Year: 2008

Old-Growth, the US Forest Service, & Federal Law

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Monday, May 19, 2008

 

Ninth Circuit Sierra ruling should shift Forest Service priorities

6:31 PM ET

 

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/2008/05/ninth-circuit-agrees-that-forest.php

 

Greg Loarie [attorney, Earthjustice]: “At its core, Sierra Forest 

Legacy v. Rey (incorrectly titled CBD v. Rey) challenges the 2004 

Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment (also known as the “2004 

Framework”), which establishes management direction for all 11 

national forests in the Sierra Nevada. The 2004 Framework replaced 

the original “2001 Framework,” which set forth a balanced approach 

for conserving species and reducing the risk of wildfire and was 

widely regarded as the new gold standard for ecosystem-based forest 

management. The 2004 Framework abandoned the 2001 Framework’s 

carefully crafted standards, and called for a drastic increase in 

logging of large, fire-resilient trees throughout the Sierra.

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Rebuttal to Knutson: Climate Change and Tropical Cyclones

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18 May 2008

Climate Change and Tropical Cyclones (Yet Again)

 

Filed under: El Nino Hurricanes Climate modelling Greenhouse gases Climate Science — rasmus @ 1:28 PM

By Rasmus Benestad & Michael Mann

 

Just as Typhoon Nargis has reminded us of the destructive power of tropical cyclones (with its horrible death toll in Burma–around 100,000 according to the UN), a new paper by Knutson et al in the latest issue of the journal Nature Geosciences purports to project a reduction in Atlantic hurricane activity (principally the ‘frequency’ but also integrated measures of powerfulness).

 

The close timing of the Knutson et al and Typhoon Nargis is of course coincidental. But the study has been accorded the unprecedented privilege (that is, for a climate change article published during the past 7 years) of a NOAA press conference. What’s the difference this time? Well, for one thing, the title of the paper: “Simulated reduction in Atlantic hurricane frequency under twenty-first-century warming conditions” (emphasis added).

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Animated Map Brings Global Climate Crisis to Life

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Animated map brings global climate crisis to life

Mon May 19, 2008 11:01am EDT  

By Jeremy Lovell

 

LONDON (Reuters) – A new animated map of the earth from space illustrates the potential impact of climate change over the next century and can be viewed on your computer.

 

The project, Climate Change in Our World, is the result of cooperation between web search engine Google, Britain’s environment ministry and the country’s Met Office.

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The West: Wildlands, Democrats , Republicans, Energy Exploration

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“Western Democrats have found success recasting environmentalism as a 

defense of threatened water supplies, fishing spots and hunting 

grounds. As a result, the party may hold the advantage this fall in 

the region’s key Congressional races. The simultaneous rise of 

Western energy production and the Western Democrat is no coincidence.”

 

“Republicans created a monster for themselves,” said Rick Ridder, a 

Colorado-based Democratic consultant. “They put public policy in 

direct conflict with their base voters.”

 

“…industry workers upbraided officials for considering rules that 

could slow gas drilling along the Colorado-New Mexico border. 

Century-old antigovernment emotions are now aimed at state regulators 

– and much of the vitriol comes from working-class Democrats.”

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NYTimes

Drilling for Defeat?

By DAVID SIROTA

Published: May 18, 2008

 

Nearly two decades ago, Republicans won the West by linking Democrats 

to environmentalists, who supposedly cared more for the spotted owl 

and other favored species than they did for the jobs of loggers or 

miners. But now, as a boom in natural-gas drilling reshapes the 

region, Western Democrats have found success recasting 

environmentalism as a defense of threatened water supplies, fishing 

spots and hunting grounds. As a result, the party may hold the 

advantage this fall in the region’s key Congressional races. The 

simultaneous rise of Western energy production and the Western 

Democrat is no coincidence.

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