Californians' power bills to bankroll climate institute Are you willing to pay 12 to 30 cents more a month on your utility bill for an institute coordinating energy and climate change technology research across the state? Actually, you don't have a choice. The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday unanimously approved the $600 million California Institute for Climate Solutions, which will be paid for by money from ratepayers' monthly electric bills, to the tune of $60 million a year. The institute aims to speed up research into cutting greenhouse gas emissions, such as auto exhaust, that contribute to pollution. This work is already under way at laboratories as well as universities such as University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford. The idea is that the institute will help the various entities work together. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger applauded the decision, saying it was another important step toward battling global warming and "will bring together the state's pre-eminent colleges, universities and laboratories to fight climate change." Commission representatives Thursday estimated the additional charge to utility customers at 12 to 30 cents a month. "Electric bills are becoming blank checks," said Mark Toney, executive director of San Francisco-based consumer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network. Toney decried the decision to fund the institute via utility bills, while lauding the goal of reducing global warming....
Panel: EPA smog rule fails to protect young, old An advisory panel of scientists told the Environmental Protection Agency that its new air quality standard for smog fails to protect public health as required by law and should be strengthened. In a stern letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, the advisers expressed frustration that their unanimous recommendation for a more stringent standard was ignored when Johnson set the new smog requirements last month. Johnson on March 12 lowered the amount of ozone that should be allowed in the air for it to be considered healthy from 80 parts per billion to 75 parts per billion. That meant 345 additional counties nationwide are in violation of the federal air quality standards for ozone, commonly known as smog, and must find ways to reduce the pollution. While business lobbyists wanted the smog requirement unchanged, most health experts had argued that even stronger measures were needed. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, created by Congress to advise the EPA, had urged the EPA to set a standard for ozone of between 60 parts per billion and 70 parts per billion....I'm sure these scientists are very smart, but I have to wonder why they don't understand the meaning of "advisory".
The Biofuel Brew Ha-Ha In Germany, they call it "liquid bread." Here in the U.S., frat boys and hipsters cultivating an ironic air call them brewskies. Most of us just refer to it as "beer." But whatever your name for the stuff, there's little point in denying that people in both countries love their beer. The difference right now, however, is that while we Americans can continue to toss 'em back as we always have, German beer prices are skyrocketing. Who or what is the culprit? Corporate greed, perhaps, or an alcohol tax designed to push German beer drinkers to kick their six-pack habit? It's something far less spectacular, but potentially more insidious: biofuel subsidies that are pushing more farmers to ditch their barley crops—which are necessary to make beer*—in favor of crops that earn them lucrative subsidies from regulators trying to fight global warming. Topping the list of these subsidized crops are rapeseed and corn, ingredient which are used in the creation of biodiesel and ethanol-gasoline fuel blends which supposedly reduce the greenhouse gasses that cause global warming. Thanks to these crop shifts, the price of barley has doubled in the past two years, an increase that eventually gets passed along to consumers. Some brewers have raised their prices already, and many others are planning on raising them soon....
Owyhee Canyonlands protections back before Congress Sen. Mike Crapo on Thursday introduced a new version of his bill to protect wilderness, wild rivers and ranchers in the Owyhee Canyonlands. The bill includes new ways to compensate ranchers and removes provisions Senate Democrats had said would prevent them from supporting it. A hearing is scheduled for April 22. "Without this hearing, we would not be able to move the Owyhee Initiative legislation this year," said Crapo, R-Idaho. The original bill was first shaped by a panel of environmentalists, ranchers, outfitters, local officials, motorcyclists and snowmobilers brought together by Owyhee County commissioners. Crapo has been working with the county on the bill since 2002. Grant, a longtime champion of ranchers' rights, acknowledged he had to make painful compromises to get Democrats on board. But he still thinks the bill is good for ranchers and Owyhee County. "I'm satisfied (that) the way this bill is now can make the Owyhee Initiative agreement work," he said. The Owyhee Public Land Management Act of 2008 would still protect 517,000 acres of prime sagebrush habitat as wilderness, where motorized use is not allowed. It also would designate 315 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers that run through the desolate area's deep, verdant canyons, which are carved into spires, benches and colorful chasms. The bill would release more than 200,000 acres of wilderness study areas back to multiple-use management. Like the 2006 version, the latest bill offers compensation for ranchers who would give up their rights to graze on the protected lands....
