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Tuesday, February 20, 2007
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Global warming?
Times Online: "When politicians and journalists declare that the science of global warming is settled, they show a regrettable ignorance about how science works. We were treated to another dose of it recently when the experts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued the Summary for Policymakers that puts the political spin on an unfinished scientific dossier on climate change due for publication in a few months' time. They declared that most of the rise in temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to man-made greenhouse gases."
Canada Free Press: "What would happen if tomorrow we were told that, after all, the Earth is flat? It would probably be the most important piece of news in the media and would generate a lot of debate. So why is it that when scientists who have studied the Global Warming phenomenon for years say that humans are not the cause nobody listens? Why does no one acknowledge that the Emperor has no clothes on?
"Believe it or not, Global Warming is not due to human contribution of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). This in fact is the greatest deception in the history of science. We are wasting time, energy and trillions of dollars while creating unnecessary fear and consternation over an issue with no scientific justification. For example, Environment Canada brags about spending $3.7 billion in the last five years dealing with climate change almost all on propaganda trying to defend an indefensible scientific position while at the same time closing weather stations and failing to meet legislated pollution targets."
"2008 pres"
7:11:15 PM 
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Iraq
Political Wire: "Quote of the Day. 'I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history.' -- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), quoted by the AP."
"2008 pres"
6:13:44 PM
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Energy policy: Oil shale development
Colorado Confidential: "Shell Exploration and Production will be conducting a series of community briefings this week concerning their oil shale project between Rifle and Meeker in Rio Blanco County. For the past 25 years, Shell has been experimenting with their 'In situ' conversion process that extracts oil from shale. Recent leases on federal land will help Shell move from an experimental phase to a possible commercial scale in coming years, according to Jill Davis, the public affairs representative from Shell." Follow the link for the schedule.
"2008 pres"
6:10:25 PM
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? for president?
Rolling Stone: "But Washington has plenty of wonks, and Obama wasn't going to distinguish himself through diligence alone. He came to the Capitol equipped with his own, swelling celebrity; the Senate was not a perfect fit. Beyond his considerable charm, Obama can be righteous and cocky. He came to Washington pushing the hope that politics could be better -- but now he can give the impression that he'd rather be just about anywhere other than in Washington."
Thanks to NewMexiKen for the link.
The Right's Field: "Congressman Ron Paul's (R-Surfside, Tex.) presidential exploratory committee website is finally finished. Though a bit bare, it is a step up from the desolate place he called home in recent weeks."
Josh Marshall: "Romney hits the airwaves with a new TV ad in five states."
Pollster.com: "A new Rasmussen Reports automated survey of likely primary voters nationwide (conducted 2/12 through 2/15) finds: Among Democrats, Sen. Hillary Clinton (at 28%) runs slightly ahead of Sen. Barack Obama (24%), and former Sen. John Edwards (11%) and former Vice President Al Gore (10%) trail in a national primary; Among Republicans, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (at 33%) leads Sen. John McCain (19%), former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (13%), and former Gov. Mitt Romney (8%) in a national primary."
"2008 pres"
5:59:34 PM
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Energy policy: Renewable energy
Roland Piquepaille: "As many other countries, the U.S. want to reduce their dependency on oil by increasing the production of renewable and alternative fuels. Today, the main source of biofuel is ethanol distilled from kernels of corn, with a production of 5 billion gallons a year. As current targets for biofuels have been pushed to 7.5 billion gallons by 2012 and 35 in 2017, using corn ethanol alone would require to convert the combined size of Kansas and Iowa into farmland. But researchers have studied other solutions. And the best one could be to use cellulosic ethanol as the fuel of the future. The main advantage of using a wild grass named miscanthus is that you can produce ethanol from the whole plant body as opposed to corn where you can only use the grains. The other one is that you would need to grow this plant only on an area of the size of Massachusetts -- an area 18 times smaller. But will farmers follow this advice? Time will tell."
