Oil companies or business in general.
Take a look at this farce. You have to read it carefully to see what they are really doing, as they put the usual spin on it. Mitigation banking? Snort - just another run around.
I have excerpted a quote from it just below, to highlight the reality, although a person would have to know and understand a bit more than is stated in the article to "get it".
"Benjamin Grumbles, the EPA's assistant administrator for water, said he hopes the number of businesses engaged in "mitigation banking" will double. About 300 such businesses now exist.
Developers could buy credits from such companies to compensate for the bogs, swamps, marshes and other types of wetlands and streams they fill in."
Although an AP story, I got it off of Yahoo this morning, but lost the URL and I am too lazy to go back to it.
"Developers Urged to Seek Wetlands Experts By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Mar 27, 5:53 PM ET
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is encouraging developers who destroy wetlands or streams and are required to replace them to pay other businesses to do the work.
The Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency issued proposed regulations Monday that are intended to promote companies that specialize in creating swamps, marshes and streams.
Benjamin Grumbles, the EPA's assistant administrator for water, said he hopes the number of businesses engaged in "mitigation banking" will double. About 300 such businesses now exist.
Developers could buy credits from such companies to compensate for the bogs, swamps, marshes and other types of wetlands and streams they fill in.
This is the first time the government has issued a rule spelling out what professional standards for wetlands compensation should be required under the Clean Water Act.
George Dunlop, the Army's deputy assistant secretary, said greater use of mitigation banking would make restoration work more predictable and consistent.
The Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative arm, found last year the Army Corps could not ensure that the 40,000 acres of wetlands restoration work required each year since 1983 is actually taking place.
With the proposed regulations, the government is turning to private businesses to improve compliance.
"I believe I'm going to love it," said John Ryan, president of Land and Water Resources Inc., in Rosemont, Ill., a company that specializes in such work. "It's great for the environment and for us. Now everybody has to be held to the same high standards that we are."
Julie Sibbing, a wetlands expert with the National Wildlife Federation, said the rule is too eager to adopt mitigation banking as an ideal approach.
"It sets it up almost on a pedestal. It says that if you're going to use a mitigation bank, it's almost an automatic OK," she said. "This is a real business-friendly rule, not only for mitigation bankers but also developers."
The lower 48 states in pre-colonial times had an estimated 220 million acres of wetlands and streams, but 115 million acres of them had been destroyed by 1997, according to government estimates.
President Bush promised on Earth Day in 2004 to restore or protect as much as 3 million acres of wetlands over the next five years.
The administration now claims to have reversed the government's estimated loss of 58,500 acres of wetlands annually.
But the National Wildlife Federation says the nation is still losing 130,000 acres of wetlands a year. The group said the administration is including in its count of wetlands "open water systems" such as new lakes, reservoirs and golf and stormwater retention ponds." "
___
Oh my, ebeth - that Consort trip sounds marvelous. Sorry that I haven't been around much, but this was the month of my Byzantine lectures at the local library and it took up all my time.
Are you going to Santiago?
All clicked for Danon, MA, and me. Whew.
And let's hope for a really positive outcome of today's testing on Patti.
Positive thoughts heading your way, Dan! Let us know.
aktbird57 - You and your 293 friends have supported 2,305,003.0 square feet!
Marine Wetlands habitat supported: 104,882.7 square feet.
You have supported: (0.0)
Your 293 friends have supported: (104,882.7)
American Prairie habitat supported: 49,719.6 square feet.
You have supported: (12,032.8)
Your 293 friends have supported: (37,686.8)
Rainforest habitat supported: 2,150,400.7 square feet.
You have supported: (169,362.8)
Your 293 friends have supported: (1,981,037.9)
~~~~~~~~
2305003.0 square feet is equal to 52.92 acres
~~~~~~~~
Sending good and happy vibes toward Dan and his Patti.
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pwayfarer, the trip that Oliver Schroer did is an absolute dream of mine. Maybe a birthday gift to myself in a couple of years?
