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Thursday, December 20, 2007
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Stygius nails the background, issues and highlights the opposition to Powertech's proposed uranium mine up in Weld County, over at SquareState.
"2008 pres"
7:16:08 PM 
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Politics West: "Denver security planners now can count on up to $50 million for use during preparation for and staging of the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Congress wrapped up an appropriations bill today that includes $100 million to be divided between Denver and St. Paul, which is hosting the Republican convention. The bill is on its way to the president's desk, and because it includes funding for the Iraq war and military operations in Afghanistan, the president is expected to sign it quickly."
"2008 pres"
7:10:15 PM
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beSpacific: "FEC Campaign Finance Maps: Campaign finance information is now available via easy to use maps of the USA for both Presidential and House and Senate Elections through September 30, 2007. Search Donor's name, contributions and size of donations."
"Denver 2008"
7:06:19 PM
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Josh Marshall sets the presidential field from his point of view. Bottom line, Romney vs. Clinton or Obama.
Political Wire: "Political Wire got an advance look at a new Strategic Vision poll in Iowa that also shows the Democratic presidential race in a statistical tie. Sen. Barack Obama leads with 30%, followed by John Edwards and Sen. Hillary Clinton tied at 27%. For Republicans, Mike Huckabee leads with 31%, followed by Mitt Romney at 25%, Fred Thompson at 16%, Sen. John McCain at 8%, Rudy Giuliani at 6%."
Political Wire: "A new CNN/Opinion Research poll shows the Democratic race for president in a statistical tie. Sen. Hillary Clinton leads with 30%, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 28% and John Edwards at 26% -- all within the poll's margin of error of four points...On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee leads with 33%, followed by Mitt Romney at 25%, and Rudy Giuliani at 11%."
Poltical Wire: "The American Research Group released new polls from Iowa and New Hampshire, but both show results very different than almost every other recently published poll."
"Democrats:
* In Iowa, Sen. Hillary Clinton leads among Democrats with 29% followed closely by Sen. Barack Obama with 25% and John Edwards with 18%. Obama has the softest support in Iowa among Democrats, with 25% of his supporters say they might change their minds.
"* In New Hampshire, Clinton leads with 38%, followed by Obama at 24%, and Edwards at 15%.
"Republicans:
* In Iowa, Mike Huckabee leads with 28%, followed by John McCain at 20%, Mitt Romney at 17%, and Rudy Giuliani at 13%. Huckabee's support in Iowa is the softest among Republicans, with 62% of his supporters saying they might change their minds.
"* In New Hampshire, Romney and McCain are tied at 26% each."
6:42:34 PM
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Captain's Quarters: "As widely expected, Tom Tancredo dropped out of the presidential race this afternoon. He had generated almost no significant national support despite being associated with the favored position on one of the biggest issues for Republicans, immigration. However, he surprised everyone with his valedictory endorsement of Mitt Romney."
"2008 pres"
6:35:27 PM
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Here's a background piece on the Ogallala Aquifer from Ethanol Producer Magazine. They write:
The High Plains aquifer, also known as the Ogallala aquifer, lies under portions of eight states: South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. It is one of the largest aquifers in the world, spanning about 175,000 square miles. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, approximately 27 percent of the irrigated land in the United States is in this region, and about 30 percent of the groundwater used for irrigation in the United States is pumped from the Ogallala aquifer. In 2000, irrigation withdrawals were 17 billion gallons per day and 1.9 million people were supplied by groundwater from the Ogallala aquifer with total public supply withdrawals of 315 million gallons per day, according to the USGS. The aquifer is not only large, but it's also accessible. "It's relatively shallow, the quality is relatively good, so it's very user friendly," says David Hume, a hydrogeologist and senior associate at Leggette, Brashears & Graham Inc.
The aquifer was formed over millions of years, but has since been cut off from its original natural sources and is being depleted faster than it can be recharged. The water table in the Ogallala Formation is separated from overlying land-use practices by as much as 400 feet of unsaturated sediments, and recharge has been estimated to take at least 50 years. Over extraction has led to substantial declines in the water table in many places, complete exhaustion of extractable groundwater in others, and debate and legislation about the aquifer's future, according to a report by Environmental Defense, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group formerly known as the Environmental Defense Fund. The report, "Potential Impact of Biofuels Expansion on Natural Resources; a case study of the Ogallala aquifer region," was released in September. Large portions of the aquifer show declines in the water table of more than 100 feet. Some reports have found that the water level is dropping by 3 to 5 feet a year in some areas. Estimates for its lifespan range from 60 to 250 years, depending on the area...
Years of drought have made aquifer resources even more important in the Plains states. Now that ethanol has moved into all corners of the aquifer people are starting to express concern over the industry's impact. Ethanol brings an increased demand for corn, which must be irrigated, and production of the fuel also requires significant amounts of water. Like many industrial processes, water is vital to ethanol production. The majority is used in the cooling process; the amount used can be influenced by the quality of the water, Yancey says. The production process uses between 3 to 5 gallons of water for every gallon of ethanol produced. In the past few years, the lack of water has stopped the development of some plants. Proposed plants from Florida to northern Minnesota to California have faced opposition from those concerned about the facilities' water use. "Regulatory agencies and the public are more aware of the volume of water required," Hume says. "Opposition at public meetings has certainly increased in the past few years compared with when the industry first took off -- you might have a few residents who would be concerned about the impact a plant could have on their water supply. In general, the industry has become more aware of possible oppostion and the importance of water for plant operations." Some of the awareness likely comes from media coverage of recent reports about ethanol's water requirements...
