Washington - Global Warming & Theft

This is an excerpt from an editorial in the Seattle Times that peeked my curiosity. It got me to thinking that Washingtonians have a litttle more to worry about this holiday season.

They have Stan "Pampy" Barre, III lurking in their midst. Who knows if Stan "Pampy" Barre, III will go on another crime spree to possibly steal some child's XBox.

Outdoors economy demands governor's focus

If the recent record floods and droughts haven't gotten our attention, we are not paying attention.

As an avid angler and a proud grandfather, I am very concerned about the devastating effects that global warming could have on the region's treasured fishing heritage. On top of the enormous human toll, recent flooding scours out spawning nests and destroys critical river habitat for our wild salmon and steelhead.

Because the stakes are so high, I am closely watching the actions and decisions of the state Climate Advisory Team, which will soon release a draft report of recommendations.

I am looking to Gov. Christine Gregoire for strong leadership on this issue. She should be bold in addressing the issue of global warming as it impacts our economy and culture, including our sportfishing traditions.

To all parents in Washington State: Make sure you keep your homes and vehicles secure, this holiday season. You don't want Stan "Pampy" Barre, III stealing your kids' Xbox.

Protection for 'Ribbon Seals' Sought

The Center for Biological Diversity on Thursday filed a 91-page petition with the National Marine Fisheries Service seeking to list ribbon seals as threatened or endangered. The group says the classification is needed because sea ice is disappearing due to climate change brought on by humans.

The petition marks the center's second attempt to use the Endangered Species Act to force action on global warming. Within weeks, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will decide whether to list polar bears as threatened because of habitat loss from global warming.

World climate experts who made up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in February that global warming "very likely" is caused by human use of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal.

EPA won't allow 17 States to set emission standards for cars

The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday denied California and 16 other states the right to set their own standards for carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles.

The E.P.A. administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, said the proposed California rules were pre-empted by federal authority and made moot by the energy bill signed into law by President Bush on Wednesday. Mr. Johnson said California had failed to make a compelling case that it needed authority to write its own standards for greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks to help curb global warming.

The 17 states — including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut — had waited two years for the Bush administration to issue a ruling on an application to set stricter air quality standards than those adopted by the federal government. The decision, technically known as a Clean Air Act waiver, was the first time California was refused permission to impose its own pollution rules; the federal government had previously granted the state more than 50 waivers.

The new federal law will require automakers to meet a 35-mile-per-gallon fleetwide standard for cars and trucks sold in the United States by 2020. It does not address carbon dioxide emissions, but such emissions would be reduced as cars were forced to become more fuel efficient.

Twelve other states — New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington — had proposed standards like California’s, and the governors of Arizona, Colorado, Florida and Utah said they would do the same.

If the waiver had been granted and the 16 other states had adopted the California standard, it would have covered at least half of all vehicles sold in the United States.

Bush signs Bill boosting Fuel Standards

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush signed into law Wednesday legislation that will bring more fuel-efficient vehicles into auto showrooms and require wider use of ethanol, calling it "a major step" toward energy independence and easing global warming.

The legislation signed by Bush at a ceremony at the Energy Department requires automakers to increase fuel efficiency by 40 percent to an industry average 35 miles per gallon by 2020. It also ramps up production of ethanol use to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022.

Bush said the new requirements will help "address our vulnerabilities and dependency" on foreign oil by reducing demand for gasoline and diversifying the nation's fuel supply.

Presidential Hopefuls Take on Global Warming

At their final face-off in Iowa last week, the three leading Democratic presidential candidates tried to outdo each other in describing their commitment to fight global warming.

Hillary Clinton wants to rally Americans on climate change the way they rallied behind the space program when she was a child.

John Edwards calls the fight against global warming a "moral responsibility" which demands leadership from a president who will draw on American patriotism for something other than war.

Barack Obama calls it a "moral imperative" to leave the planet clean for his two young girls.

But in the wake of the recent Bali climate summit are prospective successors to George W. Bush pledging to move quickly enough for the rest of the world? Or are they in line with the American electorate?

Energy Bill Sent to President Bush

In an overwhelming 314 to 100 vote, the House today passed historic energy legislation that raises fuel economy standards for the first time in 30 years, boosts energy efficiency standards, and requires a significant increase in biofuels production. The Senate approved the legislation late last week, and President Bush has indicated that he will sign the bill into law before the end of the year.

According to analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), the bill's fuel economy and renewable fuel standards combined will save the country 2.3 million barrels of oil a day in 2020—more than what the United States currently imports from the Persian Gulf. The fuel economy provisions alone will create 149,300 jobs, and save consumers $22 billion at the pump every year starting in 2020, even after paying for the fuel-saving technology needed to meet the standards. In addition, the fuel economy standards will prevent more than 190 million metric tons of global warming emissions in 2020.

The San Francisco Sprint

San Francisco sprints towards use of tidal power today in the race to combat global warming.

Initially, tidal wave energy will produce enough power for 1,500 homes beginning in 2012, San Francisco based Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announces at 9:00 a.m. this morning.

The announcement is the latest move by PG&E to “aggressively add renewable energy to its power mix,” reported utility spokesmen.

PG&E currently supplies 12 percent of its energy from qualifying renewable sources under California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) program. |Read on|

Bali Talks Progress

From the outset, the major schism was between most developing countries and the US, which found itself in a spoiler role. In the final plenary session, challenged to "lead, follow or get out of the way", the US delegation was forced into last-minute concessions.

The meeting had barely closed when George W. Bush expressed "serious concerns", speaking of the "legitimate" right of every country to economic growth and a need for developing countries to take more responsibility for cutting emissions.

But there was progress. First, 188 nations agreed to continue talking, through a meeting in Poland next year leading up to Copenhagen late in 2009, where a successor to Kyoto is to be negotiated.

Global Warming Talks in Bali

During the global warming talks, in Bali, negotiators agreed to start two years of talks on a new climate deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, the main deal for fighting climate change until 2012, to bind outsiders led by the United States, China and India.

The talks will start with a first meeting by April 2008 and end with adoption of a new treaty in Copenhagen in late 2009.

A U.S. U-turn allowed the deal to go ahead after a dramatic session in which Washington was booed for opposing demands by poor nations for the rich to do more to help them fight global warming.