NEWS ROUNDUP

Climate Bills Will 'Require a Wholesale Transformation of the Nation's Economy and Society' A Washington Post article today stated that the Democrats' current global warming proposals "will require a wholesale transformation of the nation's economy and society." The article by Post staff writer Juliet Eilperin noted that Democrat presidential candidates' climate proposals would "cost billions of dollars," and detailed exactly what the American people will face when it comes to cap-and-trade proposals. The Post article cited an MIT expert who said climate proposals would drive up the costs of energy on already overburdened American families. "According to energy expert Tracy Terry's analysis of a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology study, under the scenario of an 80 percent reduction in emissions from 1990 levels, by 2015 Americans could be paying 30 percent more for natural gas in their homes and even more for electricity. At the same time, the cost of coal could quadruple and crude oil prices could rise by an additional $24 a barrel," the article reported. Even the Democratic candidates are now fully admitting that the cost of these global warming bills will be extremely costly both financially and politically, according to the Washington Post article....
Fly could halt plan to expand old cemetery The 120-year-old Hermosa Gardens Cemetery - the final resting place of many Colton pioneers, professional baseball players and notable figures such as Wyatt Earp's younger brother - could hold its last burial four years from now. That's when cemetery officials believe they will be out of room if they aren't allowed to expand. There are 20 acres adjacent to the city-owned cemetery that have been planned for burial plots, but there's a problem. The Delhi Sands flower-loving fly, a federal endangered species, was spotted over the summer on the land, officials said. "Right now, we're kind of at a standstill because of the fly," said Billy Pratt, general manager of the cemetery. "Something has to be done, but we don't know exactly what." About 40,000 people are buried in the 20-acre developed portion of the cemetery on Meridian Avenue between C and Olive streets, Pratt said....
Forest Guardians criticizes BLM habitat plans An environmental group says the Bureau of Land Management's plans to protect habitat for the lesser prairie chicken and the sand dune lizard will do the species more harm than good. "We fear this is recipe for extinction dressed up as a conservation plan," said Lauren McCain, desert and grasslands program director for Forest Guardians. The release of the proposed special status species management plan and final environmental impact statement last week started a 30-day period for protests. The BLM said its amended management plan for the prairie chicken will allow oil and gas development, grazing and off-road vehicles on federal land used by the birds but still will protect its population. Landowners and conservationists in New Mexico have been working to keep the bird from being listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Forest Guardians favors listing both species....
Small rodent, big pain for builders Developer Steve Schuck said he never found a Preble’s meadow jumping mouse on land north of Colorado Springs, but he said the animal wound up costing him $1 million and years of delay. As he crawled his way through a maze of federal regulations under the Endangered Species Act, Schuck said he encountered requirements that did nothing for the “quality and the livability of the development.” “That’s all because we couldn’t prove a mouse didn’t live on our property,” he said. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday that the Preble’s mouse will retain its federal protection under the Endangered Species Act in Colorado but not Wyoming. While agency officials say development in Colorado has destroyed much of the mouse’s habitat, developers and some local government officials say they are being unfairly burdened by regulations to protect the mouse. "This is all about a mouse that nobody ever sees,” Schuck said. “Millions and millions of dollars are going out for this rodent — and that’s what it is,” said Monument Mayor Byron Glenn. “In the meantime, schools are not being built. Roads are not being built....
Naturalists want more info on giant worms Naturalists are searching southwest Washington state for the giant Palouse earthworm in an effort to get the species on the endangered list. The worms grow up to 3 feet long. But they are surprisingly difficult to find for a large worm, The Seattle Times reported Tuesday. The Palouse Prairie Foundation applied for an endangered species listing recently. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rejected the petition on the grounds that there is no proof they are endangered. Very little is known about the worms, including whether they are extinct, since only four specimens have been recorded in 30 years. Most scientists believe that the worms prefer prairie habitat but there is at least one 19th-century report of worms found in a forest. Jodi Johnson-Maynard of the University of Idaho said that scientists are trying new methods to bring the worms to the surface. They include a device that sends a mild electrical shock into the earth, flooding burrows with a mild solution of hot mustard and vinegar and sending vibrations into the ground....
