- 
 Stephen
Johnson
 Mary
E Peters
 Julie
MacDonald
 Earth_Day
~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
  
 
 
"Rewriting
The Science." ... [NASA climate scientist Dr.James
E. Hansen] "... tells correspondent Scott Pelley that the
Bush administration is restricting who he can talk to and editing what
he can say. Politicians, he says, are rewriting the science." ... "Hansen
says his research shows that man has just 10 years to reduce greenhouse
gases before global warming reaches what he calls a tipping point and becomes
unstoppable. He says the White House is blocking that message.""
-60
Minutes -CBSNews
 
"Judge
Blasts EPA Ground Zero Appraisal." ... ""No reasonable
person would have thought that telling thousands of people that it was
safe to return to lower Manhattan, while knowing that such return could
pose long-term health risks and other dire consequences, was conduct sanctioned
by our laws," U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts wrote, calling Whitman's
actions "conscience- shocking."" -AP
via -CBSNews
|
|
ENVIRONMENT News:
20080509
-
 John
McCain -  Money
- Politics
- 2008
Election - Environment
-  History
-  Arizona
-  Nevada
- Federal
-  Real
Estate -  Land
- "McCain
Pushed Land Swap That Benefits Backer." ... "[2008
Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John
McCain championed legislation that will let an Arizona rancher trade remote
grassland and ponderosa pine forest here for acres of valuable federally
owned property that is ready for development, a land swap that now stands
to directly benefit one of his top presidential campaign fundraisers]."
... "Initially reluctant to support the swap, the Arizona Republican became
a key figure in pushing the deal through Congress after the rancher and
his partners hired lobbyists that included McCain's 1992 Senate campaign
manager, two of his former Senate staff members (one of whom has returned
as his chief of staff), and an Arizona insider who was a major McCain donor
and is now bundling campaign checks." ... "When McCain's legislation passed
in November 2005, the ranch owner gave the job of building as many as 12,000
homes to SunCor Development, a firm in Tempe, Ariz. [Arizona], run by Steven
A. Betts, a longtime McCain supporter who has raised more than $100,000
for the presumptive Republican nominee. Betts said he and McCain never
discussed the deal." ... "The Audubon Society described the exchange as
the largest in Arizona history. The swap involved more than 55,000 acres
of land in all, including rare expanses of desert woodland and pronghorn
antelope habitat. The deal had support from many local officials and the
Arizona Republic newspaper for its expansion of the Prescott National Forest.
But it brought an outcry from some Arizona environmentalists when it was
proposed in 2002, partly because it went through Congress rather than a
process that allowed more citizen input." ... "Although the bill called
for the two parcels to be of equal value, a federal forestry official told
a congressional committee that he was concerned that "the public would
not receive fair value" for its land. A formal appraisal has not yet begun.
A town official opposed to the swap said other Yavapai Ranch land sold
nine years ago for about $2,000 per acre, while some of the prime commercial
land near a parcel that the developers will get has brought as much as
$120,000 per acre." ... "In an interview, Betts said there is "absolutely
no" connection between his contributions to McCain's presidential bids
and the deal involving rancher Fred Ruskin and the Yavapai Ranch Limited
Partnership." ... "Betts is among a string of donors who have benefited
from McCain-engineered land swaps. In 1994, the senator helped a lobbyist
for land developer Del Webb Corp. pursue an exchange in the Las Vegas [Nevada]
area, according to the Center for Public Integrity. McCain sponsored two
bills, in 1991 and 1994, sought by donor Donald R. Diamond that yielded
the developer thousands of acres in trade for national parkland." ... "In
the late 1990s, McCain promoted a deal in Arizona's Tonto National Forest
involving property part-owned by Great American Life Insurance, a company
run by billionaire Carl H. Lindner Jr., a prolific contributor to national
political parties and presidential candidates." ... "In Arizona, SunCor
is a subsidiary of Pinnacle West, the state's largest power company. Betts,
as Ruskin described him, "politically is a very powerful guy in the state.""
