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Thursday, November 16, 2006
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Thompson for president?
Political Wire: "Former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson (R) is considering seeking the 2008 Republican nomination for president, according to the Des Moines Register. 'Thompson said he will set up an exploratory committee early next year to look into possible support for a presidential bid. He expects to decide whether to run by spring.'"
"2008 pres"
6:26:44 PM 
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Mercury pollution from coal-fired plants
Mercury is one of the pollutants from coal-fired powerplants. Here's an article about proposed regulations from the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "Environmentalists say regulators need to begin requiring control devices on plants to strip out mercury released from burning coal. But industry officials and Colorado public health officials favor a Bush administration-backed approach that would allow power plants to buy and sell pollution allowances for mercury.
"The debate, to be settled today or Friday by Colorado's Air Quality Control Commission, a nine-member board appointed by Gov. Bill Owens, has been years in the making and is national in scope. Whatever Colorado approves, it will mark the state's first effort to regulate such emissions from power plants.
"The volumes involved are relatively small, in the hundreds of pounds. But mercury is a potent element, with the amount in a household thermometer alone enough to contaminate a small lake. Nine lakes and reservoirs in Colorado are posted with consumption advisories that warn people to limit their fish intake because of mercury buildup. Pregnant and nursing women, along with small children, are most at risk of neurological impairment from too much of the metal.
"Under the mercury-control proposal from air- pollution regulators at the state's Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado power plants would be allotted 984 pounds of mercury emissions yearly from 2010 through 2017. At that level, regulators say, nine of Colorado's dozen facilities would find themselves emitting more mercury than allotted, and would have to purchase more allowances from other facilities that had emitted less than their limit, probably out of state, or add emission controls. Under the mercury-control proposal from air- pollution regulators at the state's Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado power plants would be allotted 984 pounds of mercury emissions yearly from 2010 through 2017."
Here's the list of lakes with elevated mercury levels: Berkeley Lake, Denver; Brush Hollow Reservoir, Fremont; McPhee Reservoir, Montezuma; Narraguinnep Reservoir, Montezuma; Navajo Reservoir, Archuleta; Rocky Mountain Lake, Denver; Sanchez Reservoir, Costilla; Teller Reservoir, El Paso; Vallecito Reservoir, La Plata.
"colorado water"
6:01:14 PM
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Conservatism
Bull Moose: "For the past forty years, conservatism was in the ascendancy. Just a couple of years ago, it had a certain self-confident swagger. Hubris was its only threat. In 2000, conservatism reached its zenith. The right had a President that was viewed as Reagan plus. Conservative leaders controlled the Legislation and Executive Branches. The entire 'Leave us Alone' crowd was riding high in the saddle.
"And now, conservatives are wondering how they were so resoundingly rejected not by the elites, but by the masses. They have been left alone.
"Social security privatization went nowhere. The Schiavo episode was a disaster. The public has no great appetite for more tax cuts. A conservative-led Congress and President greatly expanded the welfare state. The disillusionment with this Administration is now profound. The right even sympathizes with the hapless Rumsfeld.
"The Moose is not suggesting that conservatism is in disrepute. It has not reached the state of liberalism in which actual adherents of that view fear to attach that label to themselves. However, there is no doubt that the right faces a crisis of confidence that is usually associated with the left."
"2008 pres"
6:23:36 AM
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Gay rights
After last week's elections results were in we read a comment along the lines of, "What's a gay pot-smoker to do now?" One answer might be to move to Greensboro, North Carolina. Our blog friend, Ed Cone, writes, "A bold economic development plan from Greensboro's own Percy Walker. Offer $100,000 to every gay that moves to Guilford County ($50,000 if they are only bisexual). Visionary stuff. That's why he's a billionaire, and you're not. Well, that and some loose intergenerational tax-shelter laws. But still."
"2008 pres"
6:19:01 AM
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Denver County: 3,000 provisional ballots to go (18,000 MIA)
We're still waiting for the Denver County results to determine if Steve Ludwig or Brian Davidson will be the next C.U. Regent-At-Large. Referred Question 1A is still in limbo also, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "After an eight-day, problem- plagued vote tally, Denver had counted all but a few dozen absentee ballots Wednesday, yet the city preschool sales tax measure and a CU regent race remained too close to call.
