The 82nd Rainforest Thread ~

To: Earthjustice Supporters
From: Trip Van Noppen, President
Re: A Historic Victory for Everglades Restoration

Lake Okeechobee
Photo: James Valentine
Dear susan,

In a historic deal announced today, U.S. Sugar, the nation's largest producer of cane sugar, said it was leaving the Everglades and selling its nearly 300 square miles of land to the state of Florida for Everglades restoration.

The decision grew out of legal action by Earthjustice. According to Florida Governor Charlie Crist, U.S. Sugar agreed to begin negotiations to sell the land seven months ago, after it became clear that the state would require the clean-up of dirty farm runoff before it was backpumped into Lake Okeechobee. The backpumping issue came to the forefront following an Earthjustice victory in which the court ruled that this unpermitted practice was a violation of the Clean Water Act.

Learn more about how Earthjustice has worked for decades to restore the waters of Lake Okeechobee, which is considered the "heart" of the Everglades and serves as the main source of the region's drinking water.

Today's victory, made possible by years of hard work and tenacious litigation, means that the natural flow of the Everglades can finally be restored.

Restoring the natural water flow between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades means a future for this unique landscape. We are proud to have played such a vital role in preserving and improving Florida's Everglades, and we will continue to work for smarter, stronger plans that will bring this aquatic jewel back to life.

Sincerely,

Trip Van Noppen

Trip Van Noppen
President, Earthjustice

P.S. Your support makes our work possible. Please consider making a special contribution to help fund future victories for the environment.

g'day to all the wildclickers



You and your 300 friends have supported 2,902,932.1 square feet!

Marine Wetlands habitat supported: 213,217.4 square feet.
You have supported: (0.0)
Your 300 friends have supported: (213,217.4)

American Prairie habitat supported: 66,958.1 square feet.
You have supported: (16,528.2)
Your 300 friends have supported: (50,430.0)

Rainforest habitat supported: 2,622,756.5 square feet.
You have supported: (187,927.3)
Your 300 friends have supported: (2,434,829.2)

White House Tried to Silence EPA Proposal on Car Emissions
Agency Was Responding to Ruling About Clean Air Act

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 26, 2008; A02

White House officials last December sought to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from submitting a proposed rule that would limit greenhouse-gas emissions from new vehicles, agency sources said yesterday. And upon learning that EPA had hit the "send" button just minutes earlier, the White House called again to demand that the e-mail be recalled.

The EPA official who forwarded the e-mail, Associate Deputy Administrator Jason Burnett, refused, said the sources, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations.

The proposed rule was EPA's response to an April 2007 Supreme Court ruling that the agency had violated the Clean Air Act by refusing to take up the issue of regulating automobile emissions that contribute to global warming.

Burnett, who resigned from the agency this month, sent the e-mail to the White House Office of Management and Budget at 2:17 p.m. Dec. 5 and received the call warning him to hold off at 2:25 p.m., the sources said. The EPA is expected to release a watered-down version of its original proposal within a week, highlighting the extent to which Bush administration officials continue to resist mandatory federal limits on emissions linked to global warming.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that White House officials never opened EPA's e-mail. In March, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee disclosed documents showing that the White House had overruled EPA's findings on the impact of vehicle emissions on climate change.

Burnett refused to comment on the White House calls but said in an interview, "In early December, I sent an e-mail with the formal finding that action must be taken to address the risk of climate change," adding that he resigned his political appointment because the agency had been stymied in its efforts to respond to the Supreme Court. "The White House made it clear they did not want to address the ramifications of that finding and have decided to leave the challenge to the next administration. Some [at the White House] thought that EPA had mistakenly concluded that climate change endangers the public. It was no mistake."

The Supreme Court ruling held that the Clean Air Act compelled the government to determine whether greenhouse gases endanger public health or the environment. Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson is expected to issue an "advance notice of proposed rulemaking" this week or next that outlines the issues but takes no stand on whether to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto declined to comment on the exchange, saying in an e-mail: "We don't comment on internal deliberations. As Steve Johnson said, both publicly and in congressional testimony, this was a decision he made on his own."

