexico's Gila Wilderness. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday that the pair, a male and a female from the Durango Pack, had been transferred from the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge wolf facility to a staging area at the edge of the wilderness. They were released Tuesday. The female is pregnant and was released prior to birthing to increase chances that the wolves will den in the area, the agency said....See below for Catron County's reaction to the release of the male wolf.
AZ Senate Balks at Requiring Permits for Off-Highway Vehicles Another push to require owners of off-highway vehicles to pay for a new annual sticker has fallen short at the Legislature. The Senate on Thursday voted 14-13 for the bill (HB2443) but 16 votes were required for passage. The house had previously passed it overwhelmingly in March. Similar to programs in use in states such as Utah and California, Arizona's program would have provided money for development of trails and other access routes, grants for local enforcement of off-highway vehicle laws, mitigation of damage caused by OHVs and creation of maps, signs and educational material. Opponents said the mandatory sticker amounted to a tax increase, with one saying it would apply broadly but only benefit some....
Spotted owl in protection quarrel again The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a plan to recover the northern spotted owl on federal lands Thursday amid charges the plan is politically designed to dismantle old-growth forest protections afforded by the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. Federal officials defended the proposal, saying it will take 30 years and $198 million to stabilize and recover an owl population that still is on the decline 17 years after it was listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. But a member of the recovery team said the team’s work was undermined by Bush administration political appointees in Washington, D.C., who wanted less emphasis on preserving habitat and the Northwest Forest Plan. “The level of interference from Washington, D.C., is unprecedented,” said Tim Cullinan, an Audubon Washington wildlife biologist who participated on the owl-recovery team assembled by U.S. Fish and Wildlife. “They’ve used the recovery plan as a crowbar that wrecks the Northwest Forest Plan.”. The recovery team originally tried to mesh the owl-recovery plan with the Northwest Forest Plan in establishing 37 owl- conservation areas encompassing about 7.7 million acres, Cullinan said. But the plan completed in September 2006 was rejected by the so-called Washington Oversight Committee, which consisted of former timber lobbyist and current Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett and 11 others. The oversight committee directed the recovery team to de-emphasize the Northwest Forest Plan in the original option and told team members to add a second recovery option that gives local land managers more flexibility to create owl-conservation areas....
Disease divides fed agencies There’s a deep division between two federal agencies over eradication of brucellosis in the bison and elk of Yellowstone National Park. That divide was the 800-pound gorilla for the Wyoming Governor's Brucellosis Coordination Committee here on Thursday. {M3Bret Combs, the area veterinarian in charge of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's Veterinary Services, acknowledged that his group and the National Park Service “are not on the same page” regarding the eradication of brucellosis in Yellowstone wildlife. Combs also acknowledged that until that gap is closed, Wyoming’s efforts to eliminate the disease in wildlife are likely doomed to failure. John Keck, the Wyoming state coordinator for the National Park Service, didn’t say much before the committee, but explained in a separate interview how complex the brucellosis problem looks from the Park Service's perspective. Keck said the agency divide exists in part because the Park Service does not regard its wildlife as a form of livestock. Indeed, the “wildness” of elk and bison are valued, and Park Service leadership balks at the suggestion from APHIS and ranchers that elk and bison be rounded up and processed through a test-and-slaughter program....
Editorial - Take the money TALK ABOUT your unintended consequences. A spokesman for the Colorado Attorney General’s Office says many Southeastern Colorado ranchers may be prohibited from taking private aid for the two holiday blizzard because of Amendment 41. The amendment, a so-called ethics in government measure, was passed last November by voters. It prohibits people in government or individuals directly related to government officials from taking more than $50 in gifts in any year. This would eliminate families that work for public schools, state colleges or counties. Because many of the households affected by the blizzards have family members who may work part time or full time for government, they may not be eligible for private assistance because of Amendment 41. Operation Blizzard Benefit, which featured a concert in Pueblo by Michael Martin Murphey and other entertainers, has raised more than $680,000 to help ranchers with their losses. Preliminary estimates pegged the number of fallen cattle at 10,000 head. It’s money from the benefit, not public aid, that might be construed as unlawful for certain families to receive. That’s certainly not what voters had in mind when they supported Amendment 41 at the polls....