Waiting for the hummingbirds, and rain.
Rainforest site acting up this morning. I will have to return later to finish clicking.
sumac,
Thank you so very much for clicking for MAnMe yesterday.... It helped a lot to know that the day would not go without helping to save even a few feet of rain forest.
Our trip to Tyler, TX was fruitful from the standpoint of knowing a little more about Patti's ails. The neurologist confirmed again that she doesn't have MS - that's the great news. However, he found that she has three cervicals in her neck that are pressing on her spine. She has also suffered tiny strokes - but, the damage from the strokes appears to be better than the xrays from three years ago. Apparently, the symptoms she is experiencing is a combination resulting from both the spinal pressure and the mini strokes. We are being scheduled to go again to Tyler to see a neurosurgeon about getting the pressure off her spine. Then, possibly the correct meds to control the strokes.
Then..................
It's off to see the wizard in the Emerald City and on to see S France. After that we would like to see the world.
((A small matter concerning Tyler, TX that I think is amusing - It is where ex Pres H W Bush was located the day JFK was assassinated - but, H W does not remember where he was on that day............ Amazing !! We know this only because he actually contacted the FBI on that morning warning of a possible attempt on JFK that was supposed to take place in Houston.))
Oh well.
all clicked........................
Thanks again sumac.......................
Danon,
I am glad that MS if off- and I hope that the "rest" will be soon snow of yesterday. You and Patti have to see the world- just to give us a lively report.
Lots of rain here, seems I will have to wear my bike outfit some days longer.
Such good news, Dan! Ah, traveling the world! More wonderful stories!
ul, more rain today also. There are new blooms on the trees though - a sign of Spring and warmer weather soon.
Good articles, sue ~ thanks
Send the rain here! We are 6 inches off normal rainfall for the first three months of the year. Not good at all.
Dan, it sounds like the trip was worthwhile. You received a much appreciated confirmation that it is not MS, and you have had indicated to you that surgery is a possible solution to a major problem for Patti.
And it was a pleasure to click for you.
aktbird57 - You and your 293 friends have supported 2,306,548.3 square feet!
Marine Wetlands habitat supported: 105,023.2 square feet.
You have supported: (0.0)
Your 293 friends have supported: (105,023.2)
American Prairie habitat supported: 49,813.3 square feet.
You have supported: (12,032.8)
Your 293 friends have supported: (37,780.5)
Rainforest habitat supported: 2,151,711.9 square feet.
You have supported: (169,386.2)
Your 293 friends have supported: (1,982,325.6)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2306548.3 square feet is equal to 52.95 acres
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just sent another note to the care2 help desk about the leaderboard wonkiness.
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Dan, that's really encouraging news for Patti. Both of the diagnoses are more manageable than M.S.
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Tyler, Texas. Just the name of the town makes me want to dance.
All clicked here.
ttp://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=mg18925403.800&feedId=climate-change_rss20
"Climate killing africa's crops
25 February 2006
From New Scientist Print Edition.
Africa's favourite crop, maize, is struggling to cope with the vagaries of a changing climate. It might even have to have to be dropped in favour of more traditional crops such as sorghum and cassava.
So says the first continent-wide study of how crop yields change with major oscillations in global climate such as El Niño and the North Atlantic Oscillation. It concludes that 20 million Africans go hungry in the years when the climate is not in their favour (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol 103, p 3049).
In the worst case, a strong El Niño can cut maize yields by 50 per cent in southern Africa. This is worrying, says one of the study's authors, Hans Herren of the Millennium Institute in Arlington, Virginia, because droughts could become the norm. "If the global climate changes toward more El Niño-like conditions, as most models predict, African food production may be severely reduced."
There is a glimmer of hope, however. Some crops do better during El Niño events, says co-author Nils Stenseth of the University of Oslo, Norway. Sorghum often does better when maize does badly. "This is valuable information for farmers, because an El Niño event can be predicted ahead of the crop growing season."