"2008 pres"
5:53:27 PM
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Healthcare
Boston Globe: "Healthcare, a major theme in the 1992 presidential campaign, has returned as a critical issue in the 2008 contest. But this time, contenders in both parties are placing new focus on preventive care as a way of improving public health and ultimately reducing the skyrocketing cost of medical care."
Thanks to ColoradoLib for the link.
beSpacific: "Press release, February 12, 2007: 'The Prescription Project...called on academic medical centers, professional medical societies and public and private payers to end conflicts of interest resulting from the $12 billion spent annually on pharmaceutical marketing. Building on a series of reforms recommended last year in an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the project will conduct and publicize research on conflicts of interest, advocate for policy reforms that will eliminate such conflicts, and promote prescription practices that are based on scientific evidence.'"
"2008 pres"
5:50:15 PM
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War on terror
Captain's Quarters: "Remember when people kept assuring us that Iran was at least five years from developing the technology to produce a nuclear weapon? Well, time apparently flies, because the IAEA now says that Iran may be as close as six months from producing the fuel for a nuke."
"2008 pres"
6:16:15 AM
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? for president?
Pollster.com: "A new WNBC/Marist College national survey of 978 registered voters (conducted 2/12 through 2/15) finds:
Among Democrats and Democratic leaning independents, Sen. Hillary Clinton (at 37%) leads Sen. Barack Obama (17%) in a national primary. Former Vice President Al Gore and former Sen. John Edwards trail at 11% each. Among Republicans and Republican leaning independents, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (at 28%) runs slightly ahead of Sen. John McCain (21%) in a national primary. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (11%) and former Gov. Mitt Romney (10%) trail. General election match-ups pitting Giuliani against Clinton (47% to 45% respectively), Clinton against McCain (46% to 46%), Edwards against Giuliani (44% to 44%), McCain against Obama (44% to 41%), and McCain against Edwards (44% to 43%) are all within the margin of sampling error."
Political Wire: "Could blacks be a swing voting bloc in the presidential bids of Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL)? The New York Times examines their travels to South Carolina, where Clinton made her first visit as a presidential candidate, 'appearing before a predominantly black audience of about 2,500 people at historically black Allen University, while Mr. Obama was in the state this past weekend.'"
Political Wire: "Mitt Romney, 'who has touted his support of gun owners since launching his presidential campaign, yesterday acknowledged he did not become a member of the National Rifle Association until last August,' the Boston Globe reports."
"2008 pres"
6:13:05 AM
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New EIS for Glen Canyon Dam
According to the Outdoor Newswire the Bureau of Reclamation is drafting a new EIS for the operation of Glen Canyon Dam. From the article, "In an attempt to comply with a settlement agreement reached last September between environmental groups and the Department of Interior, the Bureau of Reclamation has begun the scoping process for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the operations of Glen Canyon Dam called the Long-Term Experimental Plan. According to John Weisheit of the Utah-based river restoration group Living Rivers, the world-renowned Colorado River ecosystem in Grand Canyon National Park has been deteriorating for more than four decades due to the upstream operations of the 700-foot-high Glen Canyon Dam. Beaches, endangered native fish and archeological sites have all disappeared as cold, nutrient-depleted water is released at the whims of dam operators on a daily basis, replacing the gradual seasonal fluctuations consistent with the Colorado River's natural hydrology. Within ten years after the dam's completion, strong public outcry forced the Bureau of Reclamation (BoR) to begin exploring mechanisms to alter Glen Canyon Dam's operations to reverse its detrimental effects on Grand Canyon National Park ...
"According to Weisheit, there already exists an abundance of scientific understanding regarding how dam operations must change, much of from the first Glen Canyon Dam EIS completed in 1995, if Grand Canyon's river ecosystem is to be protected, The problem, according to Weisheit, is that these recommendations are not being followed by the stakeholder group put in charge of implementing the regulations, under the auspices of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program."
