Coyote Gulch

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Water policy: National water commission?

Should the U.S. form a water commission? The Grand Rapids Press reports that U.S. Congressman from Georgia, John Linder, thinks that it is time and has introduced legislation for a commission. From the article:

Fires ravaged tinder-dry Southern California last month. The Colorado River is at an 85-year-low. The mayor of Atlanta recently floated the idea of piping water to her parched city from somewhere else. So, it should come as no surprise that U.S. Rep. John Linder, a Republican from Georgia, has introduced legislation to form a national commission on water resources.

No surprise, either, that representatives from Michigan, including Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, reacted to Mr. Linder's idea with considerable skepticism, even alarm. The bill follows on comments from New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democratic presidential candidate, that the nation needs a "national water policy." Any talk of a national water policy raises the specter of Southwestern cities and Southeastern peanut farmers looking to somehow stick a straw in the Great Lakes. The political landscape does not favor Michigan or the other Great Lakes states. Government projections hold that at least 36 states will face a water shortage within five years. The Southeast and Southwest are in the grip of droughts that show no sign of relenting, and could grow worse if scientists are even half right about the expected effects of global climate change.

Mr. Linder, who presented the bill to a subcommittee that includes Mr. Ehlers and Ms. Miller, tried to reassure his Great Lakes colleagues that he was not laying the groundwork to turn on the water works. "This is not to establish any new federal policy to tell the people of the Great Lakes what to do with their water," Mr. Linder stated. He wants the commission to focus on conservation, a laudable goal. The simple way to allay concerns, then, is to make it crystal clear in the creation of any national water commission that states retain inviolable control over their water, and that the commission won't be allowed to even consider diversions of the Great Lakes, or water that belongs to any other state, to parched portions of the country. Without those assurances, Mr. Ehlers and Ms. Miller have every reason to be suspicious, and to dam up this misguided water bill.
"2008 pres"
7:14:23 AM

Energy policy: Nuclear

This may be a big deal. The Colorado Medical Society voted last Friday to oppose Powertech's proposed uranium mining operation in Weld County, according to The Loveland Reporter-Herald. From the article:

On Friday, the Colorado Medical Society's Board of Directors voted unanimously to support the Larimer County Medical Society in its opposition to a planned uranium mine between the towns of Wellington and Nunn. "Without a doubt the medical society believes (the proposed mine) is a mistake," said Dr. Cory Carroll, who serves on the board, and is also the president of the Larimer County Medical Society...

The state medical society board cited uranium mining's potential health risks in making its decision...

A group of opponents, Coloradoans Against Resource Destruction, has been hosting meetings and soliciting petitions to raise awareness about the mine and its potential health and environmental effects. Almost 5,000 people have signed the group's petition, which is tracked on the group's Web site. Politicians have also gotten involved in the opposition -- U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a Republican who serves the proposed mine's area, has spoken out against the plan, and Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., has asked federal agencies to look into the mine's effect on water quality. Two Larimer County Democrats, State Reps. Randy Fischer and John Kefalas, are drafting a bill they say would improve out-of-date mining rules. And Larimer County's Environmental Advisory Board is studying possible effects on air, land and water associated with uranium mining...The Larimer County Medical Society now plans to seek support from the American Medical Society in opposing the plans.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.
"2008 pres"
6:35:28 AM