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Thursday, January 17, 2008
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Captain's Quarters: "Fewer women choose abortions, and those that do increasingly use morning-after medication to accomplish it, according to a new study from a pro-abortion group. The rate of all abortions continues to drop, and has now reached its lowest level since 1990."
"2008 pres"
6:46:01 PM 
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Andrew Sullivan: "Huckabee promises to round up and deport all 12 million illegal immigrants. The lack of concentration camps and 'enhanced interrogation' seems to alarm Michelle Malkin, who accuses him of being an 'open borders drag queen.'"
"2008 pres"
6:42:37 PM
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Political Wire: "A new McClatchy-MSNBC poll in South Carolina finds Sen. John McCain and Mike Huckabee are 'neck and neck heading into Saturday's Republican primary.' McCain leads with 25%, followed by Huckabee at 23%, Mitt Romney at 15% and Fred Thompson at 13%...In the Democratic race next week, the poll finds Sen. Barack Obama leading with 40%, followed by Sen. Hillary Clinton at 31% and John Edwards at 13%."
Political Wire: "Jon Ralston says a Las Vegas Review-Journal poll to be published on Friday shows Mitt Romney leading the by Republican presidential race in Nevada by 15 points and Sen. Hillary Clinton ahead in the Democratic race by 9 points."
Andrew Sullivan: "Yeah, according to Huckabee, my marriage to my husband is a gateway to legalized and protected relationships between humans and animals...And then we're somehow going to round up and deport all 12 million illegal immigrants without a new form of police state. Meanwhile, he doesn't just have loose associations with far-right extremists, he has them hold fundraisers for him. In this campaign. Christian reconstructionists are genuinely Taliban-Christianists. And Huckabee has no problem with them. I think of Huckabee as almost a comic vindication for those of us who have worried about the rise and rise of unopposed Christianism in the GOP. Except he's not a joke. He could actually win this thing."
Political Wire: "A new American Research Group poll in South Carolina finds Sen. John McCain leading the Republican presidential race with 33%, followed by Mike Huckabee at 23%, Mitt Romney at 20%, and Fred Thompson at 13%...On the Democratic side, Sen. Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton 44% to 38%, with 9% for John Edwards."
Political Wire: "An InsiderAdvantage survey in South Carolina finds Sen. Barack Obama leading the Democratic presidential race with 41%, followed by Sen. Hillary Clinton at 31% and John Edwards at 13%."
Political Wire: "The latest Public Policy Polling survey in South Carolina finds Sen. John McCain leading with 28%, followed by Mike Huckabee at 20%, Mitt Romney at 18% and Fred Thompson at 17%."
Political Wire: "A new Clemson University poll in South Carolina shows Sen. John McCain leading the Republican presidential race with 29%, followed by Mike Huckabee at 22%, Mitt Romney at 13% and Fred Thompson at 10%."
Political Wire: "The latest Reuters/C-Span/Zogby tracking poll in South Carolina shows Sen. John McCain maintaining his lead before Saturday's primary with 29%, followed by Mike Huckabee at 22%, Fred Thompson at 14% and Mitt Romney at 12%."
"2008 pres"
6:31:50 PM
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Here's the lowdown on the program to simulate high stream flows in the Grand Canyon from the USGS. From the article:
An experiment using high flows from Glen Canyon Dam to study and improve Colorado River resources in Grand Canyon National Park has been proposed by the Department of the Interior. The goal of the experiment is to better understand whether higher flows can be used to rebuild eroded beaches downstream of Glen Canyon Dam by moving sand accumulated in the riverbed onto sandbars. Grand Canyon sandbars provide habitat for wildlife, serve as camping beaches for recreationists, and supply sand needed to protect archaeological sites. High flows also create areas of low-velocity flow, or backwaters, used by young native fishes, particularly endangered humpback chub. The 2008 test would be different than previous high-flow tests conducted in 1996 and 2004. In particular, scientists have concluded that more sand is needed to rebuild sandbars throughout the 277-mile reach of Grand Canyon National Park than was available in 1996 or 2004. Currently, sand supplies in the river are at a 10-year high with a volume about three times greater than the volume available in 2004 due to tributary inflows below the dam over the past 16 months...
The proposed experiment is dependent on the completion of environmental review processes required by the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is in the process of preparing an environmental assessment of the proposed test. The environmental assessment is expected to be available for public review in early February 2008. This assessment evaluates the impact of the proposed test on a wide range of environmental and socioeconomic resources. A decision by the Department of the Interior is anticipated in late February 2008, with plans to conduct the high flow in early March 2008, if the decision is to move forward with the experiment. Reclamation logo The high-flow experiment and associated research activities, should they occur, will be undertaken cooperatively by scientists and resource managers from Interior's U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Reclamation, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...