... "Officials from the company and its subsidiaries have accounted for
$100,000 in contributions to McCain's political campaigns over the years,
records show." (1, 2)
-By Matthew Mosk with contributions by Alice Crites
-WashingtonPost
20080508
-
Oil
- Corporations
- Air
- Environment
- Ground
- Water
- Safety
- Health
- Science
- Politics
- "Chevron,
11 Oil Companies to Pay $423 Million in MTBE Lawsuits."
... "Water suppliers in 17 states will collect $423 million from Chevron
Corp. [Corporation], BP Plc [Public limited company] and 10 other oil companies
as part of a settlement of contamination claims involving the gasoline
additive MTBE." ... "The suits claim the oil companies contaminated wells
and underground aquifers across the country by adding methyl tertiary butyl
ether, or MTBE, to gasoline as a way to reduce air pollution. They claim
the oil companies hid information showing MTBE would cause ``massive''
contamination." ... "The settlement was filed yesterday with U.S. District
Judge Shira Scheindlin in New York, who is presiding over the 59 settled
lawsuits brought by 153 municipalities. The six oil companies and refineries
that didn't settle include Exxon Mobil Corp. [Corporation], the world's
biggest publicly traded oil company, according to Robert Gordon, a lawyer
for the plaintiffs." ... "The municipalities ``will use the money to continue
to treat water so that it is safe and pure,'' Gordon said in a phone interview."
... "MTBE reduces air pollution by making gasoline burn more completely
in a car's engine. MTBE discharged into the air contaminates groundwater
through rainfall. The additive has been banned in many states." ... "Estimates
of the cost to treat contaminated water in the U.S. have reached $30 billion."
... "Scheindlin denied a request by the oil companies to dismiss the suits
in 2005." ... "``Innocent water providers -- and ultimately innocent water
users -- should not be denied relief from the contamination of their water
supply if defendants breached a duty to avoid an unreasonable risk of harm
from their products,'' Scheindlin said at the time." ... "The case is In
Re: MTBE, 00-cv-1898, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
(Manhattan). " -By David Glovin
-Bloomberg
20080507
-
Water
-
 Infrastructure
- Human
- Health
-  Safety
-  Enforcement
- Environment
- Underground
- Money
- History
- Weather
-  Animals
-  Plants
- "Aging
systems releasing sewage into rivers, streams." ...
"America's aging sewer systems continue to dump human waste into rivers
and streams, despite years of fines and penalties targeting publicly owned
agencies responsible for sewage overflows, a Gannett News Service analysis
shows." ... "The analysis of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data
found that since 2003, hundreds of municipal sewer authorities have been
fined for violations, including spills that make people sick, threaten
local drinking water and kill aquatic animals and plants." ... "DATABASE:
Sewer
treatment plant reports by state[.]" ... "Local governments across
the USA plan to spend billions modernizing failing wastewater systems —
some of which are more than 100 years old — over the next 10 to 20 years,
EPA, state and local sewer authority officials said." ... "Those improvement
efforts face a huge challenge mitigating problems in what the EPA estimates
to be 1.2 million miles of sewers snaking underground across the USA."
... "Waste gurgles from manholes and gushes down streams and rivers somewhere
in the USA almost every day, the EPA estimates." ... "Gannett News Service
analyzed enforcement and compliance records compiled by the EPA and state
regulators from January 2003 to February 2008." ... "The analysis found
that at least one-third of the nation's large, publicly owned sewage treatment
systems were the subject of formal enforcement actions by the EPA or state
regulators for sewage spills or other violations. Those enforcement actions
included fines as well as orders to fix problems or expand treatment capacity.
Fines totaling $35 million were assessed against 494 of the nation's 4,200
municipal facilities that treat at least 1 million gallons of sewage daily,
the analysis shows." ... "An EPA 2004 report to Congress estimated that
850 billion gallons of storm water mixed with raw sewage pour into U.S.
waters every year from older, combined sewer systems that were designed
to overflow in wet weather. These combined systems, built by cities in
the 19th and early 20th centuries, are now considered antiquated and a
threat to public health and the environment, according to the EPA and environmental
groups." ... "The EPA's 2002 Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure
Gap Analysis reported the nation's municipal sewer authorities' capital
needs to meet clean water requirements from 2000 to 2019 ranged from $331
billion to $450 billion. Based on that data, the National Association of
Clean Water Agencies now puts that range at $350 billion to $500 billion
for the next 20 years, association spokeswoman Susan Bruninga said." -By
Larry Wheeler and Grant Smith with contributions by Robert Benincasa and
Dan Klepal -USATODAY
20080503
-
People
- Health
- Environment
- Trees
-
 Global
- Earth
- Science
- Politics
-  Book
-  North
Carolina - "Caring
for planet increasingly tied to faith groups." ...
