Thursday, March 1, 2007

Gay rights Andrew Sullivan: "Jake Tapper interviews Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, a wounded soldier who lost a finger and a leg for his country. Hearing him brings the injustice home. Alva, who told many of his peers that he was gay in the Iraq war and got along fine with his fellow soldiers, is regarded by the president as a threat to the military's effectiveness. He's not. He's a hero. And it's appalling that a man who has done so much for his country continues to be treated like a second-class citizen." "2008 pres" 6:39:35 PM

National primary? Political Wire: "Michigan Democratic leaders said 'they'll hold their presidential caucus no later than Saturday, Feb. 9, and may go earlier if other states don't abide by national party rules,' according to the AP." "2008 pres" 6:32:25 PM

? for president? BusinessPortal24.com: "Obama, for his part, gave the Republican a pass when asked about McCain's comments at a Senate news conference on an unrelated matter. "'As somebody who had the same phrase in a speech, I think nobody would question Senator McCain's dedication to our veterans,' said Obama, the Illinois Democrat. 'We have a duty to make sure that we are honoring their sacrifice by giving them missions in which they can succeed ... I'm positive that was the intent in which he meant it. It was the same intent I had when I made my statement.'" Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the link. The Right's Field asks, "Will draft dodging be an issue for the GOP field in 2008?." Coyote Gulch wonders if the Vietnam War will be part of the 2008 election? Caucus Cooler: "Rudy Giuliani hit some speedbumps in his outreach to social conservatives this week both in Iowa and nationally. First, according to friends of the Cooler who attended the Iowa Christian Alliance's annual spring event last night in Dallas County, Rudy Giuliani's campaign was missing in action. Many of the 2008 candidates had tables in the foyer including: Huckabee, Brownback, McCain, Romney, even Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo. Rudy Giuliani's campaign on the otherhand was absent." Political Wire: "According to a new Time magazine poll, Rudy Giuliani now leads Sen. John McCain by 14 points (38% to 24%) for the Republican presidential nomination among registered Republicans and leaners. 'The core of Giuliani's strength is in the Northeast, where he has a 50% to 23% advantage over McCain. But even in the West, he leads McCain by 5 points.' "On the Democratic side, Sen. Hillary Clinton's lead has eroded since the last poll. Sen. Barack Obama 'has closed to within 12 points (36% to 24%), gaining seven points in the last month. 'The African-American component of the Democrats polled appears to be evenly split between the two senators. Former Vice President Al Gore, who has not declared his candidacy, was in third place, at 13%, while former North Carolina Senator John Edwards kept a firm hold of fourth place with 11%.'" "2008 pres" 6:18:35 PM

Aging Doc Searls: "The older you get, the faster time goes: one of life's suckiest features. Not sure if that's a bug in the system or vice versa." 5:49:11 PM

Freedom And Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship Act of 2007 (FAIR USE Act) beSpacific: "Press release: 'U.S. Representatives Rick Boucher (D-VA) and John Doolittle (R-CA), today introduced the Freedom And Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship Act of 2007 (FAIR USE Act) to protect the fair use rights of users of copyrighted material and thereby enable consumers of digital media to use it in ways that enhance their personal convenience. The legislation contains several improvements to the Digital Media Consumer's Rights Act, similar legislation which the lawmakers introduced in the 108th and 109th Congresses. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) is an original cosponsor of the legislation.'" "2008 pres" 7:15:40 AM

Gore wins Oscar The Borowitz Report: "Just days after former Vice President Al Gore received an Academy Award for his global warming documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth,' the United States Supreme Court handed Mr. Gore a stunning reversal, stripping him of his Oscar and awarding it to President George W. Bush instead. For Mr. Gore, who basked in the adulation of his Hollywood audience Sunday night, the high court's decision to give his Oscar to President Bush was a cruel twist of fate, to say the least. But in a 5-4 decision handed down Tuesday morning, the justices made it clear that they had taken the unprecedented step of stripping Mr. Gore of his Oscar because President Bush deserved it more." Thanks to the (recently re-unretired) NewMexiKen for the link who is still whining about the parts of southern Colorado that he thinks should be part of New Mexico. "2008 pres" 7:13:55 AM