One of the proposed studies will document habitat changes and determine how backwater habitats are used by young humpback chub and other native and nonnative fishes. Other studies will look at how higher flows affect the aquatic food base, rainbow trout recruitment and emigration, riparian vegetation, nonnative fishes and archaeological resources in close proximity to the Colorado River. During the proposed high-flow experiment, Reclamation will release water from both the powerplant and the bypass tubes to a maximum amount of approximately 41,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) for about 60 hours. If approved, current plans would call for the flows to begin increasing on March 4, 2008 with powerplant bypass flows to begin on March 5, 2008. If a decision is made to move ahead with the experiment, a final release schedule will then be announced. Since 1996, releases from Glen Canyon Dam have generally ranged between 8,000 and 20,000 cfs. The increase to 41,000 cfs will change river conditions as well as the availability of campsites. It is suggested that all river users be prepared for variable conditions, including higher river flows...
"The water released during the test will not change the amount of water to be released over the course of the 2008 water year," said Larry Walkoviak, Regional Director of Reclamation's Upper Colorado Region. "The current plan of operations calls for releasing 8.23 million acre-feet of water from Glen Canyon Dam. That water flows downriver to Lake Mead for use by the Lower Colorado River Basin States and Mexico. The experimental flows are included within this annual volume. Monthly releases later in the year will be adjusted downward to account for the water released during the experiment." The USGS's Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center is responsible for monitoring and research activities in support of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program, a Federal initiative designed to assist the Secretary of the Interior in protecting the resources downstream of Glen Canyon Dam. The program includes a wide range of stakeholders, including American Indian tribes, Colorado River Basin States, environmental and recreation groups, power customers and State and Federal cooperating agencies. The program, which helped guide the development of science activities for the experiment, is administered by Reclamation under the guidance of the Secretary of the Interior. Grand Canyon rafters, fisherman and other river users and hikers can call Grand Canyon National Park's River Permits Office at 1-800-959-9164 for additional information on how the high-flow event may affect their visit. Additional information is available at www.gcmrc.gov/research/high_flow/2008/.
"colorado water"
6:22:52 PM
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Colorado Confidential helps voters wade through the party caucus system here in Colorado. Click through for the details. During the 80s Coyote Gulch held several caucuses at our home. Attendance was such that sometimes we didn't finish untill 5-10 minutes after they started. We believe that they'll be better attended this year. If you are registered unaffiliated or were not registered by December 5th you're pretty much out of luck.
Here are the links for Republicans and Democrats.
"2008 pres"
6:11:02 PM
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On Wednesday a bi-partisan legislative delegation introduced bills designed to protect aquifers in general and the Denver Basin Aquifer System in particular from Powertech's proposed uranium mine in Weld County, according to Loveland Reporter-Herald. From the article:
Local lawmakers have listened to those concerns and, Wednesday, a panel of Democrats and Republicans from Northern Colorado introduced two bills to the Colorado General Assembly in hopes of safeguarding Colorado's water from uranium mining. Sen. Bob Bacon described the proposal as avoiding the irreversible and devastating "whoops." "Water is the lifeblood of our state," said John Kefalas, a state representative from Fort Collins. "It's a resource we must protect. The old laws are not adequate to protect from a toxic and radioactive threat looming over our water and mountains."
The proposed legislation announced at the state Capitol does four main things:
- Puts control of mining into the hands of local governments and not just federal officials.
- Requires companies that apply for a permit to mine uranium through in situ leaching to prove through data from an outside source that it can be done safely. The company must give examples of five other mines that kept water safe during mining and returned it to the same quality after mining.
- Allows the state Mined Land Reclamation Board to reject applications if members believe mining conflicts with domestic use. That provision, [Robin] Davis said, applies to her and her neighbors because they still need the water during the mining process -- a time she and Carroll say it is not safe to drink.
- Removes secrecy from the prospective stage of mining. Residents could learn when and where companies are testing for future mines -- information that is not public in Colorado.
Powertech Uranium Corp., the company that wants to mine uranium 10 miles northeast of Fort Collins, will have no problems meeting, and in many cases already is meeting, the proposed rules, said Haley McKean, who is with the company's public relations firm. Powertech's mining process, company officials say, is clean, and the water will be returned in as good condition as it was before the mining started...