"Abraham sits at the oaks. Deborah holds court under a palm tree. Moses
speaks to a bush." ... ""I would say connecting this to the Bible is important
for some people," said Dr. Matthew Sleeth, a former hospital chief of staff
who couldn't shake the faces of patients with seemingly increasing environment-related
illnesses. So he quit his job, gave away half his belongings and began
spreading the word on the urgency of people paying more attention to the
environment." ... "Pointing out the symbolism of trees in Scripture has
helped Sleeth link faith with personal responsibility. His book, "Serve
God and Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action," is in its seventh
printing. Sleeth also has a prominent role in the publication of an upcoming
"green Bible."" ... ""The change has come when people who are strong in
their faith, who might be against it," Sleeth says of the deterioration
of the Earth, "then go look at the Bible with this in mind and they see
a different story."" ... "The statewide faith and environment conference
that Sleeth will co-headline at Catawba College in Salisbury [North Carolina]
this month grew out of a meeting among Greensboro [North Carolina] houses
of worship at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. Participants tried to broaden
the conversation between the scientific and faith-based communities." ...
""When people realize that there is this direct tie between our own faith
and being good stewards of this Earth," said John Wear, founding director
of Catawba's Center for the Environment, "then it gives them a purpose
that didn't exist before."" -By Nancy McLaughlin
-News-Record.com
CenterForTheEnvironment.org
20080502
-
Stephen
Johnson - Corporate
- Government
- Politics
-
 Fetal
- Human
- Health
- Science
- Environmental
- Safety
- Enforcement
- Emergency
- Wildlife
- Soil
- Water
-  Law
- Manufacturing
- History
-  Michigan
-  Illinois
- "EPA's
top Midwest regulator forced out: Mary Gade, based
in Chicago [Illinois], says [Republican President] Bush administration
made her quit over Dow Chemical case." ... "The Bush administration forced
its top environmental regulator in the Midwest to quit Thursday after months
of internal bickering about dioxin contamination downstream from Dow Chemical's
world headquarters in Michigan." ... "In an interview with the [Chicago]
Tribune, Mary Gade said two top officials at the U.S. [United States] Environmental
Protection Agency headquarters in Washington stripped her of her powers
as regional administrator and told her to quit or be fired by June 1."
... "Gade said she had told the agency she would resign her position, based
in Chicago [Illinois]." ... "For the past year, Gade has been locked in
a heated dispute with Dow about long-delayed plans to clean up dioxin-saturated
soil and sediment that extends 50 miles beyond its Midland, Mich. [Michigan],
plant into Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron." ... "Gade, a former corporate attorney
appointed by Bush in September 2006, invoked emergency powers last year
to force Dow to clean up four hot spots of dioxin, including the largest
amount of the cancer-causing chemical ever recorded in the United States."
... "In January, Dow urged officials at the EPA's [Environmental Protection
Agency's] headquarters to intervene after Gade broke off negotiations intended
to renew the terms for a more comprehensive cleanup. Neither side would
reveal details, citing confidentiality agreements, but Gade said Dow resisted
taking steps needed to protect human health and wildlife." ... "Though
regional EPA administrators typically have wide latitude to enforce environmental
laws, Gade drew fire from officials in Washington last month after she
sent contractors to test soil in a Saginaw [Michigan] neighborhood where
Dow had found high dioxin levels." ... "She said top lieutenants to Stephen
Johnson, the national EPA administrator, repeatedly questioned her aggressive
action against Dow, which long ago acknowledged it is responsible for the
dioxin contamination but has resisted federal and state involvement in
cleanup plans." ... "Dow dumped dioxin-contaminated waste into the waterways
for most of the last century. The chemical, which is so toxic that it is
measured in trillionths of a gram, was a manufacturing byproduct of the
Vietnam-era herbicide Agent Orange and other chlorinated herbicides." ...
