Environmentalists: make it 'Hallowgreen' The most frightening part of Halloween is what it is doing to our planet, according to some environmental experts. When you think of Halloween, the environment may not be the first thing that comes to mind. However, the Nature Conservancy is out to make Halloween eco-friendly by publishing a segment on their Web site called "Green Your Halloween." "Green Your Halloween" warns against buying "chocolate that's unsustainably harvested, prepackaged costumes made of non-recyclable materials, lighted decorations that suck energy like a vampire and pumpkins trucked in from thousands of miles away." Melanie Lenart, research associate for the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth, said too much waste is generated on Halloween, and people should take the time to reduce their purchasing of disposable items. And if you want to take the extra step to raise awareness about environmental issues with your costume this year, Suite101.com suggests "10 eco-friendly costume ideas," such as dressing up like a compact fluorescent light bulb or even "global warming."....
DOW kills bear that attacked woman State and federal wildlife officers on Saturday killed a male bear that attacked and injured an Aspen woman on Oct. 17. According to a statement from the Colorado Division of Wildlife, officers located the bear using a GPS tracking collar placed on it earlier this year as part of a wildlife research project monitoring black bear behavior. They killed the bear about a mile east of Aspen around 3 p.m. Saturday. “By verifying collar tracking data, officers are sure that they have eliminated the bear responsible for the earlier incident,” Wildlife Division spokesman Randy Hampton said in the statement. “Tracking equipment had enabled wildlife officers to get close to the bear on several previous attempts, but nearby homes made it impossible to safely shoot the bear on those occasions.” On Oct. 17 the bear, which weighed approximately 450 pounds and was likely 5 to 10 years old, opened a sliding glass door and entered a Judith Garrison’s Aspen condo at about 1:30 a.m. The woman surprised the bear in the kitchen, and the bear clawed her in the face, causing serious injuries....
Wind farms generate bird worries The rapid expansion of wind energy farms in the Columbia River Gorge's shrub steppes could put hawks, eagles and other raptors on a collision course with fields of giant turbines and their 150-foot blades. By year's end, more than 1,500 turbines will be churning out electricity in the gorge, a windy corridor at the forefront of a nationwide effort to produce cleaner energy. Until now, most of the projects have gone up in wheat fields -- cultivated land that long ago drove away the rodents that raptors hunt. But as wind energy developers move into wilder areas along the gorge's ridge lines, near canyons and amid shrub-covered rangeland, the potential for conflict rises. If bird studies confirm the fears of Oregon and Washington state wildlife biologists, the green-minded Northwest might be forced to weigh its pursuit of pollution-free energy against the toll on raptors and other birds. The numbers sound small: Nationwide, collisions kill about 2.3 birds of all varieties per turbine per year, studies show. In the Northwest, it's about 1.9 birds per turbine. That could mean more than 3,000 bird deaths a year in the gorge. But birders say those numbers are meaningless because the totals make no distinction between abundant and rare species....
Environmental groups sue over 'mothball fleet' pollution Several environmental groups announced plans Monday to sue the federal government over toxic pollution caused by a fleet of mothballed warships floating near San Francisco Bay. The groups accuse the U.S. Maritime Administration of violating state and federal environmental regulations as dozens of decaying ships linger well past a congressional deadline ordering their removal. The suit was set to be filed Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Sacramento. More than 70 ships comprise the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, some dating back to World War II. The old ships were once kept afloat in case of war, but many have fallen into disrepair, overtaken by rust and rot. The suit asks the court to order the federal agency to prepare an official review of the environmental impact caused by the ships and to remove hazardous wastes – including paint, discarded oil and asbestos – from the vessels....
Mercury emitters rush to meet new U.S. rules The big power plant that hugs the shoreline of the winding James River just south of Richmond is getting bigger. Construction of a sprawling pollution-control project will almost double the size of Dominion Resources' Chesterfield plant, which supplies electricity to about 300,000 homes and businesses in central Virginia. When it's all over, the complex — including metal towers, a tile-lined wet scrubber and a towering new chimney — will cut the plant's emissions of mercury and other pollutants by an estimated 90%. Just six years ago, the coal-burning plant was one of the nation's largest mercury polluters, releasing 1,300 pounds of the metal into the air. But even before the new pollution controls could be installed, the plant's mercury output was cut to 360 pounds in 2005. While the plant is now burning coal that is lower in mercury content, part of the reduction is explained by more accurate emissions estimates. The work is part of a $2 billion investment that Dominion committed to after reaching a settlement in 2003 with the Environmental Protection Agency, which threatened to sue the company over emissions. That decision put Dominion in front of the rest of the industry, now rushing to install similar pollution-control equipment to meet federal and state regulations....
Powerful cattleman accepts fine for letting manure into river A prominent cattleman accepted a $40,000 fine for leaking manure into the Snake River, ending a standoff that has kept regulators from resolving how they will keep cattle waste out of Idaho's waterways. Eric Davis, owner of the Bruneau Cattle Co. feedlot in Owyhee County, acknowledged he allowed manure from his 4,000-head feedlot to flow into a canal running into the Snake River during heavy rains in 2005. Davis, a former president of the National Cattle Association, is one of the most politically powerful cattlemen in Idaho. After Environmental Protection Agency inspectors made a surprise visit to his ranch in February 2006, Idaho's governor, its congressional delegation and others wrote EPA Administrator Steve Johnson, urging him to intercede in Davis' case. But Johnson stayed out of the issue and the agency issued notices of violation against Davis last fall. EPA said Davis had repeatedly violated the Clean Water Act by allowing waste to run into the South Side Canal, which runs into C.J. Strike Reservoir on the Snake River....
Take the Federal Out of Farming Here's how the American free enterprise system works. You have an idea for a business. You find the money to start it up. You try to give customers something they want at a price low enough to keep them happy but high enough to earn a profit. Either your plan works, allowing you to make a living, or it doesn't, indicating you should find a different line of work. Unless, of course, you are a farmer, in which case all this may sound unfamiliar. A lot of American agriculture operates in an environment where none of the usual rules apply—where the important thing is not catering to the consumer, but tapping the Treasury. It's a sector that, ever since the Great Depression, has been a ward of the government, both coddled and controlled. By any reasonable standard, federal agriculture policy is past due for a major overhaul. But judging from the latest farm legislation moving through Congress, not much is going to change. Back in the 1930s, when the economy was a wreck, the survival of capitalism was in doubt and Oklahoma was blowing away, you could understand the impulse for Washington to intervene on behalf of farmers. But the days when agriculture meant a lifetime of toil for a meager living are just a memory. Today, farmers monitor soil conditions by computer, drive air-conditioned tractors and have a higher average income than nonfarmers....