Western U.S.: Pretty damn distinct 5280: "In the mid-20th century, a Democratic majority relied on a union between the Northeast and South. Today, that union is dead. 'Since [1968], Republican presidential candidates have enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the South's electoral votes,' writes Thomas Schaller, a political science professor at University of Maryland-Baltimore County, in Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South. 'In the nine presidential elections between 1972 and 2004, Democrats have sent one lamb after another to their southern slaughter...Of the 1,260 total electoral votes cast by the eleven southern states between 1972 and 2004, Republicans won 1,039 of them -- almost 83 percent.' A slaughter indeed... "And so it is that the politicians and analysts are making noise about a new 'Western strategy' for the Democratic Party. The idea? Taking a centrist approach to such troubling Western issues as the environment, public land use, and water conservation and rights, as well as broader issues like renewable energy, health care, immigration, and national security. The target? The traditionally right-leaning states that comprise the Interior West: New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and Arizona." Read the whole article. "2008 pres" 7:05:37 AM

Global warming? Peter Saint-André: "Why I am a global warming skeptic." "2008 pres" 6:59:53 AM

Energy policy: Thoroughly evaluate the sustainability of any proposed alternatives New West: "Montanans by nature are not the type to rush into an untested activity or fad. However, when it comes to energy, the whole country is in a frenzied search for alternative fuel sources. While this nation absolutely requires alternatives to fossil fuels, we first need to learn to conserve fuel; and second, thoroughly evaluate the sustainability of any proposed alternatives." "2008 pres" 6:57:51 AM

War on terror Captain's Quarters: "The Taliban have a new commander and a new public face for their terrorism. Mullah Dadullah has become the new rock star of the jihad in Waziristan, and his emergence could portend an especially tough spring for Afghanistan and its NATO defenders." Josh Marshall: "You have to be relatively deep into the minutiae of North Korea policy for this story. But it's a big one. The Bush administration is now saying they're really not even sure the North Koreans have a uranium enrichment program for the production of nuclear weapons." Andrew Sullivan: "Two things worth noting: the national oil law, critical to any stable future, has indeed been passed, with the Kurds key winners; the U.S. is now talking to Iran and Syria about Iraq's future. If you're an optimist, and we all want to be, that makes the chances of a soft partition in the future more likely. Civil war on a large scale is still more likely, but we shouldn't miss the slivers of hope as they pass us by." "2008 pres" 6:47:02 AM

? for president? Talking Points Memo: "McCain makes it official: He's in the race for President." eyeon08.com: "The Club for Growth continued its evaluation of 2008 candidates with Sam Brownback, with a mostly positive result. This is important for Brownback because it differentiates him from Mike Huckabee, who the Club has savaged. " Political Wire: "Rudy Giuliani 'has hired his first caucus campaign staffer and is planning a trip to Iowa in the coming weeks,' the Des Moines Register reports." "2008 pres" 6:45:06 AM

Colorado River Basin Water Management: Grand Canyon Center for Biological Diversity: "In a 21-page letter sent today to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, conservation groups Living Rivers/Colorado Riverkeeper and the Center for Biological Diversity demanded that the Secretary revise his plan to support a failing Colorado River restoration project in Grand Canyon National Park. A 12-year-old program that was established to mitigate the impacts of Glen Canyon Dam, upstream of Grand Canyon National Park, is undergoing environmental review for a new set of experiments. The groups charge that continuing activities under the current framework would be a death sentence for the remaining native species trying to survive the extensive ecological changes the dam's operations have brought to Grand Canyon." "colorado water" 6:25:09 AM