"Company documents show Dow knew by the mid-1960s that it could make people
sick or even kill them." ... "Citing years of independent studies, the
EPA says dioxin can cause cancer, disrupt the immune system and alter fetal
development." ... ""We have a responsibility to make sure people are living
in a healthy and safe environment," Gade said. "This problem has been out
there for more than 30 years, and it's unconscionable that action hasn't
been taken."" (1, 2)
-By Michael Hawthorne
-ChicagoTribune
20080430
-
Agriculture
- Factory
- Companies
- Poor
- People
- Nutrition
- Health
-
 US
- 
- World
- Biofuel
- Air
- Soil
- Water
- Environment
- Animals
- Plants
- Science
- "Shortages
Threaten Farmers’ Key Tool: Fertilizer." ... "Some
kinds of fertilizer have nearly tripled in price in the last year, keeping
farmers from buying all they need. That is one of many factors contributing
to a rise in food prices that, according to the United Nations’ World Food
Program, threatens to push tens of millions of poor people into malnutrition."
... "Rising demand for food and biofuels prompted farmers everywhere to
plant more crops." ... "Fertilizer companies are confident the shortage
will be solved eventually, noting that they plan to build scores of new
factories. But that will probably create fresh problems in the long run
as the world grows more dependent on fossil fuels to produce chemical fertilizers."
... "The demand for fertilizer has been driven by a confluence of events,
including population growth, shrinking world grain stocks and the appetite
for corn and palm oil to make biofuel. But experts say the biggest factor
has been the growing demand for food, especially meat, in the developing
world." ... "Fertilizer is plant food, a combination of nutrients added
to soil to help plants grow. The three most important are nitrogen, phosphorus
and potassium. The latter two have long been available. But nitrogen in
a form that plants can absorb is scarce, and the lack of it led to low
crop yields for centuries." ... "That limitation ended in the early 20th
century with the invention of a procedure, now primarily fueled by natural
gas, that draws chemically inert nitrogen from the air and converts it
into a usable form." ... "Environmental groups fear increased use, particularly
of nitrogen fertilizer made using fossil fuels. Because plants do not absorb
all the nitrogen, much of it leaches into streams and groundwater. That
runoff has long been recognized as a major pollution problem, and it is
growing." ... "A barometer of the pollution is the rising number of dead
zones where rivers meet the sea. In the Gulf of Mexico, for instance, nitrogen
runoff from fields in the Corn Belt washes downstream and feeds plant life
in the gulf. The algae blooms suck oxygen from the water, killing other
marine life." (1, 2)
-By Keith
Bradsher and Andrew
Martin -NYTimes
20080423
-
Noteworthy
- Government
- EPA
- Opinion
- Science
- Politics
-
 Food
-  Drug
- Oceanic
- Atmospheric
- Climate
- Health
-  California
- Investigation
- "Hundreds
of EPA Scientists Report Political Interference Over Last Five Years:
UCS [Union of Concerned Scientists] calls for strengthened protections
for federal scientists." ... "An investigation of the Environmental Protection
Agency released today found that 889 of nearly 1,600 staff scientists reported
that they experienced political interference in their work over the last
five years. The study, by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), follows
previous UCS investigations of the Food and Drug Administration, Fish and
Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and
climate scientists at seven federal agencies, which also found significant
administration manipulation of federal science." ... ""Our investigation
found an agency in crisis," said Francesca Grifo, director of UCS's Scientific
Integrity Program. "Nearly 900 EPA scientists reported political interference
in their scientific work. That's 900 too many. Distorting science to accommodate
a narrow political agenda threatens our environment, our health, and our
democracy itself."" ... "The UCS report comes amidst a flurry of controversial
activity swirling around the EPA. Congress is currently investigating administration
interference in a new chemical toxicity review process as well as California's
request to regulate tailpipe emissions. And in early May, the House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee is expected to hold a hearing on political
interference in the new EPA ground-level ozone pollution standard." ...
"UCS's investigation revealed political interference is most pronounced
in offices where scientists write regulations and at the National Center
for Environmental Assessment, where scientists conduct risk assessments
that could lead to strengthened regulations." ... ""The investigation shows
researchers are generally continuing to do their work," said Dr. Grifo.
