Pickens: Oil at $300 a barrel? Maybe Oil prices could hit $300 a barrel if the United States does not take drastic action to reduce its heavy dependence on foreign oil, but neither of the top presidential candidates is addressing the crisis, Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens said Monday. To prevent economic bankruptcy as a result of sending $700 billion a year overseas to unstable oil producers in the Middle East and Africa, the nation needs to mobilize behind a plan to shift toward domestic energy sources such as natural gas, wind and solar power, he told reporters and editors of The Washington Times. "We are getting in trouble fast" and the economy is "already in the tank" because the nation is importing 70 percent of the fuel it needs each day, he said. "The price of oil will be $300 a barrel if you sit here and let it go" for another 10 years, said Mr. Pickens, chairman and chief executive officer of BP Capital. "We have no control over the price of gasoline and diesel. Whatever they're going to stick us with, we'll pay it."....
The lowdown on offshore oil reserves U.S. offshore oil fields could hold enough crude to supply all of the country's needs for more than 11 years. Or they might not. No one knows for certain because, with new offshore oil drilling banned on the East and West coasts, no one has gone looking for oil there in years. Now congressional Republicans are pushing hard to make offshore drilling a key issue in the presidential campaign, hoping to channel the anger Americans feel over historically high oil and gasoline prices. More oil, they argue, will bring lower prices. The federal government estimates the nation's outer continental shelf might hold 85.9 billion barrels of crude, including 10.13 billion barrels off California. For comparison, the United States consumes about 7.56 billion barrels of oil per year. The nation's sea floor also could hold 419.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, equal to U.S. consumption for 14 1/2 years. But the federal estimates are just that - estimates. "You don't really know what's there until you go out and drill a well," said Ken Medlock, an energy research fellow at Rice University's James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy. "And even then, you're not 100 percent sure of what you're going to get."....
ANWR split gives GOP 2 platforms The official platform of the Republican Party this year may contrast with Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) position on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Differences between the party platforms and the policies of presidential nominees are rare, but this year they could be unavoidable on the Republican side because McCain has broken with the GOP on high-profile issues in recent years. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), co-chairman of the Republican Platform Committee, pointed out on Tuesday that McCain is open to having two platforms — one for the party and one for his campaign. House Republicans have called for an “all of the above” solution to the energy crisis, a broad plan that includes drilling in ANWR. McCain opposes drilling in ANWR, which he has called “a pristine place.”....
Senate Dems offer moderate concessions on drilling Senate Democrats on Tuesday announced modest concessions, such as expedited offshore leases, on expanded oil drilling, even as talks on an overall energy bill were teetering on the verge of collapse. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) unveiled a proposal to quicken the pace of processing new and existing applications for offshore leases. Such a proposal would be part of an overall bill that also includes a speculation crackdown and initiatives promoting renewable energy as well as conservation and a loosening of the policies that govern the oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Bingaman said Democrats will not support lifting the congressional ban on offshore oil drilling in areas not currently leased. President Bush lifted an executive ban earlier this month and urged Congress to follow suit. “But we are saying that as to existing leases, there can be steps taken to ensure more diligent development of those leases, and would give authority to the Secretary of the Interior to take those steps,” Bingaman said. “As to parts of the Outer Continental Shelf that are not currently leased but could be leased, we say we can have accelerated leasing and investigation of those areas to see what areas could be leased.”....
Agencies, ranchers shift gears as wolves re-listed under ESA The landscape for the region's 1,500 wolves has shifted in ways big and small as a result of U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy's decision late Friday to grant a preliminary injunction restoring federal protection in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. In his ruling, Molloy said the federal government had not met its standard for wolf recovery, especially for wolves breeding across the region to ensure healthy genetics. The judge also indicated the dozen environmental groups that sought the injunction would prevail on the merits when the full case goes to court. Meanwhile, the circumstances under which wolves can be killed has been tightened again. Under state management plans, wolves were listed as a species in need of management in Montana, as a big game species in Idaho, and as a predator that could be killed anytime in most of Wyoming. All three states also had tentative wolf hunting seasons. Federal protection halts any wolf hunting and prohibits wolves from being killed except under certain conditions when they are attacking or threatening to attack livestock and domestic animals....
Wyoming's cavalier wolf plan set back delisting Blame it on Wyoming. Idaho's estimated 1,000-plus wolves are back under federal control largely because Wyoming has written a faulty plan for handling its own wolves. Late Friday, Missoula, Mont.-based U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy returned wolves to federal jurisdiction, for the time being. His injunction is a setback for Idahoans who have waited to manage wolves. It's all the more disappointing because Molloy generally endorsed Idaho's plan for wolves removed from the federal government's endangered species list. Molloy offers a sharp reminder. Idaho is not an island, and its wolves don't live in isolation. Recovering the wolf across the Northern Rockies - the goal of reintroduction - will require a regional effort. In the absence of one, a federal judge will step in on the wolves' behalf....
Wolf relisting is an unfortunate outcome After waiting for years to gain control over wolf management in the state, Wyoming finally got that authority when wolves were removed from the federal endangered species list in late March. Now that a federal judge in Montana has reinstated federal protection for the animals, it could be years before the state regains control. In some respects, Wyoming officials have themselves to blame. Their focus now should be on doing what it takes so the animals can be delisted again. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy's Friday ruling wasn't based solely on Wyoming's wolf management laws, which allow unregulated killing of the animals throughout most of the state. But there's no question that the Cowboy State's approach was a big reason the judge granted a preliminary injunction preventing Wyoming, Montana and Idaho from managing wolves while the March delisting is contested in court. In actuality, the injunction isn't warranted. There was little danger that the Northern Rockies wolf population would vanish under the states' management....