Wolf de-listing: A look at both sides of the issue Montana wildlife officials welcomed the official removal of the Rocky Mountain gray wolf from the federal list of threatened and endangered species. Wolf conservation and management in Montana is now officially the responsibility of the state. "Montana's wolf population is healthy, growing and firmly established in Montana," said Jeff Hagener, director of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. "Montanans have shown patience and cooperation with this recovery effort. FWP supports wolf delisting and we're proud of the role the people of Montana have played in the recovery." With delisting now official, the line separating Montana into the northern Endangered Area and the southern Experimental Area no longer exists. FWP will move to reclassify wolves throughout Montana as a species in need of management under state law, which also offers wolves legal protection much like other managed wildlife. "It's important to understand that wolves are now an official part of the Montana wildlife environment," Hagener said. "The wolf will be managed like Montana's other wildlife species." For instance, wolves can only be purposely killed legally during an official hunting or trapping season; when a wolf is killing, attacking or harassing livestock; and to protect human life, Hagener said....
In the West, a Fierce Battle Over Wolves Gray wolves have entered the spin cycle. Since March 28, when the wolf was taken off the list of federally protected species in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, a fierce battle of perceptions and posturing has unfolded on the Web and in the news media as pro-wolf and anti-wolf forces stake out sometimes hyperbolic positions concerning where in the West animals and humans should exist. The backdrop is a running time clock and a lawsuit. On April 28, a coalition of environmental groups has said it will to go federal court challenging the decision to lift protections. Until then, the court of public opinion is in session, as cases are built for how the new system of state management is working or not. One wolf lover in California, in a forum posting on the Web site Yellowstone.net, proposed that tourists boycott Wyoming to protest the policies in a state where at least 10 wolves were shot in the first week after the rule change, according to state figures. Some Wyoming residents responded that such an action would be just fine by them, especially if more Californians stayed home. Some ranchers and hunters urge caution in killing wolves unnecessarily, to avoid inflaming emotions that could haunt the legal process later on. Pro-wolf forces, meanwhile, say that wolf killers may have created a martyr. On the first day protections were lifted, a partly crippled and much photographed radio-collared wolf named 253M was legally shot near the town of Daniel in western Wyoming. The killing made headlines as far away as Utah, where 253M had wandered in 2002, before being transported back to Wyoming. A story in The Salt Lake Tribune quoted a woman as saying she had wept at the news of the animal’s death....
Mountain lions spotted in Tucson It's the time of year when wild animals start moving out of the mountains and into the city. People who live in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains report seeing mountain lions in their yards. Tina Baba, who lives on the far east side off of Redington Road, says she's seen mountain lions twice. Baba says the first time was in her yard. "I was looking out that window and I saw it calmly walk across there. Then it just went across to my neighbors." The second time she was walking with her young daughters and dog on Redington Road. "It was just like 20 feet away from me. That did scare me a bit and I panicked because I had my two girls in the stroller." In the past two months, Arizona Game and Fish confirmed five mountain lion sightings at homes next to the Coronado National Forest. Aninna Thornburg, Game and Fish Public Information Officer, says, "The five sightings have been between Pima Canyon and Redington Road. This is not odd. This is not unusual. It's starting to get dry. The lions are coming in looking for quick food, water out of people's pools..."....
Fremont rancher says mountain lions killed sheep Just two days ago, Bob Garcia was almost positive that dogs had invaded his property and killed four of his sheep — a reasonable conclusion, given his 30-year history of raising the animals. But after coming within 10 feet of a fierce mountain lion early Thursday, Garcia is changing his tune. He's now positive that mountain lions are responsible for the most recent killings. "I'm 100 percent certain," he said. Garcia, 55, spotted a mountain lion on his Morrison Canyon property just after midnight, and authorities now are alerting the public about the sighting — and reminding them to be aware of their surroundings. The rancher said he was in his home watching the end of "The Tonight Show" when his dog, Tamika, began barking. "It was like she was telling me, 'Come, come,'" he said. Moments later, Garcia said, he was looking right at a mountain lion in his pepper tree. "I'm looking at it, and it was looking at me. We were face-to-face. I could see his eyelashes," Garcia said. "It was amazing, like something out of National Geographic." Garcia then retreated to his home and called authorities. But by the time he went back to the tree with police, the cat was gone....
