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Tuesday, January 30, 2007
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Schaffer for U.S. Senate?
Colorado Pols: "Former Rep. Bob Schaffer has apparently decided that he will run for the U.S. Senate in 2008. Schaffer joins former Rep. Scott McInnis on the GOP side of the field."
"2008 pres"
8:51:30 PM 
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Corruption
TalkLeft: "Judith Miller testified today in the Scooter Libby trial. She sailed through Fitzgerald's direct examination but started on a downhill course as soon as Bill Jeffress began cross-examining her.
"The lawyers and judge are in deep debate over Paragraph 5 to Judith Miller's affidavit in support of a motion to quash."
"2008 pres"
8:24:43 PM
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Climate change
Yahoo! News: "U.S. scientists felt pressured to tailor their writings on global warming to fit the Bush administration's skepticism, in some cases at the behest of an ex-oil industry lobbyist, a congressional committee heard on Tuesday. 'Our investigations found high-quality science struggling to get out,' Francesca Grifo of the watchdog group Union of Concerned Scientists told members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee."
Thanks to Ed Cone: for the link.
"2008 pres"
8:18:18 PM
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Iraq
We just noticed that you can start viewing the Aaron Harber Show, online, prior to the TV date. They have both QuickTime and WMP video formats. This week they're sitting down with former U.S. Senator Hank Brown. Topics discussed include, "What the United States should do in Iraq today?" and "When the U.S. should make a plan to withdraw from Iraq based on the reality of fractionalization."
Talking Points Memo: "Obama calls for removal of all -- yes, all -- combat brigades from Iraq by March 2008. That's a little over a year away, incidentally."
Colorado Confidential: "Sen. Russ Feingold introduced legislation today to cut off funds for the Iraq War.... Sen. Feingold--and by extension, the anti-war movement--would be better served by introducing legislation which repealed the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF)."
Talking Points Memo: "Paul Bremer accepts invitation to testify before Congress."
Update: Here's the YouTube video of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold explaining his legislation.
"2008 pres"
5:51:25 PM
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Energy policy: Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard
Gregg Easterbrook (via Slate): "Last week [President] Bush proposed something environmentalists, energy analysts, greenhouse-effect researchers, and national-security experts have spent 20 years pleading for: a major strengthening of federal mileage standards for cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks. The number-one failing of U.S. energy policy is that vehicle mile-per-gallon standards have not been made stricter in two decades. Nothing the United States can do in energy policy is more important than an mpg increase. Presidents George Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton, and, until last week, George W. Bush had all refused to face the issue of America's low-mpg vehicles, which are the root of U.S. dependency on Persian Gulf oil and a prime factor in rising U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions. But now Bush favors a radical strengthening of federal mileage rules, and last week to boot became the first Republican president since Gerald Ford to embrace the basic concept of federal mileage regulation (called the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard)."
Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the link.
"2008 pres"
7:18:32 AM
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Corruption
TalkLeft is in Washington D.C. covering the Scooter Libby trial. From the article, "Being in the courtroom has advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, you get the big picture, being able to watch the interaction between the prosecution and defense teams, Scooter Libby and his lawyers, the jury and the Judge. You also get to see what seems of interest to the jurors, what they smile and laugh at and what doesn't faze them.
"On the minus side, it was stifling hot, many of us (including the Judge at one point) were using paper to fan ourselves and if you leave while court is in session, you can't get back in. Also, you are reduced to handwritten notes since no laptops are allowed in the courtroom. This is not a high-tech trial. The lawyers aren't tapping away at computers. The exhibits aren't fancy. There are a lot of assistants on both sides."
"2008 pres"
7:15:15 AM
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Immigration
Captain's Quarters: "In a war on terrorism in which we have already suffered thousands of deaths from infiltrators into the US, one might think that border security might take a leading position among issues faced the federal government. However, the Los Angeles Times reports that sophisticated tunnels literally undermining our southern border still remain in use even after their discovery, thanks to half-hearted efforts to plug the holes created by smugglers."
"2008 pres"
6:54:20 AM
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2008 Democratic National Convention
Organizers of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, here in Denver, have named the executive committee, according to the Denver Post. From the article, "An executive committee has been appointed to oversee preparations for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, leaving some members of the original organizing group unsure of their role in planning for the event. Katherine Archuleta, senior adviser for policy and initiatives to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, confirmed Monday that the city's highest Democratic elected officials have been named to an 'executive committee' for the convention. The new group is made up of the mayor, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, Gov. Bill Ritter, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, City Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth - the president of Denver's host committee - and fund-raiser Steve Farber, who was a co-chairman of the host committee.