State still compensates ranchers for wolf depredation Although the federal government is once again in charge of wolf management in the Northern Rockies, the state of Wyoming will still be reimbursing ranchers whose livestock get killed by wolves, a state official said Tuesday. Regardless of whether wolves are considered endangered, Cowboy State law ensures that stock growers in the wolf trophy game zone -- in the extreme northwest corner of the state— -- will be compensated for confirmed wolf kills, said Eric Keszler, spokesman for the Game and Fish Department. And the program will continue, he said, unless state law is changed. The state Legislature appropriated $2.4 million to manage wolves during the 2009-10 budget period. That includes $540,000 to compensate ranchers for wolf depredation....
Fishermen are set to clash with ranchers Anglers are catching 20-inch trout where they haven't fished in a decade since the Utah Supreme Court decided they could walk on riverbeds on private land. Where the beds are considered private property, "the public has the right to touch privately owned beds of state waters in ways incidental to all recreational rights provided for in the easement," the 10-page Supreme Court opinion issued July 18 states. The decision stems from a case that involved a group of rafters in Morgan County who were charged with trespassing for standing in the Weber River near the Summit County line. The Conatser family was fishing when they encountered a fence stretched across the river by landowners trying to keep people out. The ruling could heighten the tension between ranchers and fishermen. "Hopefully, everybody can get along," said Chad Jaques, the owner of Trout Bum 2, a Snyderville Basin fly shop. The decision pleased many anglers, he said. "They feel like they are fishing somewhere where no one has been fishing for quite some time," Jaques said. But fishermen shouldn't taunt landowners, he warned....
Bombs Away? R-Calf says that the U.S. Air Force is proposing an expansion of a training range for B1 and B52 bombers over parts of the south Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. "You need to know how this could affect the operation of your ranch, the wildlife, the value of your land, and certainly the welfare of your livestock and/or farming operation, and it is important that you participate," urges longtime R-CALF USA Member Pat Goggins, who owns several large ranches in the Powder River Training Complex. "It's also important that homeowners, environmental stewards and sportsmen get concerned. This plan is detrimental to all aspects of life in this area as we know it." Goggins says the plan is for the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Air Command to use B1 and B52 bombers in the PRTC area for training missions, including high-altitude, sound-barrier breaking flights, and low-altitude runs down to within 500 feet of ground level. He says it also calls for night training missions where the use of flares could potentially start fires, as well as missions to drop training chaff to confuse radar transmissions. Flights could contain from four to 24 ships in a mission, covering from 37,800 square miles for high-altitude maneuvers, and 31,700 square miles of Military Operations Areas (MOAs) for low-altitude training....
No plastic bags in LA stores beginning July 2010 Los Angeles shoppers soon won't hear the question, "Paper or plastic?" at the checkout line. The City Council voted Tuesday to ban plastic shopping bags from stores, beginning July 1, 2010. Shoppers can either bring their own bags or pay 25 cents for a paper bag. The council's unanimous vote also puts pressure on the state, which is considering an Assembly bill that would ban plastic bags in 2012 and charge at least 15 cents per paper bag. "We've gotten to a point where we need to act as a city, where we can have real results," said Councilman Ed Reyes, who proposed the bag ban. "We're trying to do it in a way where we can educate and inform the public of what we're doing." Reyes said the ban will minimize cleanup costs for the city and reduce trash that collects in storm drains and the Los Angeles River. The city estimates more than 2 billion plastic bags are used each year in Los Angeles. About 5 percent of plastic bags and 21 percent of paper bags are recycled in California. Three percent of the bag fee will be returned to the retailer, 3 percent will go to the state, and the rest will go back to the city to fund an education campaign....A tax increase cloaked in environmentalism.
Argentine meat ban advances American ranchers and rural lawmakers won a quick victory last week. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved an addition to the agriculture spending bill that would effectively ban Argentine meat imports. Similar stand-alone legislation was introduced just this month in the Senate by Sens. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and in the House by Reps. Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.) and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.). Over the past year, ranchers and cattlemen have lobbied against Argentine imports due to worries that foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) had not been eradicated from Argentina’s livestock. Airborne and highly contagious, foot-and-mouth disease can devastate herds. Cooked Argentine meat can be imported here. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering allowing fresh and frozen meat in as well. Cattlemen celebrated the Senate action....
Tuberculosis threatens California dairy cows More than 4,800 dairy cows at risk of carrying tuberculosis were being slaughtered this month in central California, where nearly 16,000 cattle in the country's largest milk-producing region have been quarantined, federal officials said. Undersecretary of Agriculture Bruce Knight met privately with local dairy operators July 8 along with the state veterinarian and other industry officials monitoring three new cases of TB recently discovered in Fresno County dairies. Federal and state agriculture officials were still tightlipped about the identities and locations of the three dairies where cows tested positive for the disease, which can be transmitted to humans and other mammals through the air or through drinking unpasteurized milk from an infected cow. The discovery of the highly contagious respiratory disease prompted changes in interstate shipping regulations....