House, Senate panel reject horse meat Congress moved on two fronts Thursday to prevent the slaughter of horses, wild and domesticated, for human consumption. The U.S. House voted 277-137 to repeal the so-called "Burns rider" to the Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which banned the commercial sale and slaughter of equines found on public lands primarily in the West. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., in 2004, slipped an amendment into an omnibus spending bill allowing for the commercial processing of horses. Animal protection groups have worked since then to get the ban restored. Burns lost a bid for re-election to the Senate in November. The House voted in 2005 and 2006 to restore the ban, but the Senate did not address the issue. In the Senate, the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Thursday voted 15-7 to ban the slaughter of all horses for human food. The legislation would prohibit the movement of horses anywhere in the country for the purpose of slaughtering them for human consumption. Until last year there were only three horse slaughterhouses in the U.S. - two in Texas and one in Illinois. All three have since closed. The bill appears to pre-empt transporting the animals to Canada or Mexico. There are three horse-packing plants in Canada, the nearest in Fort McLeod, Alberta, which processes horse meat for export to eastern Canada, Europe and Asia....
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? ... Not Anymore Imagine a proposal to scatter millions of pounds of poisoned meat around the United States, close to human populations. Much of it would be accessible to scavengers including eagles, hawks, coyotes, foxes and badgers, as well as to dogs and cats. An animal feeding on the poisoned meat would probably die. This scenario is likely, now that the opponents of slaughtering horses are having their way. For many years, unwanted horses have routinely been sent to slaughter. Some horse meat becomes pet food, but much goes for export to Europe for human consumption. Horse-slaughter opponents tend to think of horses as beloved pets, much like cats or dogs, and in America, the last thing we would do is eat a pet. In Europe, however, horse meat is a staple, and it’s found on many menus. The opponents of horse slaughter have concentrated their efforts on stopping the export of horse meat for human consumption. Since “filet of filly” is a dish that repels Americans, this argument has generated some sympathy. Exporting American horses to feed foreign palates has also been labeled unpatriotic, with critics calling the practice contrary to American values. Now, the poison-meat scenario has become the alternative to government-regulated horse slaughter. On March 29, the last U.S. horse-slaughter plant was closed down by order of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia. A circuitous path led to shutting the doors — and summarily dismissing 55 employees — at the DeKalb, Ill., plant. Until a few months ago, three plants operated in the United States, and last year they slaughtered about 100,800 horses. What do slaughter opponents advocate? Their Political Action Committee, aptly called HOOFPAC, says it all in a slogan: “Keep America’s horses in the stable and off the table.” This is a catchy phrase, but it doesn’t address whose stable, and at whose expense....
Human Risk Played Down in Bad Feed The potential risk to humans who might have eaten meat contaminated with melamine is extremely low, and the Food and Drug Administration believes that only 6,000 hogs may have eaten the reconstituted feed. But concern has shifted to encompass melamine-related compounds that include cyanuric acid, which can be used as a pool cleaner, and mixed with melamine could cause crystal formations that damage kidneys and could in some cases cause the organ to fail, an F.D.A. official said. Melamine, a compound used to make plastic utensils and as a fertilizer in some countries, has been found in wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate that came from two Chinese suppliers starting as far back as July 2006....
Permits put cattle drive out to pasture It's OK to drive cattle through Angels Camp. But only in a great big truck. If you want whooping cowboys and the thunder of cow hooves on pavement, you'll need a permit. It's too late to get one from the California Department of Transportation in time for Italian Heritage Day on May 5, say event organizers. And a few old cowpokes around here are a bit blue about it. "This is my heritage," said Emily Stemler, 85, member of a longtime local ranching family and grand marshal for Italian Heritage Day. "It was just one of those things. You drove cattle on the highways all the time. We didn't have trucks to truck them." This year's Heritage Day is in part a revival of Angels Camp Living History Day. As recently as 2000, a morning cattle drive was part of Living History Day so folks would have some entertainment while they enjoyed flapjacks and java at the event's breakfast....