Advocates Sue to Enforce Pesticide Order Salmon advocates filed a lawsuit Monday to force the Bush administration to obey a 5-year-old court order requiring it to make permanent rules to keep agricultural pesticides from killing salmon. Filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, the lawsuit asks a judge to order NOAA Fisheries, the agency in charge of protecting salmon, to formally consult with the Environmental Protection Agency over the use of 37 pesticides. Several are commonly found in rivers around the country and can kill salmon at minute concentrations. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour had ordered the formal consultations in 2002 and imposed temporary restrictions that barred crop-dusting next to salmon streams and required home and garden stores to post warnings for consumers....
Pickens Water Plan Poised to Gain Bond, Condemnation Authority Boone Pickens, the high-rolling oilman, may have engineered one of his shrewdest takeovers yet in the form of eight acres of Texas scrubland. The land in Roberts County, a stretch of ranchland outside Amarillo, holds no oil. Instead, it is central to Pickens's plan to create an agency to condemn property and sell tax-exempt bonds in the search for one of his other favorite commodities: water. Approval of the district is all but certain when Texans vote today in state and local elections. By law, only the two people who actually live on the eight acres will be allowed to vote --the manager of Pickens's nearby Mesa Vista ranch and his wife. The other three owners, who will sit on the district's board, all work for Pickens. Pickens ``has pulled a shenanigan,'' said Phillip Smith, a rancher who serves on a local water-conservation board. ``He's obtained the right of eminent domain like he was a big city. It's supposed to be for the public good, not a private company.'' Pickens and his allies say no shenanigans are involved. Once the district is created, the board will be able to issue tax-exempt bonds to finance construction of Pickens's planned 328-mile, $2.2 billion pipeline to transport water from the panhandle across the prairie to the suburbs of Dallas and San Antonio....
15 Bears Die In PG&E Waterway In One Month It's a baffling problem in the foothills. Fifteen bears and two mountain lions have been found drowned in a PG&E waterway in just one month. "This heightened number of bear deaths is absolutely alarming and unusual," said Nicole Tam, PG&E. It's unusual because bears are good swimmers, and also because dead bears have showed up in the canal since it was built three years ago. The canal provides electricity to thousands of homes. But only recently, did the animals' carcasses appear in the canal -- 15 bears and two mountain lions between Sept.15-Oct. 15 -- that's one every two days. Experts don't know why the animals are finding their way over the canal's barriers. PG&E says they're working with the Dept. of Fish and Game and the U.S. Forest service to solve the mystery. They say it could be the work of poachers....
Dozens treated after Grand Canyon biologist dies More than two dozen people who came in close contact with a National Park Service wildlife biologist found dead last week are being given antibiotics because he may have died of an infectious disease. Eric York, 37, was found in his home at the Grand Canyon National Park on Friday. The Coconino County Medical Examiner suspects an infectious illness may have killed York because his lungs were filled with fluid and his body showed signs of pneumonia. Tests results are expected later this week. Because of York's professional interests and hobbies, medical officials believe hantavirus and plague are possible causes, according to a Park Service spokeswoman. The Park Service has located approximately 30 people who came within 6 feet of York in the days before his death and while retrieving his body, and all are being treated with a 7-day course of antibiotics as a precaution, spokeswoman Maureen Oltrogge said....
Yellowstone considers closing east entrance Yellowstone National Park reopens for winter in six weeks, and the debate over snowmobile use in the frozen wonderland has revved up again at the world's first national park. Most attention focuses on hundreds of snow machines allowed daily through Yellowstone's west entrance, but a standoff also clouds winter use at the park's lightly visited east gate. Avalanche-prone Sylvan Pass, about 8 miles inside that entrance, is so treacherous and costly to maintain — up to $565 per motorized visitor last season — that the park wants to close it next winter. Since the 8,530-foot pass first opened to snowmobiles in the 1970s, the park has used Army surplus howitzers and a contract helicopter to shoot down heavy buildups of snow after major storms so avalanches won't bury visitors. A risk study for the park's new winter management plan likely to be adopted this week says the threat to workers and visitors is too great....
