Over-Hyping of Green I have been studying and teaching weather and climate for more than 50 years and have been making real-time seasonal hurricane forecasts for a quarter-century. I and many of my colleagues with comparable experience do not believe that CO2 gas emissions are anywhere near the threat to global climate as the environmental and liberal media groups have led us to believe. Most people are not aware of how flimsy are the physical arguments behind the human-induced warming scenarios. There has yet to be a really open and honest scientific dialogue on this topic among our country’s most experienced weather and climate experts. Most knowledgeable global warming skeptics have been ignored and/or their motives questioned. Many have been falsely tagged as tools of the fossil fuel industry--reminding me a bit of the McCarthy period. By contrast, those harping the loudest on the dangers of CO2, such as Al Gore, typically have little real understanding or experience in how the atmosphere and ocean really function. The global climate model (GCM) simulations by large U.S. and foreign government laboratories and universities on which so much of the warming science scenarios are based have basic flaws. These global models are not able to correctly model the globe’s small-scale precipitation processes. They have incorrectly parameterized the rain processes in their models to give an unrealistically warming influence from CO2 increases. These GCMs also do not properly model the globe’s deep ocean circulation, which appears to be the primary driving mechanism for most of the global temperature increases that have been observed. Most GCMs indicate that a doubling of atmospheric CO2 towards the end of the twenty-first century will lead to global warming of 2-5ºC. My best estimate of global warming for a doubling of CO2 is about 0.3-0.5ºC, 5-10 times less than the models estimate....

Internet revolution that elected Obama could save Earth: Gore Former US vice president Al Gore said an Internet revolution carrying Barack Obama to the White House should now focus its power on stopping Earth's climate crisis. The one-time presidential contender turned environmental champion told Web 2.0 Summit goers in San Francisco Friday that technology has provided tools to save the planet while creating jobs and stimulating the crippled economy. "The young people who have been inspired by Barack Obama's campaign and the movement that powered Barack Obama's campaign want a purpose," Gore said. "One of the reasons we were all thrilled Tuesday night is it was pretty obvious this was a collectively intelligent decision." The Internet's critical role in Democrat Obama's victory in the presidential race against Republican John McCain was a "great blow for victory" in addressing a "democracy crisis" stifling action against climate change, Gore said....

Corn ethanol, a poor solution More corn can be seen growing in NE Colorado than before the federally funded incentives and mandates for growing, and for making ethanol. This corporate welfare program is a good example of how not to solve the very real problem of achieving energy independence. Analyses of the various issues involved in using corn-derived ethanol fuel for transportation just do not make ecological, financial or logical sense. The amount of coal, oil, and natural gas energy required to make corn ethanol is more than the energy contained in the ethanol. Because most of this additional energy is sourced from fossil fuels, burning ethanol instead of gasoline actually releases 1.7 times more carbon dioxide for a comparable number of vehicle miles traveled. This is a startling finding and so the reader is encouraged to more deeply research the issue. An in-depth corn ethanol paper may be viewed on the Independence Institute Website. The Federal and Colorado taxpayer funded subsidies for making corn ethanol are about $1.05 for the equivalent energy contained in a gallon of gasoline. If tax-paying consumers had a choice, they may well prefer that the dollar of subsidy be directly applied to their price of gasoline at the pump....

Proposed Road in Refuge Raises Fears About Drilling This isolated outpost, where grizzly bears outnumber people and the one-page phone book is dubbed "the yellow page," is fast emerging as a flash point in the nation's debate over drilling. A plan to construct about 20 miles of road, half of which would be in the wilderness of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, has turned into a heated battle between area residents, who say they need better access to the airport here, and environmentalists, who suspect, without concrete evidence, that the oil industry is secretly behind the effort. In a state still recovering from the bruising fight over opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, all eyes have turned to Congress, which is expected to vote during a lame-duck session this month on a land swap that would open the way for road construction. But residents who live on the other side of the refuge, across an inlet, in the 800-person village of King Cove simply point to the wreckage of small planes that failed to reach their narrow gravel airstrip and now litter Mount Dutton, a dormant volcano. "Go up and look at that graveyard," said Herman "Buddy" Bendixen, 83, an Aleut elder and lifelong resident. "They got sick and couldn't get out."....

Elk droppings may have sickened kids Elk droppings in the Evergreen area contain the same strain of E. coli bacteria that sickened eight children in three mountain counties, state health officials reported today. Lab testing confirmed a genetic match between the bacteria. Health officials suspected elk droppings as a potential source of the exposure. It's not known how the elk were infected. Elk droppings can be found virtually everywhere around Evergreen, including near homes and schools. For that reason, health officials issued warnings to students to not eat on athletic fields and to wash their hands after being outside. The cases began appearing in July, with the last one reported Oct. 22. The children, ages 4 to 12, do not attend the same school, although all live in or have visited the Evergreen area....

