Water shortages are likely to be trigger for wars, says UN chief Ban Ki Moon A struggle by nations to secure sources of clean water will be “potent fuel” for war, the first Asia-Pacific Water Summit heard yesterday. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, told delegates from across the region that the planet faced a water crisis that was especially troubling for Asia. High population growth, rising consumption, pollution and poor water management posed significant threats, he said, adding that climate change was also making “a bad situation worse”. Mr Ban went on to condemn the lack of heed paid by governments to these warning signs: “Throughout the world, water resources continue to be spoiled, wasted and degraded. “The consequences for humanity are grave. Water scarcity threatens economic and social gains and is a potent fuel for wars and conflict.”....
Ecologists Study Efficiency of Divorce Divorce can be bad for the environment. In countries around the world divorce rates have been rising, and each time a family dissolves the result is two new households. "A married household actually uses resources more efficiently than a divorced household," said Jianguo Liu, an ecologist at Michigan State University whose analysis of the environmental impact of divorce appears in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. More households means more use of land, water and energy, three critical resources, Liu explained in a telephone interview. Households with fewer people are simply not as efficient as those with more people sharing, he explained. A household uses the same amount of heat or air conditioning whether there are two or four people living there. A refrigerator used the same power whether there is one person home or several. Two people living apart run two dishwashers, instead of just one....
Alamo wolf meeting packed The wolf scoping forum held Monday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service drew a mixed bag of opinions from among the 169 people who attended the event at the Tays Center. Many in attendance were overheard expressing their discontent over the fact this was not a stand-and-deliver meeting where opinions could be heard. Instead, a number of tables, each staffed by a biologist, were set up to answer questions from those who attended. Signs on three sides of the room provided educational information about the Mexican wolf recovery program. "I am wondering how this issue is going to play out in light of the ordinance in Otero County prohibiting the release of wolves," said Karan Berry, a resident of High Rolls. Doug Moore, commission chair for Otero County, answered that question just minutes later. "We submitted a three-page letter reminding these folks that we have an ordinance against the release of wolves and other species in our county," Moore said. "We believe these folks have not done their due diligence with respect to the National Environmental Policy Act and environmental impact statement."....
Wolf plan unveiled Hunters who stalk Idaho's newest big game animal could soon be setting their sights on Idaho's most controversial predators. Wolves are expected to be removed from the federal endangered-species list in February, when states could assume management over wolves and end a 34-year hunting ban. Idaho unveiled its management proposal Monday at a public meeting attended by about 50 people at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's office near Jerome. The plan calls for curbing conflicts between wolves and humans by cutting wolf populations through controlled hunts - a strategy applauded by ranchers and hunters but loathed by environmentalists. "It's really an interesting process because we've never been given a new big game animal to manage," said Dave Parrish, head of Fish and Game's Magic Valley office. Under the plan, wolves would be categorized the same as elk, deer and bears - a far cry from how the public perceived wolves decades ago....
Judge won't halt drilling A federal judge has decided to not delay at this time a massive natural gas drilling project proposed for the Atlantic Rim area of south-central Wyoming, according to Bureau of Land Management officials. In his decision, the judge said development of domestic energy resources is a "paramount public interest" that could be harmed to some extent if the development of the Atlantic Rim is delayed. The lawsuit -- filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and four other conservation groups -- over the federally approved Atlantic Rim coal-bed methane project sought to halt development in the area until the environmental impacts of the drilling could be studied further. BLM spokeswoman Cindy Wertz said the court decision was issued Friday. The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership -- representing hunting and fishing interests in the area -- also filed suit in August against the U.S. Department of the Interior over the authorization of the 2,000 new oil and gas wells in the Atlantic Rim area. The lawsuit is still pending....
El Paso plans massive natural gas pipeline Another major natural gas pipeline from the Rocky Mountains to other markets was announced Monday, when El Paso Corp. said it wants to build a pipeline from southwestern Wyoming to Oregon. El Paso (NYSE: EP) is based in Houston. It's one of several pipeline projects announced recently to expand the Industry's capacity to ship natural gas out of the Rocky Mountains. El Paso said it's filed a right-of-way application with the Bureau of Land Management for the "Ruby Pipeline" project -- a 680-mile, 42-inch pipeline to carry natural gas from the Opal Hub in Wyoming to another hub in Malin, Ore., near California's northern border. An El Paso spokesman said the company wasn't releasing a cost estimate on the project. The pipeline will have an initial capacity of 1.2 billion cubic feet per day -- similar to the $4.4 billion Rockies Express pipeline that will carry natural gas from Colorado's Western Slope 1,678 miles to eastern Ohio. El Paso said the Ruby pipeline will be expandable to 2 billion cubic feet per day....
It's All Trew: It's a wonder the Panhandle was ever settled From 1850 to 1900, new settlers flocking to the Panhandle and West Texas prairies faced almost insurmountable odds in establishing a legal homestead. Most had few resources at hand or the time to waste as they searched and settled. The entire area was not surveyed, with only the outside boundaries identified as the 100th and 103rd meridians on the east and west and No Man's Land on the north. Even these boundaries changed with each new government survey. Although the Texas Legislature's "checker-board" scheme of land identification was ingenious in design, it placed all the efforts of locating, surveying boundaries and registration of claims onto the settlers, many of whom were illiterate or unfamiliar with complicated claim requirements. Communication at the time was slow and inefficient with only a minimum of state offices and officials available to serve the public. In addition to these problems, the big ranchers who had filed on hundreds of sections of grass made every effort to forestall and discourage settlement on the open sections within their ranch boundaries....