"But their scientific findings are tossed aside when it comes time to write
regulations."" ... "Nearly 100 scientists identified the [Republican President
Bush's] White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the primary
culprit." -UCSUSA.org
-
Government
- Environmental
- Science
- Politics
- Human
- Health
- Law
- Air
- Ground
- Water
- Homes
-
 Workplace
- Industry
- US
- Global
- Climate
- Free
Speech - Censorship
- "Interference
at the EPA: Science and Politics at the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency." ... "The U.S. [United States] Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has the simple yet profound charge "to protect human health
and the environment." EPA scientists apply their expertise to protect
the public from air and water pollution, clean up hazardous waste, and
study emerging threats such as global warming. Because each year brings
new and potentially toxic chemicals into our homes and workplaces, because
air pollution still threatens our public health, and because environmental
challenges are becoming more complex and global, a strong and capable EPA
is more important than ever." ... "Yet challenges from industry lobbyists
and some political leaders to the agency's decisions have too often led
to the suppression and distortion of the scientific findings underlying
those decisions—to the detriment of both science and the health of our
nation. While every regulatory agency must balance scientific findings
with other considerations, policy makers need access to the highest-quality
scientific information to make fully informed decisions." ... "Concern
over this problem led the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) to investigate
political interference in science at the EPA. The investigation combines
dozens of interviews with current and former EPA staff, analysis of government
documents, more than 1,600 responses to a survey sent to current EPA scientists,
and written comments from EPA scientists." ... "The results of these investigations
show an agency under siege from political pressures. On numerous issues—ranging
from mercury pollution to groundwater contamination to climate change—political
appointees have edited scientific documents, manipulated scientific assessments,
and generally sought to undermine the science behind dozens of EPA regulations."
... "These findings highlight the need for strong reforms to protect EPA
scientists, make agency decision making more transparent, and reduce politicization
of the regulatory process. Congress, the next president, and the next EPA
Administrator must restore independence and scientific integrity to the
EPA by:"
-
"
* Protecting EPA Scientists: Scientists should be free to report the distortion,
manipulation, and suppression of their work without fear of retribution.
Congress should pass a whistleblower law that includes protection for scientists.
The EPA should adopt a communications policy that lets scientists speak
freely to the press about their findings."
-
"
* Making the EPA More Transparent: Too many decisions are made behind closed
doors with little accountability. The EPA’s scientific findings should
be freely available to the public. The EPA should open up its decision-making
process to congressional and public scrutiny to help reveal misuses of
science[.]"
-
"
* Reforming the Regulatory Process: The White House should not change scientific
findings in order to weaken, delay, or prevent new public protections."
-
"
* Ensuring Robust Scientific Input to EPA's Decision Making: The EPA should
review and strengthen how it uses the scientific expertise of its staff
and external advisory committees to create policies—especially when scientific
input is critical or required by law."
-
"
* Depoliticizing Funding, Monitoring, and Enforcement: Problems with funding,
monitoring and enforcement also need to be addressed by Congress and the
next President to ensure that the EPA is the robust environmental agency
that our country needs."
-UCSUSA.org/scientific_integrity/interference
-
Mary
Peters - Covert
- Language
- Law
- Politics
- Greenhouse
Gases - Clean
Air Act - Environmental
- Transportation
-
 Auto
- Makers
- Fuel
- Economy
- San
Francisco - California
-  Massachusetts
-  US
- Global
- Climate
- "Bush
fuel economy rules swipe at California." ... "When
the [Republican President] Bush administration announced proposed regulations
Tuesday to raise fuel economy standards for cars and trucks to 31.6 miles
per gallon by 2015, even some environmentalists applauded. But then they
read the fine print." ... "Tucked deep into a 417-page "Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking" was language by the Transportation Department stating that
more stringent limits on tailpipe emissions embraced by California and
17 other states are "an obstacle to the accomplishment" of the new federal
standards and are "expressly and impliedly preempted" by federal law."
