Dr Hansen’s letter to N.Y. governor

I found this article on the Columbia University Web site of NASA’s Dr. James Hansen. Hansen, in his succinct letter, spells out what is already happening with the Earth’s atmosphere as well as what the longer-term effects will be if we don’t change our way of living and stop dumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

A vision for 2009

“To be effective, conservation must be guided by a vision that is bold, scientifically credible, practically achievable, and hopeful.“  -Dave Foreman, a man the National Audubon Society named one of the 20th century’s most effective conservationists

Suit challenges coal-fired power plant

It’s called “Paradise,” and this Kentucky power plant dumps one helluva lot of carbon dioxide into the air. The Center for Biological Diversity, and allies, is challenging this giant mistake.

Here’s the Center’s news release:

“Since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency still hadn’t ruled on our petition challenging a permit for one of the most polluting coal-fired power plants in the nation, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, and two Kentucky residents filed suit last Thursday. The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Paradise power plant in Kentucky, “TVA Paradise,” burns more than 7 million tons of coal and emits thousands of tons of air pollutants each year — pollutants the Environmental Protection Agency has deemed hazardous to human health and the environment. The plant also heavily contributes to greenhouse gas pollution: Last year, it spewed out more than 14 million tons of carbon dioxide.

It’s not surprising that plant’s operating permit, approved in 2007 by a state agency, fails to comply with pollutant-regulating requirements mandated by the Clean Air Act — but the Environmental Protection Agency apparently had no objections. Our petition and suit seek to overturn the permit so the ill-named plant is forced to get its act together.”

Environmental refugee crisis

With global climate change, this is hardly surprising. But, then, certain politicians will continue to disavow the truth.

Trout Study reveals strains on California’s native coldwater fish: 65% could be gone in 100 years

Best go fishing now, conservationist/writer Ted Williams noted in his introduction to this item posted to his blog at Fly Rod & Reel magazine’s site.

Dr. Hansen: Tell Obama the truth, the whole truth

Found this newly posted item a moment ago on Dr. Jaames Hansen’s Web site. It’s a good read and our incoming president must act and act quickly.

Saving Nature good for people, too

My next newspaper column:

I used to spend a big chunk of “Black Friday” at the mall, talking to folks about the Christmas shopping season. Not this season, though. Let’s give thanks that our forefathers saved at least a little bit of the natural countryside for us and our children and grandkids. But we can and should do better yet. Saving wild nature is not only good for fish and wildlife, it’s good for local economies. That’s us.

“Environmental protection almost always confers economic benefits, but you wouldn’t know it from the howls of protest that usually greet any serious effort to preserve the beauty, health and serenity of our natural world,” editorialized Dick Beamish in the late fall issue of “Adirondack Explorer.”

“ ’It will hinder growth!’ “ we are told. “ ‘It will eliminate jobs!’ “

“Yet saving what’s left of the Earth’s natural beauty and serenity, and preserving what’s left of our natural ecosystems, is not only good for the soul and essential to all living things. It’s also a sound business investment,” Beamish wrote under the headline, “Rare, Precious profitable.”

We have traveled to many places to watch, study, photograph and admire wildlife, especially birds, and we dropped more than a fe3w dollars at local businesses along the way: at Cape May, N.J., Socorro, N.M., Montpelier, Idaho, Rutland, Vt., Lake Placid and Keene Valley, N.Y., for starters.

At Lake Placid, the jumping-off spot for outdoors people trekking into the High Peaks region, catering to those same folks is big business. And the wealth of nearby public land, clean water and big scenery, are the drawing cards.

- St. Regis Canoe Outfitters in Saranac Lake, N.Y., has sold 13,000 Adirondack canoe maps since 2005. The shop employs 16 people.

- At Adirondack Lakes and Trails, also in Saranac Lake, boat rentals translated into thousands of paddler-days this year. In Old Forge, N.Y., Paddlefest attracts 5,000 people annually, and Mountainman Outdoor Supply Co., with a dozen or more employees, sold more than 2,000 boats this year.

