Western governors offer greenhouse emissions plan Seven Western states are joining four Canadian provinces to propose a plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions through use of a "cap and trade" system. The draft plan, made public Wednesday by Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's office, is aimed at gradually reducing carbon emissions across Oregon, Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Washington. The plan, which also would extend to British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec in Canada, is keyed to a cap and trade system on utilities and industries that are major sources of greenhouse gases. Such a system would reduce pollution by requiring those sectors to meet tough emissions standards. Under a cap and trade program, businesses that cannot cut their emissions because of cost or technical hurdles would be allowed to buy emission credits from companies that have achieved cleaner emissions. The plan was drafted by the Western Climate Initiative, a group created by Kulongoski with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire in February 2007. In Oregon, it will affect about 10 utilities and about 50 companies that put more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, officials said....
New U.S. group defends ethanol in food vs fuel fight A new group is adding its voice to the debate on using crops to produce alternative fuels such as ethanol amid rising food prices and shortages in some countries. The Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy in Washington D.C. was created by Archer Daniels Midland Co, DuPont Co, Deere & Co, Monsanto Co and the Renewable Fuels Association (www.foodandenergy.org). "There are critics who are trying to create an either-or decision between food and fuel," said Mark Kornblau, the alliance's executive director. "We believe this is a false choice. Today, more than 90 percent of crops in the United States and around the world are used exclusively for food." The group believes that agricultural innovation -- such as genetically modified crops -- is the best way to address global hunger, not reducing biofuel production. Decatur, Illinois-based ADM is one of the world's largest producers of biofuels, and Monsanto is a leading producer of GMO seeds....
In trees vs. solar battle, old trees score a new law In Silicon Valley's famous "trees vs. solar panels" battle, the trees have won. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday signed into law a bill that guarantees if California property owners plant a tree before a neighbor installs solar panels on their roof, then the neighbor can't require the tree to be cut or trimmed, even if it grows to cast shade on the panels. State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, wrote the bill in response to a Sunnyvale case that made national news and threatened to touch off statewide backyard battles as residential solar power installations are growing in popularity. In the case, Richard Treanor and Carolynn Bissett of Sunnyvale were criminally prosecuted under an obscure 1970s law because redwood trees in their backyard cast a shadow over their neighbor's solar panels....
Climate change to threaten Nevada water supplies limate change could come with profound risk to Nevada's water supplies and at great cost to the state's economy, a new study asserts. The report released this week by the National Conference of State Legislatures and Center for Integrative Environmental Research concluded that rising temperatures associated with a warming climate could create "profound drought conditions" in Nevada, which was examined along with 11 other states around the country. "Some of these impacts are already noticeable and it's certainly not going to get better as climate change progresses," said Daria Karetnikov, a researcher at the University of Maryland who compiled the report. By 2100, climate change brought about by greenhouse gas emissions could cause the average temperature in Nevada to increase by up to 4 degrees Fahrenheit in spring and fall and by up to 6 degrees in the summer and winter, the report said. The result will be changes in precipitation and evaporation patterns and decreased water availability statewide, the report contends....
Warming may shorten winters If greenhouse gas emissions aren’t curtailed, climate change will reduce Eagle County’s snowpack by 57 percent by 2085, according to a new report. “The state’s most popular tourist activity is at risk from climate change,” said the report, published Wednesday by the Center for Integrative Environmental Research at the University of Maryland. The report, “Economic Impacts of Climate Change on Colorado,” does not paint a pretty picture for skiing — and the attendant industry of real estate — over the next century. The “snow season” could become 30 days shorter and the snowline could rise by 328 to 1,312 feet if emissions continue at the current rate, the study said....
Global Warming Could be Causing a Kitten Boom, Experts Say Each spring, the onset of warm weather and longer days drives female cats into heat, resulting in a few months of booming kitten populations known as "kitten season." "The brain receives instructions to produce a hormone that basically initiates the heat cycle in a cat," said Nancy Peterson, feral cat program manager of the Humane Society of the United States, "and those instructions are affected by the length of day and usually the rising temperatures of spring."....
Governor vetoes climate change curriculum California public students will stick to reading, writing and arithmetic, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger decided as he vetoed a bill late Friday that would have required climate change be added to schools' curriculum. The measure, sponsored by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, also would have required future science textbooks to include climate change as a subject. In January, the state Senate approved the bill, SB 908, by a 26-13 vote. Only two Republicans supported the proposal. In his veto statement, Schwarzenegger said he supported education that spotlights the dangers of climate change. However, the Republican governor said he was opposed to educational mandates from Sacramento. "I continue to believe that the state should refrain from being overly prescriptive in specific school curriculum, beyond establishing rigorous academic standards," he said....
N.M. engineer appeals ruling on domestic well law New Mexico State Engineer John D'Antonio has appealed a recent district court decision that found the state's domestic well law unconstitutional. D'Antonio says in a news release he must appeal the decision to the state Court of Appeals because laws enacted by the Legislature are presumed to be constitutional. He says that during the appeal the state engineer's office will continue to accept domestic well applications and process them. State District Judge J.C. Robinson ruled earlier this month in Silver City that the state engineer can't treat domestic well applications differently than other types of water rights applications. If Robinson's ruling stands, it could be more difficult and time consuming for someone building a home in a rural area to get a permit to drill a well.