Two grizzlies drown; another death under investigation Authorities learned of three additional grizzly bear deaths in 2008 that won't be counted against the mortality quota for the threatened bear in northwestern Montana because they were natural or occurred outside of the official recovery zone. In one case, a young male was shot this past spring on the Milk River six miles south of the Canadian border on the eastern edge of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, more than 10 miles outside of the grizzly recovery zone. n that case, a rancher driving a four-wheeler came up on a bear eating a cow that previously died and told authorities he shot the animal after the bear charged, but the case is under investigation to see if it was a case of self-defense, Carney said. Two other bears drowned. One was a cub crossing the Swan River in the spring. The other bear, a yearling, drowned in May in a high-flowing irrigation ditch near the Teton River....

Public lands management of particular concern to Cowboy State A U.S. president can often have a direct impact on the lives and livelihoods of Cowboy State residents. And a president's cabinet has more direct sway in Wyoming, in some respects, than in most other states. Nearly half of Wyoming -- about 47,000 square miles of it -- is owned and managed by the federal government. Only four states in the nation, all of them in the West, have a higher percentage of their landmasses owned by Uncle Sam. The way that national parks, forests and other public lands are managed here has implications for individual residents, groups and industries. Among those who can be directly affected by a president's land management policies are ranchers, oil and gas drillers, miners, hunters, fishers, outdoors enthusiasts, loggers, sawmill operators and conservationists. So, what does an incoming Barack Obama administration signal about the way Wyoming's public lands will be managed? All interested parties seem to agree there will be a shift -- and perhaps a big one -- from the approach of the Bush administration. But fewer agree on what the ultimate effects of that shift will be....

Landowner tackles game law If wildlife destroys your property, who is responsible? Richard Murray thinks the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife should pay, and he’s enlisted the Oregonians in Action legal center to file a tort claim notice with the state. “You have to give [the state] notice within 180 days of when the game damage happens,” Murray said. “So I’ve done that. I have another year and a half to file the claim.” Beyond that, Murray hopes to gather funds to support an initiative petition to change Oregon law. Murray notes ODFW claims regulatory jurisdiction over the wild animal population, and that the states of Washington, Idaho and Montana provide partial payment for game damage to private property, while Oregon and California do not. Ross Day and Dave Hunnicut of Oregonians In Action were in The Dalles recently consulting with Murray about the case. “There’s a Clean Water Act case in, I think, in Grant County where an environmental group has sued a rancher, claiming that the rancher’s cattle are destroying the beds and banks of the river there,” Dave Hunnicut said. “Well, the rancher has photos showing it’s the wild horses and elk that are in there, tromping around through the water. What’s the real source of the problem, and who’s going to ultimately end up dealing with it? This is just an extension of a much larger problem that affects states throughout the west.”....

Biologists say wolves are spreading into Oregon but without conflict As more and more gray wolves arrive in the state, Oregonians are gradually recognizing that the once-native predators may find ways to live in Oregon without stirring up the conflict or trouble some had feared, a state biologist says. "People are beginning to understand that if there are wolves around, even multiple wolves or a breeding pair like we have now, bad things aren't automatically happening," said Russ Morgan, the state biologist handling wolf issues for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. He was one of several speakers at a weekend conference at Portland's Concordia University that sought to bring rural and urban interests together to discuss a future for wolves in Oregon. Agricultural leaders also spoke about the restrictions they face under the Endangered Species Act, which now protects wolves....

U.S. to Open Public Land Near Parks for Drilling The Bureau of Land Management has expanded its oil and gas lease program in eastern Utah to include tens of thousands of acres on or near the boundaries of three national parks, according to revised maps published this week. National Park Service officials say that the decision to open lands close to Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument and within eyeshot of Canyonlands National Park was made without the kind of consultation that had previously been routine.The inclusion of the new lease tracts angered environmental groups, which were already critical of the bureau’s original lease proposal, made public this fall, because they said it could lead to industrial activity in empty areas of the state, some prized for their sweeping vistas, like Desolation Canyon, and others for their ancient petroglyphs, like Nine Mile Canyon. The bureau’s new maps, made public on Election Day, show not just those empty areas but 40 to 45 new areas where leasing will also be allowed. The tracts will be sold at auction on Dec. 19, the last lease sale before President Bush leaves office a month later....