... "California Attorney General Jerry Brown called it a covert assault
on California's rules. Environmentalists said the language will be used
by automakers in their legal challenges to two recent federal court rulings
that sided with the states." ... "The language showed that beneath the
bipartisan veneer of support for new fuel economy standards - approved
by [the Democratic controlled] Congress and signed by [Republican] President
Bush in December - the conflict is still raging between the White House
and the states over who will set the nation's first limits on greenhouse
gases." ... "Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, who announced the proposed
rules Tuesday, acknowledged that the preemption language was included in
the document." ... "The Supreme Court ruled in the Massachusetts vs. EPA
case last year that the Transportation Department's authority to set fuel
economy standards should not impede other efforts under the Clean Air Act
to reduce greenhouse gases." ... "[California Democratic Representative
and] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D[Democratic]-San Francisco [California],
responded: "The administration is continuing to block climate change progress
by asserting that California doesn't have the right to move forward with
its own global warming regulations. That is completely unjustified."" -By
Zachary Coile -SFGate.com
20080422
-
John
McCain - Money
- Politics
-
 Military
- Real
Estate - Land
- Lawsuit
- California
- Tucson
- Arizona
- Environment
- 2008
Election - "A
Developer, His Deals and His Ties to McCain." ...
"Donald R. Diamond, a wealthy Arizona real estate developer [based in Tucson,
Arizona], was racing to snap up a stretch of virgin California coast freed
by the closing of an Army base a decade ago when he turned to an old friend,
[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Senator John
McCain." ... "When Mr. Diamond wanted to buy land at the base, Fort Ord
[in California], Mr. McCain assigned an aide who set up a meeting at the
Pentagon and later stepped in again to help speed up the sale, according
to people involved and a deposition Mr. Diamond gave for a related lawsuit.
When he appealed to a nearby city for the right to develop other property
at the former base, Mr. Diamond submitted Mr. McCain’s endorsement as “a
close personal friend.”" ... "Writing to officials in the city, Seaside,
Calif. [California], the senator said, “You will find him as honorable
and committed as I have.”" ... "Courting local officials and potential
partners, Mr. Diamond’s team promised that he could “help get through some
of the red tape in dealing with the Department of the Army” because Mr.
Diamond “has been very active with Senator McCain,” a partner said in a
deposition." ... "A longtime political patron, Mr. Diamond is one of the
elite fund-raisers Mr. McCain’s current presidential campaign calls Innovators,
having raised more than $250,000 so far." ... "In California, the McCain
aide’s assistance with the Army helped Mr. Diamond complete a purchase
in 1999 that he soon turned over for a $20 million profit. And Mr. McCain’s
letter of recommendation reinforced Mr. Diamond’s selling point about his
McCain connections as he pursued — and won in 2005 — a potentially much
more lucrative deal to develop a resort hotel and luxury housing." ...
"In Arizona, Mr. McCain has helped Mr. Diamond with matters as small as
forwarding a complaint in a regulatory skirmish over the endangered pygmy
owl, and as large as introducing legislation remapping public lands. In
1991 and 1994, Mr. McCain sponsored two laws sought by Mr. Diamond that
resulted in providing him millions of dollars and thousands of acres in
exchange for adding some of his properties to national parks. The Arizona
senator co-sponsored a third similar bill now before the Senate." ... "Mr.
Diamond and his family have given more than $55,000 to Mr. McCain’s campaigns
(and more than $600,000 to other federal candidates). More significantly,
the developer has collected (or “bundled”) hundreds of thousands of dollars
in contributions from others, and is now serving as a national co-chairman
of the finance committee for Mr. McCain’s current presidential run." ...
"Mr. Diamond is close to most of Arizona’s Congressional delegation and
is candid about his expectations as a fund-raiser. “I want my money back,
for Christ’s sake. Do you know how many cocktail parties I have to go to?”"
... "“Don Diamond has done very well through these land exchanges,” said
Sandy Bahr, director of the Arizona chapter of the Sierra Club. “It is
the public that got shortchanged.” " (1, 2,
3,
4)
-By David
D. Kirkpatrick and Jim
Rutenberg with contributions by Kitty Bennett and Barclay Walsh
-NYTimes
"[MAP
GRAPHIC] Land Swap." ... "Laws in the 1990s, supported
by Senator John McCain, allowed private owners to exchange land near Saguaro
National Park for land elsewhere in Arizona and or for monetary compensation.