Energy policy New West: "Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, joined by former Montana Congressman Pat Williams, brought his relentlessly upbeat message of energy and economic development to the U.S. House of Representatives' Natural Resources Committee Wednesday, testifying at a hearing on the 'Evolving West.' Some of the panel Republicans expressed skepticism; some asked questions designed to expose hypocrisy. But in the end, even the Republicans showed love... "When Rob Bishop, Republican of Utah, asked Schweitzer about coal-to-liquid technology, it gave the governor a chance to point out that Montana has 32 percent of the nation's coal reserves, and 8 percent of the world's -- and that we need to find new ways to use coal. And that the nation needs to invest more money in coal technologies and carbon sequestration. And he might have kept going if Bishop didn't interrupt... "And they heard, several times, how coal cannot save the world without effective carbon sequestration technologies to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gasses. After several Republicans had mentioned environmental extremists gumming up the works, Schweitzer said that 10 percent on either side of an issue won't even get into the room to negotiate and well, they can stay out, the governor would rather deal with the other 80 percent." "2008 pres" 6:18:54 AM

Snowpack Here's a report about snowpack from the the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article, "As is usual in the nation's highest state, there are winners and losers when the snow falls. The same blizzards that killed up to 15,000 cattle on the plains and snarled traffic in urban areas could produce an above-average wheat crop with prices at their highest levels in years. 'We haven't had this kind of winter moisture since 1981 and 1982,' said Darrell Hanavan, executive director of the Colorado Association of Wheat Growers. Although the mountains have received only an average snowfall, ski resorts appear headed to a record for the second year in a row. 'Last year we were dry in the southern mountains and we were above average up north. This year it is an east-west division -- a dry west and a wet east. This kind of scenario is rather rare really,' said Mike Gillespie, who tracks the snowpack for the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service. Gillespie noted the snow season, which provides 80 percent of Colorado's surface water is three-quarters over and western areas of the state were unlikely to recover... "On Wednesday, the statewide snowpack was 91 percent of the 30-year average, compared with 88 percent on the same date last year. The Colorado River basin itself was 96 percent of average. The southwest reported the lowest with 77 percent in the San Miguel-Dolores-Animas-San Juan Basin. The blizzards filled up plains reservoirs and Denver Water, the state's biggest municipal water provider, reported its system was 89 percent full as of Monday. The average for the date is 78 percent. The snow also ended two years of extreme drought for wheat farmers. Hanavan said the area entered a drought in 1999 that was only temporarily broken by heavy snow in the spring of 2003. Demand for ethanol has driven up prices for wheat and corn. The 116 percent average reported in the Arkansas River Basin and 111 percent in the South Platte were a mixed blessing. Colorado ranchers lost an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 head of cattle to blizzards. So far the federal government has declined to provide any aid." "colorado water" 6:14:10 AM

New pipeline for Windsor Windsor has received some state dough and plans to build a new pipeline from the Cache La Poudre river, according to the Greeley Tribune "reg". From the article, "Windsor is reaping the rewards of one of the few Colorado coffers that still has a growing bank account -- to the tune of a $612,953 to help supply water for fire protection and drinking. The Windsor Town Board entered into an agreement with the Energy and Mineral Assistance Program this week for matching funds to build a 6,100-foot, 20-inch pipe to run from the north side of the Cache La Poudre River to the town's water tank. The town will match the grant for an estimated project cost of slightly more than $1.2 million... "The existing line, originally built in the late 1970s, should have a life expectancy of 50 years or more, Wagner said, but certain soil types can speed corrosion. That appears to be what happened in Windsor. 'The soil we have, for the most part, down there is being pretty reactive and accelerating the corrosion. But most soils don't do that,' he said. To get the most for its money, the engineering department will look at building the new pipe out of plastic instead of the ductile iron it uses now. The repair was something the town needed to take care of, Wagner said, because the pipe supplies water for most everything the town requires." "colorado water" 6:07:26 AM

