California, other states sue U.S. on car emissions California sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, demanding a quick federal decision that would allow the nation's most populous state to limit greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. "California is ready to implement the nation's cleanest standards for vehicle emissions, but we cannot do that until the federal government grants a waiver allowing us to enforce those standards," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said. The long-threatened legal action follows a 2005 California law requiring new vehicles to meet tighter standards for emissions, starting with 2009 models introduced next year. California needs a waiver from the federal government because it is seeking to impose stricter standards than those imposed under federal law. The legal filing asks the court to force a EPA decision on the matter....
Piñon ranchers stay on guard An amendment that would prevent the Army from expanding Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site for a year — likely to pass with the country's 2008 military construction spending bill — hasn't calmed fears in cattle country. Not with the state's two senators, Wayne Allard and Ken Salazar, now pushing a separate provision calling for an extensive study of expansion. "They're keeping a cloud over everybody's head," says Lon Robertson, a Kim rancher. "With as much opposition as there is to this, you'd think they'd pull away." Robertson leads the Piñon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition, a group of ranchers, rural businesses, conservationists, scientists, town, city and county councils, even schools, together aiming to keep the maneuver site at 235,000 acres. Aside from cattle and cowboys, the grassy lands east of Walsenburg are rife with rare animals, centuries-old native rock art, American Indian remnants and dinosaur footprints. The Army, however, now is facing a nationwide deficit for training land — 5 million acres, according to Allard. The Army says it needs to expand the Fort Carson site by some 418,000 acres in preparation for possible future wars to be fought with evolving technology....
Yellowstone caldera is rising fast, experts say Yellowstone's volcanic basin in Wyoming rose almost 3 inches a year from 2004 to 2006, the fastest uplift ever recorded at the national park, according to scientists. The swelling is likely caused by molten rock flowing up from a chamber beneath the world's largest active volcanic depression, or caldera.
While the vertical rise was twice as fast as the horizontal movement of the San Andreas fault in California, the uplift doesn't signal an imminent eruption, according to an article in today's issue of the journal Science. The rate of elevation has slowed since 2006 to about 2 inches a year at Yellowstone, site of the Old Faithful geyser, said the article's co-author, Robert B. Smith, a geophysics professor at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The floor may continue rising, or go down as it did in early 2004. "These big magma chambers, they have to get magma from deep within the Earth," Smith said in an interview. "They huff and puff over decades." He said he is "trying to defuse the idea" that a large eruption is imminent....
Fur may fly as wolf lecture looks at livestock problem After two relatively benign presentations in the past month focusing on the reintroduction of the Mexican gray wolf into Gila country, the Southwest Environmental Center's El Lobo in the Southwest lecture series finally ventures into some potentially contentious territory. The first lecture in the series focused on basic wolf biology and the history of the wolf reintroduction. The second lecture focused on the potential for wolf-based ecotourism in the wolf recovery area. Tonight's lecture will delve into the most controversial aspect of the reintroduction program: wolves preying on livestock. "It has been our goal for the entire series to try to raise awareness and present factually based information to try to get beyond the controversy," said Kevin Bixby, executive director of the Las Cruces-based Southwest Environmental Center. "We have really wanted to focus on solutions." So far, though, Bixby admits the turnout in Silver City has been somewhat disappointing....
Buttefield Trail bill clears House committee A bill to weigh federal recognition of the Butterfield Trail, a pioneer mail route that runs through Fort Smith, advanced Wednesday in Congress. The bill was approved by the House Natural Resources Committee by voice vote. It now heads to the full House for further votes. It would direct Dirk Kempthorne, the secretary of the interior, to begin a study to determine if the Butterfield route warrants designation as a "national trail," and eligible for preservation funds and tourist promotions. The Butterfield Trail spans more than 2,800 miles starting with two trails in Missouri that meet in Fort Smith. The trail runs through Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and ends in San Francisco. It was created in 1857, a few years before the famed Pony Express, by John Butterfield, a 19th century entrepreneur looking to establish mail routes across the frontier....
Gillette studies CBM water use The city of Gillette is considering mixing water pumped during coalbed methane gas production with regular drinking water to stretch the city's supply in the face of a projected water shortage. Steve Peterson, Gillette's utility engineering manager, said the city has spoken with some in the coalbed industry about providing water as a short-term solution. Companies pump water from the ground in coalbed methane production. Peterson said the city's need for the water will continue until a planned $170 million pipeline can be built in the next 10 years. "We could use the water starting next summer," Peterson said. The city needs an estimated 5 million gallons a day. Under the city's proposal, coalbed methane companies would be responsible for the delivery of the water to the city. It would have to meet or exceed state and federal drinking water standards. The city wants a 10-year commitment to provide the water, but would allow either side to terminate the agreement on 30 days notice....
House Approves Peru Free Trade Pact The House on Thursday approved a free trade agreement with Peru, the first under a Democratic majority in Congress that has declared that labor rights and the environment must be central parts of all such pacts. The vote was 285-132, a comfortable margin of victory in the House. Trade deals have always been a hard sell among House members, mainly Democrats who have equated them with job losses and soaring trade deficits. The accord with Peru would eliminate duties immediately on some 80 percent of U.S. industrial exports and two-thirds of farm exports. It could increase American exports by $1 billion a year. A Senate vote, which could come in the next several weeks, would allow the accord to go into effect. Democrats generally have resisted free trade deals they blame for job losses and trade deficits, and their rise to power in January was seemingly a blow to the Bush administration's aggressive free trade agenda. But the situation changed in May when the administration agreed to Democratic demands that labor rights and the environment be core elements of any future agreements. The agreement requires the parties to abide by International Labor Organization standards. The pact also commits the parties to enforce their own environmental standards, participate in international environmental accords and not weaken or reduce environmental laws to attract trade or investment....
Canada braces for backlog with new U.S. meat tests Canadian meat exporters braced for delays in shipments to their biggest export market after the U.S. Agriculture Department said it would begin on Friday to double its testing of shipments crossing the border. Late on Thursday, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Canadian beef processors said they still did not have all the details on how the new testing program would work. "There's a lot of questions that perhaps might not be answered until we hit the ground running," said Robert Meijer, spokesman for Cargill Ltd, Canada's top beef processor. Until more details are available, Cargill will not export meat destined to become ground beef, Meijer said. Cargill has not cut Canadian production ahead of the new measures, but the company may have to consider that if the testing process causes major snarls at the border, he said. On Thursday, the USDA clarified what types of meat it would test, the rate of testing, and how it would recall contaminated shipments. It also said that it would consider alternatives to holding product at the border....