Colorado Water
Dazed and confused coverage of water issues in Colorado





























































































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Monday, April 30, 2007
 

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Congratulations to weather watcher Nolan Doesken for winning the 2007 Environmental Hero award by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for founding the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. Here's an article about Mr. Doesken and the award from the Longmont Daily Times-Call. They write, "On April 20 in Washington, D.C., Doesken, 55, was presented with the 2007 Environmental Hero award by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for founding the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. 'It feels really weird,' Doesken, Colorado's state climatologist, said Wednesday. 'I don't feel like an environmental hero. I'm just trying to be helpful.' He places the laurels upon the thousands of volunteers in his network. 'Weather and climate are like the science of the people,' he said. 'All of our lives and livelihoods are affected by the weather.'[...]

"On July 28, 1997, a series of storms dropped up to a foot of rain west of Fort Collins. The Spring Creek flood killed five people and caused millions of dollars in damage. It took meteorologists weeks to piece together exactly how much rain fell. One of Doesken's first calls was to Andy Pineda. He knew Pineda had a rain gauge in the yard of his north Fort Collins home. Pineda said Doesken was surprised at the lack of rain gauges in the area. 'As much as we value water here, we don't have much of a rain-gauge network,' Pineda recalls Doesken saying. He decided to do something about it. Nearly a year after the flood, Doesken founded CoCoRaHS, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. The system established a network of spotters whose reports can provide early warning about severe weather. If the National Weather Service had received such reports as the Spring Creek flood was building, lives could have been saved downstream, he said. Today, the network includes 18 states and the District of Columbia and more than 2,000 volunteers who report regularly. Doesken said the program signed up its 8,000th volunteer last month...

Mr. Doesken's name shows up often in the Coyote Gulch archives.

Category: Colorado Water


6:19:05 AM    

Here's a look at ethanol production as an alternative to petroleum fuels from the Greeley Tribune (free registration required). From the article, "These days some environmentalists are crying foul about a fuel that is polluting the air and ocean and driving up the price of food. No, it's not petroleum critics are complaining about. It's corn ethanol. Corn ethanol has been championed by politicians as a 'win, win, win' solution for America's energy demands. It has been heralded as a solution to national security because corn is a domestic product as opposed to the oil that the U.S. consumes, most of which is imported. Its use as a fuel boosts profits for America's farmers and rural communities. And compared with oil, corn ethanol emits about 13 to 20 percent less carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that most scientists believe is responsible for climate change. But corn ethanol has taken a beating recently.

"Ethanol refineries also are being criticized for environmental pollution. Many environmentalists have found the higher demand for corn by ethanol refineries has pushed farmers to use pesticides and fertilizer that run off into water sources, poisoning water sources and creating a 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico. The refineries themselves are emitting excessive levels of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon emissions and volatile organic compounds which can cause cancer. Archer Daniels Midland, a leading ethanol producer, already has been cited for multiple violations of the Clean Air Act. The costs of corn ethanol production have taken the sweet crunch from America's newest energy source for many environmental and energy security advocates. Even some of its strongest supporters, like the Natural Resources Defense Council, are worried about the effects of corn ethanol production...

"High gasoline prices, a 51-cent per gallon subsidy and a demand from oil refineries that needed it to blend with gasoline in order to comply with pollution laws has made corn ethanol quite profitable. Last year, federal and state subsidies equaled nearly $6 billion, according to a study by Jerry Taylor and PeterVan Doren published in the Milken Institute Review. However, corn ethanol is the only politically and commercially viable biofuel available for at least the next three years. This is the optimistic timetable researchers at the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab have set for cellulosic fuel to be price-competitive. Others believe that it may take five years - or much, much longer, skeptics say -- for cellulosic ethanol or other alternative fuels to be commercially produced. So, despite the recent concerns raised by environmentalists, the corn ethanol industry continues to grow -- at least 73 more refineries are expected to come online this year, according to the Renewable Fuels Association-- but perhaps not in environmental sustainability."

Category: 2008 Presidential Election


5:59:08 AM    


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