Congressional Democrats and several public health and environmental advocates said the fact that EPA changed its proposal under White House pressure will delay implementation of a national cap on carbon emissions and affect upcoming rules on fuel economy standards for automobiles.

Less than two weeks after EPA submitted its proposed rule on greenhouse gases, President Bush signed legislation that raises the fleetwide average fuel economy standard to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, arguing that this step would be more effective in limiting emissions. On Dec. 19, Johnson cited that law in denying California's petition for a waiver to allow it to directly limit greenhouse gases from vehicles.

EPA's original December proposal included language saying that climate change poses a threat to public welfare, but the draft that Johnson is preparing to issue will seek comments only on "whether" it poses such a danger, the sources said. It will also be shorter than the original document, which ran about 250 pages and included detailed alternative approaches on how to regulate greenhouse gases from fuels, vehicles and stationary sources such as power plants.

One EPA official said agency staff had encountered fierce opposition from Bush appointees on several of these sections. "They don't even want us to talk about alternatives," the official said, adding that Johnson and his top aides have been in an "intense negotiation" with White House officials on how much to alter the rulemaking, with Johnson working to resist major changes.

"The White House has found EPA's draft finding to be radioactive in three key areas," said S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies. "It validates the approval of California's waiver to regulate greenhouse gases from motor vehicles. It demonstrates that the Transportation Department's proposed fuel economy standards fall far short of what is technologically feasible and cost-effective. And it makes a strong case supporting how the existing Clean Air Act can be used to regulate greenhouse gases."

I'm all clicked for the day, including 2 petitions! Have a happy day, all!

Hurray for Earthjustice!

Shhh, Dan! There are some of gwb's logger buddies that actually read



Hiya Alex, Teeny, sue, and Beth too!

Have a marvelous day!








http://rainforest.care2.com/i?p=583091674

Yay, for Earthjustice! Love you, Stadee and all the wild Clickers!

Yeah, Stradee. Talk about a minority group

CLIMATE SCIENCE: Charting Global Runoff
H. Jesse Smith

One widely expected potential consequence of climate warming is an intensification of the hydrological cycle, including more precipitation and more extreme precipitation events. Evidence that such intensification already has begun is available for some regions, but the question of whether or not the phenomenon is global remains unanswered. Milliman et al. have analyzed the runoff records of 137 rivers located on six continents, covering the last 50 years of the 20th century, in order to provide that answer. They find that global discharge has not changed significantly over that time, although regional changes were clearly apparent: Discharge decreases occurred disproportionately in Africa, Asia, and Australia, while Europe, North America, and South America experienced increases more often. Thus, the evidence seems not to show an intensification of the global hydrological cycle over the last half of the 20th century. That time period is too short, however, to draw firm conclusions about longer-term trends. -- HJS

Global Planet. Change 62, 187 (2008).

late clicks tonight

an extended long weekend starts NOW!


You and your 300 friends have supported 2,903,057.9 square feet!

Marine Wetlands habitat supported: 213,269.2 square feet.
You have supported: (0.0)
Your 300 friends have supported: (213,269.2)

American Prairie habitat supported: 66,965.6 square feet.
You have supported: (16,528.2)
Your 300 friends have supported: (50,437.4)

Rainforest habitat supported: 2,622,823.2 square feet.
You have supported: (187,934.7)
Your 300 friends have supported: (2,434,888.5)

Dan, you bet.

Teeny, register at www.earthjustice.org and receive e mail alerts. Plus, you can read about each case pending, those in court, and also by State. A terrific site.

Yep, the WildClickers are a unique bunch.

cough

sputter

cannot believe Northern California's skies. Haven't seen the sun for days, so much smoke everywhere. unreal

Check out the map at:
http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/fireplots/cgb2008178_1900.jpg

June 27, 2008
Editorial
DDT on Ice

It has been getting ever harder to pretend that Antarctica is a pristine place. We like to think of it as being scoured clean by hostile winds and extreme cold. But more and more, Antarctica, like the Arctic, shows the lasting scars of human negligence.