Mr. McCain co-sponsored a similar Senate bill in 2007."
-NYTimes
"[DOCUMENT:
John McCain letter supporting campaign contributor Donald R. Diamond.]"
... "A letter from Senator John McCain may have helped Donald R. Diamond,
a longtime friend, gain the rights to develop property at a former Army
base. Mr. Diamond has raised more than $250,000 so far for Mr. McCain’s
presidential campaign." -NYTimes
-
Smog
- Science
-
 Elderly
- Children
- Environmental
- Safety
- Government
- Politics
- Fuel
- Industry
- Clean
Air - Law
- "Scientists:
Smog contributes to premature death." ... "Short-term
exposure to smog, or ozone, is clearly linked to premature deaths that
should be taken into account when measuring the health benefits of reducing
air pollution, a National Academy of Sciences review concludes." ... "The
findings contradict arguments made by some [Republican President Bush]
White House officials that the connection between smog and premature death
has not been shown sufficiently and that the number of saved lives should
not be calculated in determining clean air benefits." ... "The report released
Tuesday by a panel of the Academy's National Research Council says government
agencies "should give little or no weight" to such arguments." ... ""The
committee has concluded from its review of health-based evidence that short-term
exposure to ambient ozone is likely to contribute to premature deaths,"
the 13-member panel said." ... "It added that "studies have yielded strong
evidence that short-term exposure to ozone can exacerbate lung conditions,
causing illness and hospitalization and can potentially lead to death.""
... "Ground-level ozone is formed from nitrogen oxide and organic compounds
created by burning fossil fuels and is demonstrated often by the yellow
haze or smog that lingers in the air. Ozone exposure is a leading cause
of respiratory illnesses and especially affects the elderly, those with
respiratory problems and children." -AP
via -CNN
20080416
-
 Barack
Obama -  Music
-  Entertainer
- Politics
- Military
- Economic
- Racial
- Justice
- Environment
- Illinois
- 2008
Election - "Dear
Friends and Fans [Bruce Springsteen endorses Barack Obama for President]:"
... "LIke most of you, I've been following the campaign and I have now
seen and heard enough to know where I stand. [2008 Election Democratic
Presidential Candidate and Illinois] Senator Obama, in my view, is head
and shoulders above the rest." ... "He has the depth, the reflectiveness,
and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've
envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a
citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's
interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered
spirit. A place where "...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone.""
... "At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through
the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships. While these
matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the
context and fabric of the man's life and vision, so well described in his
excellent book, Dreams From My Father, often in order to distract us from
discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial
justice, reaffirming our Constitution, and the protection and enhancement
of our environment." ... "After the terrible damage done over the past
eight years, a great American reclamation project needs to be undertaken.
I believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to lead that project
and to lead us into the 21st Century with a renewed sense of moral purpose
and of ourselves as Americans." ... "Over here on E Street, we're proud
to support Obama for President." -By Bruce
Springsteen
20080409
-
Water
- Transportation
- Construction
- Technology
- History
- Environmental
- Health
- Politics
- Government
- New
York
- "US
Water Pipelines Are Breaking." ... "The infrastructure
that delivers water to the nation's cities is badly aging and in need of
repairs." ... "The Environmental Protection Agency says utilities will
need to invest more than $277 billion over the next two decades on repairs
and improvements to drinking water systems. Water industry engineers put
the figure drastically higher, at about $480 billion." ... "Water utilities,
largely managed by city governments, have never faced improvements of this
magnitude before. And customers will have to bear the majority of the cost
through rate increases, according to the American Water Works Association,
an industry group." ... "Engineers say this is a crucial era for the nation's
water systems, especially in older cities like New York [City, New York],
where some pipes and tunnels were built in the 1800s and are now nearing
the end of their life expectancies." ... ""Our generation hasn't experienced
anything like this. We weren't around when the infrastructure was being
built," said Greg Kail, spokesman for the water industry group. "We didn't
pay for the pipes to be put in the ground, but we sure benefited from the
improvements to public health that came from it."" ... "Cities have a hard
time convincing residents that they should spend money on something they
never see, buried hundreds of feet underground. And often, public officials
pawn the responsibility off on the next person elected, Kail said." -By
Colleen Long -AP
via
-SeattleTimes
20080403
-
Global
- Climate
- Atmosphere
- Science
- Antarctic
- Ice
- History
- UN
- San
Diego - California
-
 Iowa
- US
- "Dust
plays huge role in climate change: Tiny particles
heat up the atmosphere faster than scientist once believed. The good news
is this dust can be cleaned up fairly quickly." ... "Scientists know that
dust affects climate. Tiny particles create veils that reflect sunlight
and cool the atmosphere. Dark particles absorb sunshine and warm things
up. But as scientists look deeper into the dust-climate connection, they
find that they have underestimated its importance." ... "Research published
April 3 in Nature reveals the tight linkage between atmospheric dust flows
and Antarctic temperatures during ice ages over the past 800,000 years.