But it’s not just paddle-related businesses that pull the crowds in. The many thousands of peace- and solitude-seeking visitors also leave money behind at restaurants, outdoor equipment stores and lodges throughout the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park. And this trend toward non-motorized recreation is clearly on the upswing. Outdoor-related businesses all agree on one thing: It’s the quiet lakes, streams, ponds, forests and mountains that attract their customers.

How can other chunks of our country also get on this economic bandwagon? Through better land protection through public acquisitions, conservation easements and development restrictions. There is a reason why onlookers don’t have to wait long to see cars and trucks lugging canoes and kayaks into the Adirondack Park. And much of Pennsylvania has missed the boat (no pun intended) and the economic lesson. The whitewater rafting outfits in the Jim Thorpe and White Haven areas are exceptions. As are the fly-fishing shops of Wellsboro and Mansfield that cater to anglers headed to the Pine Creek Gorge. Putting a sign up along Interstate 81 identifying Humboldt Industrial Park as an “attraction” was a step in the wrong direction.

The creation of New York’s Adirondack Park Agency was vigorously opposed by those who wanted to pave over, not preserve. The agency will cripple local economies, they screamed. Of course, it did no such thing. “The environmental protections administered by the APA over the past 35 years have added enormously to the appeal of the Adirondacks as a place to visit, live and spend money,” Beamish wrote.

There are solid lessons in these success stories. Will we read and listen?

U.N. report says greenhouse gases at new high

This report I found while perusing The Idaho Statesman’s Web site is hardly surprising.

But the truly surprising thing is that our federal government – and municipal and state government leaders, too – still have not taken substantive actions to reign in the mess.

Here’s the brief news item:

“The U.N. weather agency says the three main greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere have reached new record highs.

Geir Braathen of the World Meteorological Organization says carbon dioxide was up the most in 2007, one-half percent, with methane and nitrous oxide rising by lesser amounts.

Braathen says that it was the first time in a decade that the concentration of methane in the atmosphere has increased.

He said Tuesday that it is too soon to say what caused the increases.

The gases are produced partially by natural sources, like wetlands, and partially by human activities such as fertilizer use or fuel combustion.

A U.N. panel has warned that continued increases will have catastrophic consequences, such as severe droughts and floods.

Pollute baby, pollute – Thanks Dubya

The leader of what has arguably been the most corrupt and out-of-touch administration to ever set foot in the District of Columbia, is doing all he can to tear apart the safety net covering endangered and threatened species, out National Park System, and a bunch of other conservation/environmental safeguards.

Read more.

Park the car and walk or bicycle!

“I am sick and tired of hearing everyone bitch about gas and global warming,” wrote the person responsible for a recent letter to the editor in the Santa Fe, N.M., newspaper.

Well, yes. And here’s why: If we truly care about this global problem that’s worsening as I write, then it is time to show it. Get Out of Your CARS! You can’t complain about the problem if you’re part of it!
Ride a bicycle or walk on the two legs God gave you. For those of you in wittle Conyngham borough, come on, the whole town is only one square mile large. And it takes just an hour or so for me to walk a four-mile loop to and from home in the borough.

Not in shape? Perfect, I wasn’t either for a few years. But I am now. And I have two bicycles in the garage, one of which I often ride through the neighborhood. I long ago found that bicycling around town is rewarding, both physically and mentally. And let us not forget that it is actually faster in some situations to cycle.

“I raced a friend in his car from my house downtown to his house off of Rodeo,” the LTE author wrote.”I got their 5 minutes before he did.” So to you who complain about gas prices and noise (am I the only one now?), get out of your car and bicycle or walk. Seriously, you’ll feel better and you’re doing something good for the world. Hybrid cars are great (a brother in-law has one), but hybrid car motorists are still adding to the problem, just not as much.

Pedal and think “zero emissions.” isn’t that what we all want? It should be. Stop complaining and start pedaling or walking. Stop with the laziness. Do something that’s right for a change.