Park service has 90 days to make offer on ranch The Texas School Land Board decided Tuesday to give the National Park Service 90 days to submit an offer to buy the Christmas Mountains Ranch. Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson wants to sell the 9,000-acre tract, because the state, he says, cannot adequately conserve the land. The Conservation Fund donated the land to Texas in 1991 with strict restrictions on its use. After weeks of public opposition to Patterson's plans to sell the land to a private bidder, the board decided to allow the National Park Service time to make an offer to add it to Big Bend National Park, about 300 miles southeast of El Paso. "I'm looking forward to meeting with National Park Service officials and interested parties to discuss how we can move forward," Patterson said. Patterson has been adamant that any future owner of the property must allow hunting there. The Park Service prohibits firearms in its parks, but the two private bidders have pledged to allow hunting in the Christmas Mountains.
Mount Rushmore officials sued over free speech, religion rights A Christian law group is accusing Mount Rushmore officials of trampling the free speech and religious rights of a Coon Rapids, Minn., man who alleges he cannot get a permit to distribute religious materials at the national monument. The law firm says Boardley distributed “gospel tracts” at the monument on Aug. 9 without incident but was told the next day he needed a permit. Boardley said he applied for a permit, but he has not received one. Gerard Baker, Mount Rushmore superintendent, said Monday that Boardley has never applied for a permit. “We have never denied a permit,” Baker told The Associated Press. “All he has to do is get a hold of us, and we’ll give him a permit. We issue 70-plus permits a year, and I’m not sure what’s going on.” Boardley has not applied for a permit because Mount Rushmore officials would not give him an application, both when he was at the monument and later when he called and asked for one, Kevin Theriot, ADF senior counsel, said Monday....
Broodmare sold for world-record $10.5 million at Keeneland The Emir of Dubai paid $10.5 million to buy Irish-bred Playful Act at Keeneland's Breeding Stock Sale on Monday, a world record auction price for a broodmare. The bidding was another showdown between two titans of the horse breeding industry, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Darley Stud and Coolmore Stud of Ireland. "When those two teams hook up, neither one of them wants to stop," said John Sikura of Hill 'n' Dale Bloodstock, who consigned the horse for Swettenham Stud of Australia. "It's a test of wills, test of ego. They bought a fantastic mare. Obviously we wish them nothing but the best and hope she'll bring a champion." John Ferguson, the buyer for the sheik, said he was determined to get the horse, in part to honor Swettenham's late owner, Robert Sangster, who always talked her up. "He was a great friend of Sheik Mohammed," Ferguson said of Sangster, who died in April 2004. "That is part of the reason why Sheik Mohammed was so determined to have this particular mare." During Keeneland's 2006 September yearling sale, Darley outlasted Coolmore to pay $11.7 million for a bay colt by Kingmambo, setting a sale record. The two prominent buyers have battled numerous other times at Keeneland and other auctions....
Brazile's triumph at National Finals Steer Roping puts him in pursuit of history Trevor Brazile's emergence from National Finals Steer Roping Saturday night with a second consecutive gold buckle puts him on a path toward what could become ProRodeo's first Triple Crown parlay since Roy Cooper in 1983 -- winning the steer roping, tie-down roping and all-around titles all in one year. One down. Two to go. Brazile earned a record $46,500 at the NFSR in the Lea County Event Center to run away with the steer roping world championship and will have substantial leads in both the tie-down roping and the all-around standings entering the Dec. 6-15 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in his quest to join Cooper in a very elite club. "You always want to repeat as champion," Brazile said, "and I put extra pressure on myself here because the Triple Crown is definitely in the back of my mind. You can't win a Triple Crown if you don't win the first one. This was just the first step. It is not going to be easy."....