The effects of climate change are being felt far more strongly at the poles than elsewhere on the planet. Some of the most persistent and dangerous chemicals ever created have accumulated there and remain there.

Take the long-banned pesticide DDT. When it was still sprayed on crops and gardens across the globe, it moved through the atmosphere to the polar regions, where it was deposited in water, snow and ice, ultimately making its way into the food chain.

The residue of DDT found in many Arctic species has declined in the past 30 years. But recently, scientists in Antarctica reported that Adélie penguins have a constant and, in some cases, increasing level of DDT in their body fat. It appears that the birds are being newly exposed to remnants of DDT that was deposited long ago.

Scientists estimate that between 2 pounds and 8.8 pounds of DDT are being released annually. This is not a large amount, but it is troubling nonetheless, especially since the levels released are likely to rise as climate change intensifies. As more ice melts, it will only add to the burden of so-called persistent organic pollutants that have made their way into the Antarctic's life stream.

Nothing could seem farther removed from our ordinary lives than these isolated populations of Adélies. But they are frighteningly near to our pesticidal past and one more reminder of the long-lasting consequences of human behavior.

The BLM has announced the lease sale of 31 parcels of land on Roan Plateau, opening over 55,000 acres to gas development and violating protections called for by Colorado's governor and congressional leaders, as well as local and national environmental and wildlife advocates.

So much for the BLM's 'enviornmental impact' studies.

Lest we forget: "More than half of the electricity generated in America today comes from coal. If we weren't blessed with this natural resource, we would face even greater [energy] shortages and higher prices today. Yet, coal presents an environmental challenge. So our plan funds research into new, clean coal technologies." There's just one catch: The money isn't going to wind or solar power. It's going directly to…. coal. As coal plants win the right to burn dirtier and dirtier, the administration is pitching coal as the "clean fuel" of the future.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2005/05/clean_coal.html


Clean Energy - How Solar Energy Works

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/renewable_energy_basics/how-solar-energy-works.html





http://rainforest.care2.com/i?p=583091674

The most abundant energy source in the universe is hydrogen.

So, why not use it - it's only pollutant when burned is pure water. Which is two-thirds hydrogen. Talk about reusable fuel. That leaves oxygen, which we need to survive.

clicked.

Great article, Stradee. I printed it out to read it carefully, and then send to Frank. He may have the opportunity to do something with this, at least for the hot water heater.

Dan, there are two hydrogen power plants - The Abu Dhabi and California Projects.

Natural gas will be used for hydrogen-fired power generation at Dhabi, the California plant will utilize petroleum coke to manufacture hydrogen.

The California project would eliminate 2.25 million tons per year of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere by sequestering, or storing, them underground, equivalent to taking 500,000 cars off the roads. Once captured, it would be transported by pipeline to the California oil fields and stored in oil reservoirs thousands of feet below the surface, where it will flush out additional oil that traditionally could not be recovered.

http://www.hydrogenenergy.com/FullStory.aspx?m=18

Abu Dhabi
http://www.hydrogenenergy.com/

Two good resource pages.

sue, eons ago, the house pool was solar heated - utlizing roof space for the cells. Worked very well.

Relatively inexpensive, solar energy for new homes and also converting new technology for older structures, can elliminate high energy costs.

Hi stradee, how's your breathing in all that smoke?

~~~

aktbird57 - You and your wildclicking friends have supported 2,903,169.0 square feet!

Marine Wetlands habitat supported: 213,321.1 square feet.
You have supported: (0.0)
Your 300 friends have supported: (213,321.1)

American Prairie habitat supported: 66,965.6 square feet.
You have supported: (16,528.2)
Your 300 friends have supported: (50,437.4)

Rainforest habitat supported: 2,622,882.4 square feet.
You have supported: (187,942.1)
Your 300 friends have supported: (2,434,940.3)

I just did!
Thanks! Oops! I'm all clicked for Friday!