Restitution tops $4M in eco-terrorism case A federal judge has raised restitution to $4.14 million in the case of an environmental activist who committed arson at Michigan State University and 12 other acts of destruction. This week was the deadline for Frank Ambrose or prosecutors to object to a new tally. Nothing was filed. Ambrose, 33, of Detroit recently was sentenced to nine years in federal prison. He and Marie Mason committed arson at MSU’s Agriculture Hall on New Year’s Eve 1999 to protest genetic-crop research. They admitted to many other acts, including tree spikings in Indiana and fires at four homes under construction in the Detroit area. U.S. Chief District Judge Paul Maloney had ordered $3.7 million in restitution Oct. 20 but raised it to $4.14 million after a “discrepancy.”....

Obama outlines views on agriculture Now that Obama has been elected, here’s a look at his views on agriculture as stated during the presidential campaign. Obama wants to make a disaster assistance program permanent so farmers would not have to wait for Congress to decide whether aid is needed in the wake of individual natural disasters. The Democrat supports country-of-origin labeling, which requires meat and perishable farm products to indicate from where they came. The Farm Bill expanded the list of products covered by the law effective Sept. 30. Obama would increase funding for a cost-sharing program for organic certification to help farmers afford the costs of complying with national standards for organic food, a fast-growing sector of the American food market. There are not enough young people entering farming, according to Obama, so he would help the public university system and farm extension service work with youth groups to identify and prepare future farmers. He also favors tax breaks for landowners selling to beginning family farmers and for people going into farming....

Ranchers cut herd size to survive drought California's worst drought in decades is forcing the state's cattle ranchers to downsize their herds because two years of poor rainfall has ravaged millions of acres of rangeland used to feed their cows and calves. The parched, yellow pastures on Joe Gonzales' cattle ranch attest to the severity of a dry spell that is devastating the economic fortunes of many of the state's beef producers. Gonzales, who normally runs 500 cows on his 2,000-acre spread about 30 miles south of San Jose, cut his herd by half over the past year and may have to sell more if the drought persists. "When there's no rain, there's no grass," said Gonzales, 65. "As the drought continues, you have to either continue to feed your cattle or sell them. ... It's the worst I've seen it in more than 30 years." During most dry years, California cattlemen send their herds to places with healthier pastures or buy supplemental feed to sustain their animals until the rainy season. But high fuel prices, a lack of green pastures in California and neighboring states, and the soaring cost of livestock feed have left ranchers little choice but to sell off their mother cows because they can ill afford to feed them....

Montague Stevens And Grizzly Bears In Catron County Montague Stevens, an Englishman, was one of the first and the last to hunt grizzly bears in Catron County. Stevens moved to New Mexico Territory in the 1800s and went into the cattle business establishing ranches near Alma, Reserve and Datil with his headquarters at Horse Springs. He published a book in 1942 titled Meet Mr. Grizzly and wrote about his move to New Mexico: “It was in the fall of 1882 that I bought my first ranches from early settlers and so little was known of New Mexico in the East that I was several times asked if we had monkeys and parrots here … I have ranches scattered over an area of some 80 by 30 miles, generally known as the SU Ranches and range, the SU being my cattle brand.” Grizzly bears were a major problem for Stevens and early settlers. They often attacked without warning, taking livestock and supplies. Stevens and his ranch foreman, Dan Gatlin, started training hounds to hunt grizzlies in 1889. By trial and error, Stevens and Gatlin raised an exceptional group of hunting dogs, which consistently tracked down grizzly bears when other hounds failed. Bounties were offered on troublesome grizzlies. Stevens described two grizzly bears and the naming of Bear-Trap-Canyon in the San Mateo Mountains. He wrote, “On a mountain 30 miles southwest of Magdalena, two grizzlies had been killing a good many cattle and a generous bounty was offered to anyone who would kill them. Two trappers, therefore, decided to try to catch a big grizzly in a bear-trap, so they camped near the place where the tracks of these bears seemed to show up the most and set their trap.” They waited outside the trap for longer than a week, but did not see the grizzlies. Next, they built a log cabin, about 8 feet by 10 feet with sturdy log walls. A trap door was placed at one end and a deer carcass at the other. When the trappers returned the next morning, the trap had been sprung and was empty. They found another grizzly had dug under the trap from the outside and helped free the one inside. They both escaped, and since the area has been referred to as Bear-Trap-Canyon....

