Forest Death, Carbon Sequestration, and Logging

Watch out…the timber beast will be drooling all over this one.
Industrial logging is NEVER a solution-regardless of what “government
scientists” say.

ASW

—————————————————
“Since 1999, and especially in the last five years, the forests have
shifted from being a carbon sink to a carbon source.”

“That grim reality is stoking a new debate over commercial logging, one of
Canada’s biggest industries.”
——————————————–

Chicago Tribune  January 2, 2008

Canada’s forests, once huge help on greenhouse gases, now contribute to
climate change
By Howard Witt

VANCOUVER-As relentlessly bad as the news about global warming seems to be, with ice at the poles melting faster than scientists had predicted and world temperatures rising higher than expected, there was at least a reservoir of hope stored here in Canada’s vast forests.

The country’s 1.2 million square miles of trees have been dubbed the
“lungs of the planet” by ecologists because they account for more than 7
percent of Earth’s total forest lands. They could always be depended upon
to suck in vast quantities of carbon dioxide, naturally cleansing the
world of much of the harmful heat-trapping gas.

But not anymore.

Continue reading

Climate Change Forcing Penguins North?

Climate Change Forcing Penguins North?

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/01/01-1

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Drilling and Mining in Store for Two Iconic Southwest Parks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 31, 2008  10:03 AM

CONTACT: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)  Luke Eshleman (202) 265-7337

Drilling and Mining in Store for Two Iconic Southwest Parks; Falling Commodity Prices Brings Brief Reprieve for Petrified Forest and Aztec Ruins

WASHINGTON – December 31. Drilling and mining may soon be affecting Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona and Aztec Ruins National Monument in New Mexico, according to an internal Interior Department document released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Only plummeting commodity prices caused by the current recession have delayed groundbreaking for new natural gas wells and potash mining in or adjacent to the parks.

Continue reading

Idaho Miners Won’t Have to Restore Groundwater

Published on Wednesday, December 31, 2008 by the Fort Mill Times (South Carolina)
Idaho Miners Won’t Have to Restore Groundwater

by John Miller

BOISE, Idaho – Monsanto Co., Agrium Inc., and J.R. Simplot Co. will be able to mine phosphate without being forced to restore groundwater beneath their operations to its natural condition, according to a new rule awaiting approval by the 2009 Legislature.

The rule is backed by industry but opposed by environmentalists including the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and Idaho Conservation League, who say it gives mining companies near the Idaho-Wyoming border license to pollute forever.

It stops short of a 2007 draft proposal developed by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality but never formalized. That would have required companies to clean up groundwater below their mines within eight years of ceasing activities.

Continue reading