"colorado water"
6:02:09 AM
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Box Elder Creek aquifer?
Here's an update on the efforts by the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District's attempts to get a new groundwater basin declared for Box Elder Creek, from the Denver Post. From the article, "Northern Colorado farmers who are trying to prove they aren't sucking down the South Platte River have lost one round in their protracted fight to keep irrigating Front Range cropland. A hearing officer for the state groundwater commission recommended last week denying the farmers' petition to designate about 300,000 acres in Weld, Adams, Arapahoe and Elbert counties as a groundwater basin...
"Several ditch companies fought the farmers' proposal to designate the Box Elder Creek groundwater basin. Aurora, Greeley, Sterling, Denver Water and Denver International Airport opposed the designation. Aside from the impact on the South Platte, some foes argued they don't want to live under the regulatory scheme that a groundwater designation would create."
Here's the coverage from the Greeley Tribune. They write, "Irrigation well owners in central Weld County have lost their first battle. Jody Grantham, hearing officer for the Colorado Ground Water Commission, has recommended a petition to designate Box Elder Creek a designated ground water basin be denied. The designation would have allowed well owners in the area to pump wells without having to replace the water those wells use back to the South Platte River...
"The Box Elder petition was filed by the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District and John Moser, a well owner in the basin, which runs from Kersey south to the Black Forest near Colorado Springs. Grantham heard testimony through a nine-day period in January. The petition sought designation for an area from about four miles south of the South Platte River near Kersey extending south for about 56 miles. There were 25 entities that filed objections to the petition...
"Citing Colorado water law, Grantham said the evidence 'clearly shows the primary source of water (in Box Elder Creek) to be tributary return flows from seepage, canal leakage and field irrigation resulting from decreed tributary waters that are imported from the South Platte River.'"
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
5:43:57 AM
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Whitewater park for Glenwood Springs?
Here's an update on Glenwood Springs' proposed whitewater park from the Glenwood Springs Post Independent "reg". From the article, "Last week, council voted unanimously to endorse a letter to Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) emphasizing the city's flexibility regarding water rights associated with its park. The letter is intended to assure the state that the park shouldn't get caught up in the kind of water rights controversies that have erupted regarding whitewater parks in other parts of Colorado. 'We'd rather spend the money on actually building the whitewater park than on legal fights over it,' Merritt said. The Colorado River benefits from reliable flows thanks in part to a senior right used to operate the Shoshone hydroelectric plant in Glenwood Canyon. Some concerns have arisen because of Xcel Energy's agreement to use less than the plant's full water right to benefit Denver in times of drought. However the Colorado River's flows also are enhanced by water it carries to meet senior rights of agriculture in the Grand Junction area. Christensen said one benefit of the city's decision to build the park in West Glenwood rather than further upstream is that it also is below the confluence of the Roaring Fork River. Park advocates originally had hoped to build the park on the Colorado River in downtown Glenwood but the Hot Springs Lodge & Pool feared it could jeopardize the shallow hot springs aquifer beneath the river. GOCO funds outdoor projects with state lottery revenues. Christensen said it's become apparent that the battle over recreational water rights "can be sort of like an anchor" on whitewater park requests made to GOCO...
"Besides serving on council, Merritt is chief engineer of the Glenwood-based Colorado River Water Conservation District, which looks after water interests in the Colorado River Basin in western Colorado. He said Colorado's legislation sought to find middle ground on the recreational water rights issue, and the Colorado Water Conservation Board has been concerned that proposed recreational water rights fall in that middle ground and don't cause problems in administration and development of other water rights. Glenwood doesn't plan to waive its ability to seek such rights. But its letter will acknowledge the controversial nature of them and state that the city's focus is on building a park, and it is willing to negotiate over water rights. Merritt said existing water in the Colorado River should be adequate to meet the Glenwood park's needs throughout the kayaking season. That includes later in the summers when flows in whitewater parks in some communities usually are too low."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
5:36:33 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 9:05:08 PM.
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