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Rising Rio Grande Basin temperatures, already increasing faster than at any time in more than 10,000 years, are projected to sap the basin of one-third of its surface water supply by the end of the century, according to a new report by federal scientists. “It is sobering,” said Assistant Secretary of the Interior Anne Castle, who was in Albuquerque on Wednesday morning for the release of the Upper Rio Grande Impact Assessment, done by a team of scientists from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Army Corps of Engineers and Sandia National Laboratories. The study projected average temperature increases of...

I was talking to a long time friend the other day (sadly, he voted for Obama) and the subject of bald eagles being killed by wind turbines came up. As it has been reported, the Obama administration approved a rule that gives a thirty year pass for wind farms to kill eagles. The rationale for this is that while harmful to golden and bald eagles, it's good for the environment as wind farms are glorious green energy and are thusly beneficial to Mother Earth and all us mere mortals. To his credit, my friend was not ok with this as...

Let's examine a few statements reflecting a vision thought to be beyond question. "The world that we live in is beautiful but fragile." "The 3rd rock from the sun is a fragile oasis." Here are a couple of Earth Day quotes: "Remember that Earth needs to be saved every single day." "Remember the importance of taking care of our planet. It's the only home we have!" Such statements, along with apocalyptic predictions, are stock in trade for environmental extremists and non-extremists alike. Worse yet is the fact that this fragile-earth indoctrination is fed to our youth from kindergarten through college....

Williamsport, Pa. — A constant, mild hiss. That was my chief observation when I returned to Anadarko Petroleum’s Landon Pad A, a natural-gas site in Lycoming County, Pa. October’s quietude was totally unlike the cyclone of equipment, personnel, and activity that dominated this spot last June, when Anadarko and the American Petroleum Institute hosted journalists and policy analysts here. Anadarko’s Landon Pad A during fracking operations last June. Photo: Deroy Murdock. Back then, engineers used a pressurized blend of 90 percent water, 9.5 percent sand, and 0.5 percent chemicals to shake subterranean shale deposits and awaken natural gas that has...

MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti) – Two district courts in St. Petersburg granted bail Tuesday to several more Greenpeace activists awaiting trial, signaling a possible softening in the authorities’ stance over the case. Nine activists, including nationals of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Italy, New Zealand and Poland, can leave their detention facilities after they have posted bail of 2 million rubles ($61,500) each, the courts ruled. A group of 28 Greenpeace activists and two reporters was initially charged with piracy for attempting in September to scale an Arctic Sea oil platform owned by an affiliate of energy giant Gazprom...

There’s a magic number the news media likes to cite whenever the United Nations releases a new report on Global Warming. The public is constantly told that 97 percent of scientific experts agree that human activity is responsible for dangerous levels of global warming. Therefore, the U.S., and other western nations, must dramatically reshape public policy with an eye toward reducing fossil fuels. But it doesn’t take a lot of investigation to take down that 97 percent figure and expose the gamesmanship and duplicity advanced under the cover of “science.” Lawrence Solomon, executive director of Energy Probe and author of...

In hearings dealing with the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget, Representative Donna Edwards (D-Md) took issue with the entire concept of Congressional oversight. “These people are trying to save the planet,” Edwards asserted. “We have no right to question their methods and decisions. Our job is simply to ensure that they have all the resources they say they need to accomplish their vital mission.” House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), wondered “how are we going to know what resources the EPA needs if we don’t ask questions?” “Why can’t we just trust these dedicated public servants?” Edwards...

During a congressional hearing with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, Democratic Congresswoman Donna Edwards (Maryland), claimed Congress has no authority to question the EPA's data and techniques. [video]

I am not a fan of ethanol. Because I work in the automotive industry, I have firsthand experience with the effects it has on engines, both small and large. You can read about those effects at this link. The effects I have written about before are all associated with the engines themselves. What I have not focused on before is the effect ethanol has on the environment. I was surprised to see an investigative report from the Associated Press earlier in the week that did just that. I just haven't had the time to write about it until now. When...

<p>Organizing for Action, the grassroots offshoot of President Obama's re-election campaign, sent an email to supporters Tuesday saying "climate change is real," adding that "there's no credible scientific debate anymore."</p>

"................... Even under the government's optimistic projections, the ethanol mandate wasn't going to reduce greenhouse gas right away. And with the model so far off from reality, independent scientists say it's hard to make an argument for ethanol as a global warming policy. "I'd have to think really hard to come up with a scenario where it's a net positive," said Silvia Secchi, a Southern Illinois University agriculture economist. She paused a few moments, then added, "I'm stumped." In June, when Obama gave a major policy speech on reducing greenhouse gas, he didn't mention ethanol. Biofuels in general received a...