The processed water has higher levels of heavy metals, which can be dangerous for those who drink it and deadly for animals who eat grass irrigated with it, [Dr. Cory] Carroll said. The dangers could pass to people through dairy and beef, he said. "We're worried about the slow and the minor and the little changes that can occur and migrate," Carroll said on behalf of the Colorado Medical Society, which opposes the mine in rural Weld County. "We may not know (the consequences). We don't want to play with it."
More coverage from The Fort Collins Coloradoan. They write:
The new legislation would require uranium miners to prove they could return groundwater to pre-mining conditions. It would also lift the confidentiality clause of existing state law that doesn't require companies to disclose mine prospecting during exploratory phases. Water testing under the new law would be completed by a third-party contractor approved by the state - a shift from current state law, which requires the mining company itself to complete the testing.
Responding to the criticism lobbed at the Canadian-based Powertech throughout the news conference, spokesman Pete Webb said, "Powertech Uranium is reserving comment on the proposed legislation until it is able to analyze the impact it might have on Powertech's proposed project, as well as how any change in the law may affect mining production overall in Colorado." Webb said the last time Colorado amended mining legislation in 1993, lawmakers sought input from the mining industry to study the environmental and economic impacts. He was disappointed the industry wasn't consulted about the legislation introduced Wednesday. Fort Collins Democratic Reps. Randy Fischer and John Kefalas, as well as Sens. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, and Steve Johnson, R-Larimer County, are sponsoring the proposed legislation, calling it one of the most important issues facing Fort Collins and Northern Colorado.
"We're on the verge of another mining boom," Fischer said. "As a result, (lawmakers) have a responsibility to take action to protect public health, private property and our scarce groundwater supplies that are (seeing) new risks posed by modern mining technologies. We are obligated to enact new 21st-century laws to meet the risks posed by 21st-century mining." Johnson said the legislation does not aim to take away the right of companies to mine their mineral rights in Colorado but does try to safeguard the process. "We're saying that mineral rights are a property right and you have a right to exercise that right, but just as all of us do with our property rights, we think you have to exercise that right responsibly," Johnson said. "And that means that you leave the environment in as good as shape when you're done with it as it was when you started. It's that simple." [ed. understatement of the year so far.  ] The legislation has yet to be assigned to a House or Senate committee.
Here's an opinion piece from The Fort Collins Coloradoan. From the article:
This needs to be told again. Powertech was a boiler and water heater company a couple years ago. They have never done in-situ leach uranium mining. So inept are they that a local, prominent and accomplished well company was hired by Powertech to case their exploratory wells they have recently dug. The well company talked Powertech into this to keep them from contaminating the aquifer from the exploration alone! This same well company has drilled hundreds of wells in this area (including mine) and tells of how dynamic the aquifer is. I live one mile from ground zero and my recharge is 40 gallons per minute. Most of my neighbors have a similar recharge. There are a number of artesian springs in the area. For Powertech to claim the project will be totally contained is an out and out lie! Get the facts. There are a number of other in-situ uranium mining projects around the country that are being exposed as to the contamination they have caused. Is this a good thing for the beautiful Northern Colorado? Is this right for you?
More coverage from The Denver Post. They write:
Northern Colorado lawmakers from both parties joined forces Wednesday to back bills that would impose strict water-quality regulations on uranium-mining companies. One bill would essentially require mining companies, before they started drilling, to prove they could leave the groundwater they would use in the operation as clean as they found it. Another would affirm local governments' power to regulate water-quality and health standards. "This is not an effort to stop uranium mining in Colorado," said Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, a bill sponsor. "It's an effort to put protections in place before it gets started." Mining advocates said current regulations work well and that they were not consulted on the bills...
Stuart Sanderson, president of the Colorado Mining Association, said the bills may "Balkanize" the regulation of mining in Colorado by giving local governments more control over the approval process and could affect a wide variety of mining industries.
"We believe that the air- and water-quality provisions in existing law adequately account for any potential impacts on groundwater," he said...
Jeff Parsons, an attorney with the Western Mining Action Project, said the process stirs up toxic metals and can leave water contaminated. "The threats are real that you have a continued contamination of the aquifer," Parsons said...The mining company, Powertech Inc., said in a news release that an in-situ operation in Weld County would be safe. Sanderson said in-situ mining will not affect drinking water. "You can't do in-situ mining in areas that meet drinking-water standards," he said.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.
"2008 pres"
6:54:33 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/15/09; 2:01:04 PM.
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