Million project pipeline Aaron Million was in Grand Junction pitching his pipeline project to Club 20 yesterday. Here's a recap from the Rocky Mountain News. They write, "On Wednesday, members of Club 20's influential water committee were cautious and skeptical about, but not hostile to, a proposal to pump massive amounts of water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Wyoming and Utah to the Front Range... "Million has scaled back from his original plan, which called for taking 250,000 to 400,000 acre-feet of water per year from Flaming Gorge, to 165,000 to 250,000 acre-feet. His new plan could provide water for 330,000 to 500,000 more homes from Fort Collins to Pueblo, with water available through reuse to Eastern Plains agriculture. 'I don't think Club 20 would oppose it, but I don't know if we'll support it,' Steve Harris of Durango told Million." "colorado water" 5:58:12 AM

Colorado River Basin Water Management: Drought Here's a report about the seven Colorado River Compact states and the agreement to manage the river during drought, from the downstream point of view, from the San Diego Union-Tribune. They write, "An unprecedented approach to coping with lengthy dry spells along the shrinking Colorado River has passed an early environmental test, moving Western states closer to adopting a strategy that would allow California to create a vast reserve of water without building new dams. 'There are no red flags at all,' said Roger Patterson, assistant general manager of the Metropolitan Water District, the Los Angeles-based wholesaler that serves San Diego County. The opportunity to store up to another 1.5 million acre-feet -- enough for 3 million average households a year -- in Arizona's Lake Mead is a major attraction for California in a seven-state proposal to manage drought on the Colorado River. The initiative contains several novel proposals, including a small $84 million reservoir in the Imperial Valley to be financed by Las Vegas and the possibility of Southern California ratepayers funding water conservation in Mexico. More water banked in Lake Mead would help California move supplies around based on demand and availability, taking from the Colorado in some years to reduce demand from the Sacramento Delta... "Yesterday, the federal government issued its draft assessment of the potential environmental effects of various proposals to revise operations on the Colorado River under drought conditions. None appears to significantly threaten fish and wildlife or public health. Changes could have some downside for recreational uses or power producers but would not cause irreparable financial harm, the review stated... "California relies on the Colorado to deliver at least 4.4 million acre-feet of water a year, 75 percent of which goes to Imperial Valley farms. Much of the rest flows to homes and businesses from San Diego to Santa Ana... "The drought management plan is an extension of a landmark 2003 accord among the seven Western states to share the Colorado River. California is compelled to move aggressively because the pact requires the state to reduce its draw from the river by 800,000 acre-feet a year. The proposal, which has not been ratified pending federal environmental approval, contains assurances for California, Arizona and Nevada that shortages can be managed if steps are taken now. The other states -- Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico -- are willing to go along because it would temper pressure to cut their allocations from the river. Mexico remains a wild card, expressing concerns about the loss of groundwater. For California, the cornerstone of the plan is the abandonment of a decades-old 'use it or lose it' policy toward deliveries from Lake Mead. With the exception of a recent pilot program, states cannot bank their unused allocation for withdrawal later." More coverage from the Salt Lake Tribune. From the article, "The Bureau of Reclamation on Wednesday released a draft environmental study that examines alternatives for managing the Colorado River during periods of drought and water shortages. Among the options is the agreement forged last year by the seven Colorado River Basin states -- Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico in the upper basin and Nevada, Arizona and California in the lower basin -- that defines the conditions under which lower basin shortages would be declared and creates a plan for the joint management of Lake Powell and Lake Mead. "But that option vies with several other alternatives in the draft environmental impact statement (EIS). One calls for voluntary, compensated reductions in water use to minimize involuntary shortages in the lower basin and avoid 'curtailments' on Colorado River water use in the upper basin. Another would seek to maximize water deliveries at the expense of storing more water in Powell and Mead, reducing deliveries only when there is insufficient water in Mead to meet lower basin entitlements. A third alternative envisions storing more water in Powell and Mead by reducing deliveries and increasing shortages to benefit power companies and recreational users. The fourth, no-action alternative, provides a baseline to compare the other options." More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "colorado water" 5:53:17 AM

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