That's because the Denver Election Commission has to count about 3,000 provisional ballots, said commission spokesman Alton Dillard...
"Yes votes for Measure 1A, the preschool tax that would add 12 cents to the cost of a $100 purchase to generate $12 million in annual revenue, had a 1,709-vote lead. But the provisional ballots could still tip the balance.
Stephen Ludwig, the Democratic candidate for the University of Colorado Board of Regents, was helped in a tight battle by garnering 59,389 more votes than Republican Brian Davidson in heavily Democratic Denver. But Ludwig said his rough statewide tally shows him with a lead of just a few thousand votes that could be eroded after all the provisional ballots are counted. 'I'm really sweating it,' said Ludwig, who fears the Election Day voting debacle in Denver could make the difference, because thousands of voters walked away from the long lines, presumably the majority of them Democratic voters. 'If I wind up losing when all the provisional ballots come in, it's clear that Denver's fiasco likely cost me the race,' he said."
"denver 2006"
6:13:24 AM
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Super Ditch for southeastern Colorado?
Seven large ditch companies in southeastern Colorado are proposing to band together to form a single large ditch cooperative, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "A $330,000 study to look at forming a water management authority with seven large ditch companies was launched Wednesday by the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District. The concept of what some are calling the 'Super Ditch' would be to coordinate future water leases so that large areas of agricultural land are not dried up. The plan would not change water rights ownership or the designation of water as primarily agricultural...
"[John] Singletary said the authority would be able to deal with water transfers without taking ag land permanently out of production and without end users even knowing from which parcel of ground leased water was removed. He added that leasing the water does not mean it will be taken out of the valley...
"The study will look at the supply and demand for water in the Arkansas Valley and look at systems available to move water. It will also attempt to determine the price ranges buyers would be willing to pay and sellers would be willing to accept. Engineering data for the Bessemer, High Line, Oxford, Otero, Catlin, Holbrook and Fort Lyon systems will be studied for water availability and the ability to exchange water upstream. The demand assessment in the study will look at the needs of users in and outside the basin. In-basin users identified include Pueblo, Colorado Springs, the proposed Arkansas Valley Conduit, El Paso County water users, the Division of Wildlife, State Parks, smaller communities and groundwater users who require augmentation water."
"colorado water"
5:53:42 AM
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Energy policy
Here's an commentary about our national addiction to oil from the Denver Post. From the article, "Back in January, in his State of the Union address, President Bush shocked his base by admitting the obvious: "America is addicted to oil ... often imported from unstable parts of the world.' It made headlines, but the facts were old news. America, with 5 percent of the world's population, uses 25 percent of its oil, more than half of that imported. Most of that is burned in our gas-guzzling vehicles. In March, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said, 'For all our military might and economic dominance, the Achilles' heel of the most powerful country on Earth is still the oil we cannot live without.' Besides the national security issues raised by President Bush and Sen. Obama, there are environmental and economic reasons to address our oil addiction. Air pollution from vehicles is linked to respiratory problems, heart and lung diseases, cancer and premature death. Global warming threatens incalculable harm. A quarter of all greenhouse gases produced annually by the U.S. come out of our tailpipes. All alternative fuels burn clearer and reduce greenhouse gases compared to oil."
Meanwhile Frank Murkowski has penned a pro-development piece for the Washington Times. He writes, "I've spent a quarter century in the Senate and as governor working for enlightened development of Alaska's tremendous resources: oil and gas, other minerals, vast forests, abundant fish and wildlife and land suitable for agriculture. However, responsible use of resources is too often opposed by environmentalists. Information is often selectively presented to give a biased view against development. Such information is used in a bewildering array of regulations and laws to stop legitimate resource use.
"Many readers are familiar with anti-development bias on environmental issues. For example, environmentalists claim that oil and gas exploration in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, will harm the caribou herd. However, the Central Arctic caribou that range in and around Prudhoe Bay have increased since construction of the oil fields and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. The herd increased from 5,000 animals in the 1970s to 32,000 in 2002."
"2008 pres"
5:46:38 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 8:46:59 PM.
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