Archuleta said the group will "take a look at how you implement the bid that was successfully won. 'First and foremost is the fundraising. That is the one thing that is on their minds right now because we need to get that money in.'"
From today's Denver Post, "Left-leaning political bloggers are planning to add to the crowds in Denver during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Denver-based Progressnow action and DailyKos.com founder Markos Moulitas are planning ProgressCon2008 - a national convening of bloggers, Internet organizers and nonprofit leaders. 'We're already making plans for this location to serve as a headquarters away from home for progressive bloggers, net- roots organizers, and nonprofit representatives from across the country,' Progressnowaction's Bobby Clark said in a release."
"2008 pres"
6:44:37 AM
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Predicting snowfall
Here's a short article about the Storm Peak Laboratory, from CNN. From the article, "Up the mountain from the Steamboat Springs Ski Resort, atmospheric scientists have studied everything from snow crystals and pollution to the impact of ultraviolet radiation on vegetation. Scientists at the Storm Peak Laboratory have conducted research here since 1981. Currently, climate change tops their priorities. The findings made at Storm Peak could be important to how the ski industry adjusts to warming temperatures. 'With a warmer climate, you will have a shorter ski season,' said lab director Dr. Gannet Hallar. 'You'll have an earlier melt and a later onset of snow. This makes a lot of difference for the skiing community,'she said. But less snow has an impact far beyond vacationing skiers and snowboarders, Hallar and the other researchers stressed. 'Water is a major issue in Colorado,' said Hallar. 'Our water serves Las Vegas and Los Angeles. So less snow in Colorado influences water across the nation.' The lab has determined that an increase in sulfate pollution from power plants reduces snowfall by about 15 percent. 'Unfortunately, the models seem to be in agreement that the amount of snow is going to go down,' said University of Colorado climatologist Dr. Jim White. 'Some models as much as 50 percent by the year 2050 or so,' he said."
"colorado water"
6:31:44 AM
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Southern Delivery System
The "no-action" alternative to the Southern Delivery System will add time to the drafting of the EIS, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "A federal review of Colorado Springs changes in its Southern Delivery System probably won't be completed until later this year at the earliest, and will mean new opportunity for public comment. However, it won't reopen SDS to the full-scale public events seen in 2003, during scoping for the project; or in late 2005, when public meetings in five communities examined proposed alternatives. It will delay the draft environmental impact statement required under the National Environmental Protection Act. A public comment period would follow release of the draft EIS. 'This is evidence that the NEPA process is working,' Kara Lamb, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Reclamation, said Monday. She said the process has identified changes in the project while generating hundreds of public comments...
"The bureau is in the beginning stages of meeting with Colorado Springs Utilities over a change in a 'no-action' alternative to SDS submitted last week. Colorado Springs pulled its former no-action plan, pumping 300-500 more wells in the Denver Basin aquifer, because it would not provide sufficient fresh water to meet the city's needs in the next 40 years. Instead, Colorado Springs is suggesting it would build a river intake pipeline from the Arkansas River in Fremont County if its plan to pump directly from Pueblo Dam is turned down."
"colorado water"
6:18:37 AM
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Energy Policy: Great Texas Wind Rush
Wired: "The port of Iberia has never been busier. Situated on a narrow canal leading to the Louisiana coastline, the docks here throb with the sound of tugboats towing oil platforms to and from their anchorages in the Gulf of Mexico. When a drilling site is depleted, the platforms return to port; the docks are littered with rusting steel hulks waiting for their next run.
"In December, though, one of these platforms, stripped and refurbished by a local startup, returned to sea with a new mission. The first of a flotilla to come, it carried wind-monitoring equipment as well as radar for tracking migratory birds. Those that follow will be topped not by drilling rigs but by windmills. The turbines are bound for an 18-square-mile area roughly 10 miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas, where the first offshore wind farm in the US is under construction. That's right: The flower of sustainable energy is blooming in oil country. Get ready for the Great Texas Wind Rush...
"Schellstede called Schoeffler, and they drew up a plan to bring offshore wind power to the oil patch. The key was to take advantage of existing oil-industry infrastructure. To save the expense of designing and building specialized offshore wind equipment, they would mount conventional windmills on decommissioned oil platforms. Hurricanes could be a problem, so they decided to outfit their windmills with hydraulic lifts scavenged from oil-industry machinery; the system would lower the turbines in the event of a squall. All told, the economics would enable WEST to compete with land-based wind power - in which Texas leads the nation - as well as with energy from increasingly pricey natural gas and newer coal plants that are still paying off construction costs."
"2008 pres"
6:09:45 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 9:03:03 PM.
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