Study begins on coal-bed methane water More than a year after the deadline, federal officials are starting work on a study exploring some of the effects of the Rockies' energy boom on water. A panel of the National Academy of Sciences met Tuesday in Denver with state and federal regulators to review what's known about the effects of coal-bed methane drilling on surface and groundwater and determine what needs to be studied further. The 2005 federal energy bill said the study should be completed within a year. Three environmental groups sued the Interior Department in February to force some action. "The (Environmental Protection Agency) has looked at the issue somewhat several years ago, but their analysis was very incomplete," said Robert Ukeiley of WildEarth Guardians, one of the groups that sued. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which oversees mineral development on federal lands, asked the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences to review information about coal-bed methane's effects on water and determine the need and scope for further analysis. he study would focus on coal-bed methane production in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and North Dakota. The report is supposed to analyze what companies are doing to minimize the impacts on water and recommend any changes. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter last October to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, urging him to comply with the law and commission the National Academy of Sciences to write an analysis....
Ozone: 'A significant concern' Gov. Dave Freudenthal says the state must be involved in any independent investigation into the health effects of increased natural gas drilling in southwest Wyoming. In addition, the process must be driven by the local community, he said in a written response this week to a petition by more than 40 citizens in Sublette County calling for an independent agency to assess plans to expand gas drilling in the Pinedale Anticline. The state Department of Environmental Quality issued a series of ozone warnings for the Pinedale area this winter and spring. Health officials blamed the intense oil and gas activity. "From the data that has been collected, there is little doubt that ozone is a significant concern," Freudenthal wrote in a letter to the petitioners. The Bureau of Land Management has proposed allowing 4,400 additional natural gas wells to be drilled in the Pinedale Anticline. Some county residents say the BLM plan doesn't adequately address potential health consequences of more drilling activity. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also has voiced concerns about elevated ozone levels, groundwater contamination and decreased visibility from the proposed new drilling....
Lt. Governor talks energy: Denish puts oil and gas high on priority list Pending action on the pit rules that regulate oil and natural gas producers during the drilling process, and a possible moratorium on new drilling in Río Arriba County are high on Lt. Gov. Diane Denish's radar screen. Denish visited San Juan County Friday for separate meetings with the San Juan Leadership Council and ConocoPhillips. "People are looking at responsible drilling," Denish said. "The real issue of the pit rules is whether real proof exists that harm has been done." The Commission is scheduled to meet April 16 in Santa Fe and may announce its recommendation then. Local producers claim the pit rules would add millions in extra expenses that are not necessary. Sticking to her statement that New Mexicans want to see responsible drilling, Denish raised the possibility they might drill directionally rather than create separate well pads and roads to them for each site. "I think a lot of this is spurred by the Galisteo Basin moratorium and the realization that a county can put on additional standards," she said regarding the seemingly new focus on where drilling is allowed, and to what regulations it should adhere. At issue in Río Arriba County is Fort Worth, Texas-based Approach Resources' plan to drill for oil in an 8- by 10-mile area east of Tierra Amarilla. The company is leasing 90,000 acres of mineral rights in Río Arriba County....
Ugly black buzzards finding Texas buffet in young stock Maybe if they were pretty, the ubiquitous buzzards that soar over Texas and elsewhere before landing to dine on some carcass wouldn't be viewed with such repugnance or considered a nuisance. "Unquestionably, they're as ugly as sin," says Ian Tizard, a Texas A&M University professor of immunology and director of the school's Schubot Exotic Bird Center. The birds range over much of the United States, and their March return to Hinckley, Ohio, for instance, is welcomed annually as a sure sign of spring. But their proliferation as pests is making them unwelcome from high-rises in Florida to ranches in Texas, denying the misnamed buzzards — they're really vultures, and either turkey or black vultures — the respect as Mother Nature's vacuum cleaners that they might deserve. Ranchers all around Texas increasingly are telling wildlife authorities that black vultures in particular, considered the more aggressive version of the bird and can reach 25 inches in length and have a wingspan of 5 feet, are responsible for killing young cows, sheep and goats. "They're prospering," Tizard said. "Clearly if they're killing cows that otherwise would live, that indeed is a cause for some significant concern. In Madisonville, about 100 miles north of Houston, city commissioners gave their blessing in January to shoot vultures blamed for destroying property as long as folks obtained the proper federal permits. Vultures, like virtually all birds, are federally protected. Just last month, officials in Barstow, Fla., moved to include them in their Noxious Birds Ordinance of 2008, removing them from protection on a bird sanctuary island....