From issue 2540 of New Scientist magazine, 25 February 2006, page 7"
bobsmyhawk just posted an interesting article about the destruction of Caribbean coral due to the warmer water.
ttp://www.livescience.com/animalworld/050718_antarctic_life.html
"Ice Shelf Collapse Reveals New Undersea World
By Bjorn Carey
LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 18 July 2005
01:54 pm ET
The collapse of a giant ice shelf in Antarctica has revealed a thriving ecosystem half a mile below the sea.
Despite near freezing and sunless conditions, a community of clams and a thin layer of bacterial mats are flourishing in undersea sediments.
"Seeing these organisms on the ocean bottom -- it's like lifting the carpet off the floor and finding a layer that you never knew was there," said Eugene Domack of Hamilton College."
aktbird57 - You and your 293 friends have supported 2,309,170.6 square feet!
Marine Wetlands habitat supported: 105,187.1 square feet.
You have supported: (0.0)
Your 293 friends have supported: (105,187.1)
American Prairie habitat supported: 49,860.1 square feet.
You have supported: (12,056.2)
Your 293 friends have supported: (37,803.9)
Rainforest habitat supported: 2,154,123.5 square feet.
You have supported: (169,386.2)
Your 293 friends have supported: (1,984,737.2)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2309170.6 square feet is equal to 53.01 acres
Oh, so late, but, clicked............
ehBeth,
Yeah, Tyler is a (purty) city. Mostly hospitals currently. It is also very near the first and oldest city (European type) in the area encompassed by the state of Texas (Caddo Indian word for 'Land of Friendly People') the city of Nacogdoches, Texas. Interestingly enough, the very first european roadway connecting the North part of the state to Nacogdoches ran right through the middle of Atlanta, Texas (my home town) and is now labeled "State Hwy 43". It connected the original Colonies before the Revolutionary War to the area now known as Houston.
It is the ?? second oldest North/South hiway in N America - - - After, of course, the FIRST ?? the hwy from Mexico City area to the Santa Fe area............ That was the first major North/South avenue in the Texas state area..........................
How about US 1? That is pretty old along the eastern seaboard.
This is a load of crap, and so typical. We all know what wetlands are and what they do in the environment and for the ecology of the area. Now get this: they could man-made ponds, water hazards on golf courses, and other non-wetlands as wetlands. What a crock.
ttp://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/washington/31wetlands.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
Fewer Marshes + More Man-made Ponds = Increased Wetlands
By FELICITY BARRINGER
Published: March 31, 2006
.......Traditional tidal, coastal and upland marshes count, but so do golf course water hazards and other man-made ponds whose surface is less than 20 acres.
And so, even at a time of continued marsh depletion, pond inflation permitted Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to announce proudly on Thursday the first net increase in wetlands since the Fish and Wildlife Service started measuring them in 1954. Wetlands acreage, measured largely by aerial surveys, totaled 107.7 million acres at the end of 2004, up by 191,800 acres from 1998. .....
....For instance, the mining of sand and clay for the construction of two major highways in South Carolina, Routes 22 and 31, left the Myrtle Beach area dotted with large, deep ponds that qualify as wetlands in the Interior Department's survey but do not provide the wildlife habitat or perform the filtering functions of tidal marshes or cypress swamps."
Clicked here.
There are a couple of interesting articles to bring to everyone's attention today. The first:
http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060329_dino_crater.html
"...The ancient asteroid that slammed into the Gulf of Mexico and purportedly ended the reign of the dinosaurs occurred 300,000 years too early, according to a controversial new analysis of melted rock ejected from the impact site.
The standard theory states that a giant asteroid about 6 miles wide smashed into the Yucatan Peninsula close to the current Mexican town of Chicxulub about 65 million years ago. The impact raised enough dust and debris to blot out the sun for decades or even centuries.
Such a large impact would also have triggered a host of natural disasters, including volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis and global firestorms that fried, starved and suffocated the beasts.
But Markus Harting of the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and a small group of scientists thinks the Chicxulub impact happened too early to have been the infamous dinosaur-killer...."