The Ogallala aquifer is certainly stressed. "This aquifer is currently being pumped at a rate of more than 1.5 billion gallons per day for agriculture, municipalities, industry and private citizens," the report [National Research Council titled "Water implications of biofuels production in the United States"] reads. "Thus, 15 million gallons per day for bioethanol would represent only 1 percent of total withdrawls. But it is an incremental withdrawal from an already unsustainable resource. Current water withdrawals are much greater than the aquifer's recharge rate (about 0.02 to 0.05 foot per year in south-central Nebraska...), resulting in up to a 190-foot decline in the water table over the past 50 years. It is equivalent to 'mining' the water resource, and the loss of the resource is essentially irreversible."[...]
Read the whole article, there is a lot of detail there. More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.
"2008 pres"
6:27:46 AM
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Here's a look at generating electricity from ocean wave motion from The Los Angeles Times "reg". From the article:
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. went surfing Tuesday, becoming the first U.S. utility to commit to buying electricity generated by the tumult of the sea. The San Francisco-based company, which this year proposed a test facility for producing power from ocean waves, said the electricity in its new contract would come from a wave project planned by Canada's Finavera Renewables Inc. for the waters off the coast of Northern California's Humboldt County.
The PG&E Corp. subsidiary said power from the 15-year deal would be delivered beginning in 2010 and would provide a relatively meager boost to the grid: just 2 megawatts, or enough to power about 1,500 homes. But the company said the power deal was a significant milestone for a promising technology that could be a major source of renewable energy for the state. "Given the potential for wave power off the coast of California, it's definitely something that's exciting for us," said Uday Mathur of PG&E's energy procurement department. "This shows the marketplace that there is a demand for it."
Finavera, based in Vancouver, is one of many companies chasing technologies designed to harness the force of the ocean to produce power. Some hope to tap the sea's below-surface tidal forces, some target the power of breaking waves, and Finavera and others have focused on surface waves offshore...
Finavera's "wave park" would include eight bobbing buoys set up about 2 1/2 miles offshore from Eureka, Calif. The up-and-down motion of the Pacific Ocean would power a pump that creates electricity, which would be delivered to a PG&E substation via an underwater transmission cable. PG&E and Finavera wouldn't disclose the cost of the project or the power, but both acknowledged that the electricity would be pricier than more established alternatives. The power contract must win approval from the California Public Utilities Commission; the wave project must pass muster with a host of federal and state agencies. In Humboldt County, 100 miles south of the Oregon border, residents welcomed the notion of adding new alternative energy sources, but they were concerned about the effect on the region's fishing industry and surfing culture. Some groups also worry that whales and other sea life could be harmed by the equipment. "If we can make sure it's done in the most environmentally friendly way, then I'm all for it," said Pete Nichols, an activist who hosts two environmental shows on local radio stations.
Bill Lydgate, an avid surfer, was worried that the facility would alter conditions at the region's best surfing spots. The locations "become very important in our small minds, and anything that would take away from their majesty is a threat," he said. Lydgate also said locals were concerned because the technology was so new. "I'd hate for them to experiment in our backyard. I'd like to see proven technologies come in rather than have unknown impacts from an experimental technology," he said.
Thanks to The Water Information Program for the link.
"2008 pres"
6:02:37 AM
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Political Wire: "A new SurveyUSA poll in South Carolina shows Sen. Hillary Clinton edging Sen. Barack Obama, 41% to 39%, with John Edwards at 17%...Meanwhile, a new CBS News poll finds Obama edging Clinton, 35% to 34%, with Edwards at 13%."
Political Wire:
Now all three leading Democratic presidential campaigns have an Iowa poll to publicize.
A new Rasmussen Reports poll in Iowa shows Sen. Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic presidential race with 31%, trailed by Sen. Barack Obama at 27%, and John Edwards at 22%.
Yesterday, an Insider Advantage poll had Edwards leading the pack, while a ABC News/Washington Post poll had Obama leading.
ABC News highlights the difficulties polling in Iowa: "Applying tighter turnout scenarios can produce anything from a 10-point Obama lead to a 6-point Clinton edge -- evidence of the still-unsettled nature of this contest, two weeks before Iowans gather and caucus. And not only do 33 percent say there's a chance they yet may change their minds, nearly one in five say there's a 'good chance' they'll do so."
Political Wire: "The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll in Iowa finds Mike Huckabee leading the Republican presidential race with 35%, followed by Mitt Romney at 27%, Fred Thompson at 9%, Rudy Giuliani at 8%, Rep. Ron Paul at 8%, and Sen. John McCain at 6%. A new Rasmussen Reports poll also shows Huckabee edging Romney in Iowa, 28% to 27%. But it shows McCain third place at 14%, followed by Giuliani and Thompson both at 8%, and Paul at 6%."
Political Wire: "The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll from Iowa contradicts the poll [Tuesday] night that showed John Edwards regaining his lead in Iowa. It may also show the tremendous difficulty in trying to poll in advance of a caucus since it is hard to determine who is likely to participate. This poll shows Sen. Barack Obama leading the Democratic field with 33%, followed by Sen. Hillary Clinton at 29%, Edwards at 20% and Gov. Bill Richardson at 8%."
"2008 pres"
5:42:12 AM
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Juan Cole: "The Turkish ambassador to the United States, Nabi Sensoy, said Wednesday that the US military provided real time intelligence to Turkey and was 'very helpful' in allowing Turkey to launch attacks on alleged Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) sites inside Iraq. He denied that the Turks had given the US military too little notice of its planned Sunday air raids, saying that the two militaries were in close contact. (Obviously, there is no point in the US providing 'real time' intelligence unless Turkey strikes immediately, so Sensoy's point seems well taken). The Nuri al-Maliki government in Baghdad condemned the Turkish military's incursion into northern Iraq on Tuesday, after the air strikes, as having 'added insult to injury.'"
"2008 pres"
5:40:09 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/15/09; 1:53:11 PM.
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