A research review published March 23 in Nature Geoscience online shows
that black carbon particles in the atmosphere have a more powerful global-warming
effect than any of the greenhouse gases except carbon dioxide. And these
particles are 60 percent as effective as CO2 itself. That's far more powerful
than the estimate in last year's report of the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)." ... "The good news is that black carbon
particles such as diesel soot or wood-stove smoke only stay airborne for
weeks. (It takes a century to get rid of today's CO2 emissions.) This fact
offers an opportunity for instant payback, say study authors V. Ramanathan
at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego [California] and Gregory
Carmichael at the University of Iowa in Iowa City [Iowa]. In an announcement
from Scripps, the authors note that commercially available technologies
exist to cut back soot emissions substantially. Using them would rapidly
reduce black-carbon warming. " -By Robert C. Cowen
-CSMonitor
20080331
-
Oil
- Politics
- Government
- US
- Calif
- Global
- Climate
- Environmental
- Emissions
- Memorial
Day - Driving
- "Gas
prices put oil executives on the hot seat." ... "Oil
executives return to the hot seat Tuesday as a House panel examines rising
gasoline prices and the industry’s opposition to efforts to repeal $18
billion in tax breaks. The new money would be used to pay for the development
of renewable energy." ... "For the industry’s critics, the House Select
Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming hearing Tuesday is
another indication of the industry’s waning clout on Capitol Hill, as was
the House vote earlier this year that repealed tax breaks the industry
now receives." ... "But the army of lobbyists who represent the oil and
gas industry has so far successfully fought back in the Senate, which has
yet to pass a similar tax bill, forcing renewable energy advocates to lower
their own expectations." ... "Executives from ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Chevron
and ConocoPhillips were expected to testify before the House panel, which
was created by [California Democratic Representative] Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.[Democratic-California]) to highlight her caucus’s efforts to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the nation’s dependence on foreign
oil." ... "Some oil lobbyists worried the hearing could turn raucous since
prices at the pump have reached a new record — weeks before the traditional
start of driving season on Memorial Day." ... "By coincidence or not, the
hearing is being held the same day as “Fossil Fools’ Day,” a campaign by
some environmental groups. They question the wisdom of continuing to use
fossil fuels, which emit carbon dioxide when burned, as the mainstay for
energy production when global temperatures are rising because of increasing
greenhouse gas emissions." -By Jim Snyder
-TheHill.com
20080326
-
Antarctic
- Ice
- History
- Global
- Climate
- Science
-
 Space
- Cameras
- "Chunk
of Antarctic ice shelf collapses, putting larger area at risk:
Rapid melting on Wilkins Shelf is attributed to global warming." ... "A
chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan [island
borough of New York City, New York] has collapsed, scientists said Tuesday,
putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk." ... "Satellite
images show the runaway disintegration of a 160-square-mile chunk in western
Antarctica that started Feb. 28. It was the edge of the Wilkins Ice Shelf
and had been there for perhaps 1,500 years." ... "British
Antarctic Survey scientist David Vaughan attributed the melting to
rising sea temperature due to global warming." ... "Because scientists
noticed satellite images of the event within hours of its start, they diverted
satellite cameras and flew an airplane over the ongoing collapse to capture
rare
photos and video." -AP
via -LAtimes
20080314
-
Political
- Government
- Environmental
- Air
- Science
- Health
-
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