The Sheep Incident It was half past midnight on March 17th, 1968. Keith Smart, the director of epidemiology and ecology at Utah's Dugway Proving Grounds, was awakened by the ringing of a phone. On the other end was Dr. Bode, a professor at the University of Utah, and the director of the school's contract with Dugway. There was a problem. Calls had been coming in. About 27 miles outside of the base, in the aptly-named Skull Valley, thousands of sheep had suddenly died. There were some survivors among the flocks, but it was clear that their hours were numbered. Veterinarians were dispatched to euthanize the few remaining animals. Army officials began drafting their official denial. A few days earlier, one of their planes had flown high over the Utah desert at Dugway with a bellyful of nerve agent. The plane's mission was simple: using a specially rigged delivery system, it was to fly to a specific set of coordinates and spray its payload over a remote section of the Utah desert. This test was a small part of the ongoing chemical and biological weapons research at Dugway, and it was one of three tests held that particular day. The flight would soon prove to be far more important than anyone could have guessed at the time. On March 13th, Dugway ran a series of three tests using VX. The tests were routine, like any of the thousands of weapons tests that were conducted there over the previous twenty years. In the first test, an artillery shell packed with VX was fired onto the range; and in the second, 160 gallons of the compound were burned in an open pit. Both tests were completed without incident. The third test involved delivery via airplane, with over a ton of a special VX mixture sprayed over the desert. Unbeknownst to the pilot, the spray nozzle that controlled the flow of the chemical had broken. As he climbed to a higher altitude, the chemical continued to seep from the plane. Winds that day were blowing between 5-20 mph, with gusts reaching 35 mph. These strong easterly winds carried the VX straight to Skull Valley. The next day, the sheep grazing in the area began to die, and within days thousands of them had perished. The government and local numbers differ, but anywhere between 3,483 and 6,400 sheep died in the aftermath of the test....
Giddy up for westerns by women The West may have been won by men, but women played a vital role in the settlement of the frontier and the lives of the men they loved. Westerns written by women give a bold, new slant to the American West that will appeal to female and male readers. Set in 1854 in Texas Hill Country, "Texas Rain" by Jodi Thomas, is a historical western. Texas Ranger Travis McMurray has to deal with ambush, horse thievery and an arranged marriage. A must-read for the committed western enthusiast. The "Hearts of Horses" by Molly Gloss tells all there is to know about the rigors of ranching, broncos and the colorful characters of the plains and mountains of the great American West, circa World War I. The story revolves around a 19-year-old "horse whisperer," Martha Lessen, a strong-willed woman working in a field that, until then, was the exclusive realm of men. Gloss brings the West to life with unforgettable characters from bygone times....
Cowboys, gals find their calling at Pasco gathering Rough-hewn poetry, and a whole lot of strumming and singing, filled the Pavilion at TRAC in Pasco on Saturday during the fifth annual Columbia River Cowboy Gathering. "The good Lord's tugging on my lead rope, and I soon will be heading home," sang Rod Erickson of Spirit Lake, Idaho, while hundreds of people smiled back. Some were eating hamburgers and hot dogs, while others were savoring the songs and the one-liners. "You can be a rancher's wife if your husband opens the door for the dog and drops the tailgate for you. You're a rancher's wife if you have to fight the dog to sit next to your husband at the drive-in movie," quipped Sam Deleeuw, a real rancher's wife and standup cowboy comic from Utah. Erickson and Deleeuw were two of 25 entertainment acts booked for the three-day gathering that began Friday, and ends later today after the conclusion of a Cowboy Church service.