The state's new renewable energy report is available in draft form, but to some, what it says is secondary to how it is being described by the wind energy industry, which is financed in part by taxpayer subsidies. A final version is scheduled to be released Nov.4, which coincides with the American Wind Energy Association's Wind Forum at East Lansing. The draft report is already generating some sparks. Wind energy advocates claim the report paints a rosy picture of the future of wind power in Michigan. However, those who claim wind energy is neither cost-effective nor the best way of...

New York City's freshly elected Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) pledged to make New Yorkers' access to abortions “my top priority.” The City already has one of the highest rates of abortion in the country with an estimated 41% of pregnancies ending in elective termination of the fetus. Asserting that “excessive human population is the greatest environmental threat to our planet,” de Blasio vowed to “remove every impediment, no matter how minor, to a woman's opportunity to do her duty to fight this scourge on the planet.” One of the largest impediments to freely available abortions is, according to the...

Nuclear scientists are being urged by the former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix to develop thorium as a new fuel. Mr Blix says that the radioactive element may prove much safer in reactors than uranium. His enthusiasm is shared by some in the British nuclear establishment. Scientists at the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) have been encouraged by the government to help research on an Indian thorium-based reactor, and on a test programme in Norway. China is going for a revolutionary approach, devising a next-generation reactor which its supporters say will enable thorium to be used much more safely than...

President Obama on Friday demanded “new strategies” to boost the nation’s resilience to powerful storms, drought, heat waves and other dangerous weather linked to climate change. Obama issued a wide-ranging executive order designed to support “climate resilient” infrastructure investment in states and communities. It also calls on federal agencies to change their policies and rules “to make the Nation's watersheds, natural resources, and ecosystems, and the communities and economies that depend on them, more resilient in the face of a changing climate.” The executive order, echoing Obama’s second-term climate agenda released in June, recognizes that climate change is inevitable even...

(CNSNews.com) – Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Thursday announced a “mitigation strategy” for development projects, including natural gas and oil production, on public lands. It was her first formal “secretarial order” since taking the job. “Today we have an unprecedented opportunity – using science and technology to create a better understanding of landscapes than ever before – to advance important conservation goals and achieve our development objectives together,” Jewell said in a speech at the National Press Club. She said it’s a question of striking the “right balance” between development and conservation and helping businesses to be “good partners and...

Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell vowed that President Obama would use executive authority to create more national monuments to protect lands if Congress doesn't pass legislation to do so. "If Congress doesn't step up to act," Jewell said during a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, "then the president will take action." Obama has used the more than century-old Antiquities Act to establish national monuments nine times, with six coming in the last year. The administration has said it would use the law only if local communities can demonstrate there is significant support for such action. Those...

Earlier this year, the American Legislative Exchange Council released a report titled The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Assault of State Sovereignty that documents the EPA’s ongoing attempts to seize more and more environmental regulatory authority from the states. One trend that the report highlights is the rise of so-called EPA “sue and settle” agreements. As it currently stands, the EPA has more mandates that it can handle due to limited resources and manpower. With sue and settle, the EPA has figured out a way to cut states out of the process and instead negotiate the agency’s priorities with environmental special...

Turmoil is mounting at The Heinz Endowments, the region's second-biggest foundation, with the resignation of its president and reports that the Heinz family's environmental center in Washington is on the brink of closure, members of the nonprofit community say. Robert Vagt on Monday announced his resignation as president of The Heinz Endowments — the fourth key executive to leave this year. Jack Kime, vice president of finance and administration, retired in January, and Caren Glotfelty, senior director of the environmental program at Heinz, and Douglas L. Root, communications director, left in August. Shake-ups of that magnitude raise eyebrows in the...

Colorado - The Gilmore case attracted national attention because he supported demonstrations at an Occupy Wall Street encampment a block away from where the fire was started. Occupy activists were protesting against economic inequality and government policies favoring the wealthy. The early-morning fire caused an estimated $10 million damage to a four-story apartment complex under construction and the occupied Penny Flats condominium and retail building next door.