Udall, Salazars seek to have Roan leases yanked Sen. Ken Salazar and congressmen Mark Udall and John Salazar have asked federal officials to withdraw parcels on western Colorado's Roan Plateau from an upcoming auction of oil and gas leases. Leases on 55,186 acres of public land on the Roan Plateau are among those up for bid in the Aug. 14th auction by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The Salazars and Udall sent a letter Wednesday to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne asking that public land on the Roan be excluded from leasing so they can pursue a bill that would include protections favored by Gov. Bill Ritter and other Coloradans. The Roan Plateau, about 180 miles west of Denver, is prized for its mineral riches as well as its wildlife habitat and pristine backcountry. The three Democrats also said Colorado might not get any revenue if the BLM sells the leases before waste from shale oil research is cleaned up at Anvil Points on the plateau. Mineral royalties and fees from energy development on federal land are usually split between the state and federal government. Revenue from federal leases on the Roan Plateau has flowed into a fund set up 1997 to finance the Anvil Points cleanup....
Prediction wolves will become inbred sways judge's decision to halt delisting A dire prediction is at the heart of a federal judge's recent decision to halt wolf delisting: If states in the Northern Rockies proceed as planned, wolves in the Greater Yellowstone area will become inbred in fewer than 60 years. This prediction serves as the foundation for U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy's 40-page ruling to reinstate Endangered Species Act protection for the canines at least until he has fully considered the larger lawsuit against delisting. The conservation groups who sued for an immediate injunction against the delisting decision argued that if the three wolf populations fail to interbreed with one another, which they say the state wolf management plans all but ensure, the wolves in and around Yellowstone will suffer genetic degradation over time. They also claimed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to follow its own criteria for establishing a recovered wolf population, which calls for genetic exchange between the three groups, creating what's called a "metapopulation." In the injunction ruling the judge sided with the conservation groups on both points. "Genetic exchange that has not taken place between larger subpopulations under ESA protections is not likely to occur with fewer wolves under state management," Molloy wrote....
Lagging wolf numbers get a closer look Mexican Gray wolves have had a rough go of it lately, leading wildlife agencies to rethink part of the game plan. “The last few years have not been good, and our numbers are not growing,” said Terry Johnson, endangered species specialist for Arizona Game and Fish Department. “It’s time to change the game.” The rules of game — guidelines to be precise — are made by a six-agency group, known as the Adaptive Management Oversight Committee. Johnson chairs the committee, which meets quarterly. At its next meeting, AMOC will see what can be done to get wolf recovery back on track. Mexican gray wolves had been wiped out in Arizona. In 1998, they were reintroduced to the Blue Range area in eastern Arizona — and allowed to range into western New Mexico. The wolves’ return triggered a political range war between conservation groups and ranchers. Meetings over the wolves have turned rancorous at times. The dispute has spilled over into the courts. The wolves meanwhile continue to hold their own, but barely. Right now, the population stands about 50 and has stalled there for a number of reasons, Johnson said. One includes a recent spate of killings, some possibly unlawful, he said....
Agency, groups mull Tenderfoot purchase The U.S. Forest Service and conservation groups are investigating the purchase of 8,200 acres of privately owned land in the Tenderfoot Creek drainage of the Little Belt Mountains, a popular area to fish, hunt and hike. The land, which formerly was a sheep ranch and also is part of the larger Smith River drainage, is owned by the Billings-based Bair Ranch Foundation. The public will get the chance to see the land during a field trip Saturday hosted by the White Sulphur Ranger District of the Lewis and Clark National Forest. "We'd love to see a great turnout of people who are interested in this unique opportunity," said Carol Hatfield, the ranger for the White Sulphur Springs District. Several generations of residents previously accessed the area with permission from the ranch, she said. The ranch managers want the Forest Service to acquire the land so access can continue....So, the foundation isn't going to allow access?
West Texas rancher tells cautionary tale of pipe leaks The groundwater on part of Jay Marcom’s ranch does something that most water won’t do: It catches fire. A leaky natural gas pipeline near a compressor station polluted the ground water with benzene, xylene and toluene — all linked to cancer in humans. Test wells and barrels of excavated dirt from the site cover an area about half the size of a football field. The dirt on the surface smells like motor oil, and water dipped from the test well smells like gasoline. With a camera crew watching, Marcom squeezed the liquid from a sock used to soak up the slick, and lit it with a flaming piece of paper. Three times....
N.M. researchers hope to cultivate `calming herb' The plant has been described by local residents as magical, its qualities almost mythical. The native herb yerba mansa, translated from Spanish as the "calming herb," has been used medicinally for centuries throughout the Southwest by American Indians and Hispanics to treat ailments ranging from toothaches to sinus infections. Though the herb is relatively unknown outside the region, experts in the medicinal herb industry say yerba mansa could become as popular as goldenseal and echinacea. But before the ancient medicinal herb can get its day in the sun, researchers must find a way to protect the ecologically threatened plant from depletion by habitat loss and urban development. Charles Martin, a researcher at New Mexico State University's Sustainable Agriculture Science Center, has found a solution. He has made yerba mansa a viable agricultural crop for New Mexico's small farmers. With antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, yerba mansa contains a bounty of purported health benefits. Also called yerba del manso, lizard tail or swamp root, the small plant with large white flower spikes is a perennial native to riverbanks and wetlands in the Southwest and northern Mexico....