Indian Trial Two Young County lawyers ably defended the arch villains of the frontier — Satanta and Big Tree — after the Warren Wagon Massacre. The trial was unusual and sensational in many ways.Indians had never been tried in the civil courts for their crimes on the frontier. The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Army tried to keep the keep the Indians from raiding and attacking settlers. But both sides broke treaties and crossed boundaries. At that time, if Indians raided, they crossed the Red River into the safety of Indian Territory where soldiers were forbidden to go. Three Kiowa chiefs — Satank, Satanta and Big Tree — led an attack in Young County in retaliation for the earlier death of Satanta’s son. They attacked a group of teamsters carrying loads of corn and killed seven men. Since Gen. Sherman was there to see the aftermath, the Indian chiefs faced severe punishment. They were arrested and Satank committed suicide — only Satanta and Big Tree would face a jury. Neither the townspeople of Jacksboro or the army thought that the Indians would get a trial much less a real defense team....

Ex-FBI agent John Connelly found guilty of murder Jurors have found ex-FBI agent John Connolly guilty of second-degree murder for his role in helping Boston mobsters assassinate an accountant in South Florida in 1982. He was found not guilty of a second charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. In the 1970s and '80s, Connolly was a star agent in the FBI's Boston office, developing criminal informants and helping dismantle the New England Mafia. But in a closely followed saga in Boston and one the FBI's most embarrassing scandals, Connolly's two star informants corrupted him, prosecutors said. The allegation: James ''Whitey'' Bulger and Stephen ''The Rifleman'' Flemmi ordered the murder of John Callahan based on a tip from Connolly. The agent is accused of telling the gang Callahan would likely cooperate with agents probing the gang's 1981 murder of Oklahoma businessman Roger Wheeler, who owned World Jai-Alai and had resisted Callahan's overtures to buy the gambling company....

Mistrial ends murder case against Ariz. border agent A judge in Tucson declared a second mistrial in the high-profile murder prosecution of a Border Patrol agent. A defense attorney said he was told that prosecutors will not seek a third trial. The mistrial on Tuesday left Border Patrol agents feeling vindicated and human-rights groups worried that violence against illegal immigrants on the border could increase. The jury in the two-week-long retrial of agent Nicholas Corbett reached deadlock after deliberating three days. The reason for the impasse was unknown because the jury foreman's note to the judge was sealed....

Older? Female? No gun for you! Delaware State Police stopped Alvina Vansickle from purchasing a .22-caliber pistol for self-defense because she was too old and a woman, said Superintendent Col. Thomas MacLeish. The outrage that followed led to the revelation that Delaware State Police had been keeping lists of gun buyers for years; state law requires them to destroy these records after 60 days. Without so much as a traffic ticket, the 81-year-old Lewes resident should have sailed through the mandatory state police background check when she tried to buy a Taurus revolver from Charlie Steele's Lewes gun shop last August. Problems started after Steele made the required phone call to state police for approval of the firearms transaction....

Lawsuit aims to test Iowa's concealed weapons law An Ocheyedan man has filed a federal class-action lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of an Iowa law that requires individuals obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon.Paul Dorr, 52, said Thursday that Osceola County Sheriff Douglas Weber wrongly denied on a political whim his and his 18-year-old son's requests for permits to carry concealed weapons. Dorr filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Sioux City against Weber and Osceola County because Weber turned down the permit applications of both Dorr and his son in 2007. Dorr alleges that the sheriff denied his Second Amendment right to bear arms and 14th Amendment right to due process. "He just denied my permit to carry without foundation," said Dorr, a consultant for taxpayer and political groups. "That denial just brought to mind the lack of objective process that Iowa code allows for sheriffs." Dorr is bringing the lawsuit on behalf of anyone who has been denied a permit to carry in Iowa. The case is believed to be the first of its kind challenging part of a state code that gives sheriffs discretion in deciding who should receive permits to carry concealed weapons, according to the Iowa attorney general's office....

ACORN uses public funds to steal elections, now your gun rights ACORN, the publicly-funded national organization linked to voter fraud in several states is now actively interfering with the exercise of firearm civil rights in New Jersey, and the Second Amendment Foundation is calling for an immediate federal investigation. “ACORN has, since 1998, received an estimated $31 million in government funding,” said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. “Now they have intervened in a New Jersey gun rights case in defense of an illegal Jersey City one-gun-a-month ordinance that violates the state preemption statute. “The organization is currently under FBI investigation over allegations of voter fraud in several states,” he added. “Bad enough that ACORN is implicated in fraudulent activities in several states, but now an ACORN chapter in the Garden State is working against the ability of New Jersey gun owners to exercise a constitutionally-protected individual civil right to own a handgun....