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WGA on energy, water: As Chairman of the Western Governors' Association,
Utah governor lays out agenda on energy and water
Aug. 14, 2008
Energy
- Colorado the test state for old vs. new energy
Colorado's wind-generated power capacity has quadrupled over the past 18 months, and Xcel Energy is now the largest provider of wind power in the nation, and with a battle brewing over new regulations on the fossil-fuel industry to protect wildlife and public health from the effects of drilling, the state has become ground zero in the nation's energy debate.
Washington Post; 08/18/2008
- Wind power projects provide economic boom to rural Wyoming
The construction of Rocky Mountain Power's Glenrock, Rolling Hills and Glenrock III wind farms in Wyoming's Converse County are not only providing hundreds of jobs to general laborers, crane operators, electricians, truck drivers, engineers and others, but those workers are filling up motels in the county's small towns and bringing new customers into other businesses.
Casper Star-Tribune; 08/17/2008
- Nevada senator calls for federal funding of renewable energy projects
At the National Clean Energy Summit at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Sen. Harry Reid, Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens, industry and research officials all said that the nation's efforts to tap into renewable energy needs the full support and funding of the federal government.
Las Vegas Review-Journal; 08/20/2008
Water
- McCain's Colorado River remark astonishes Wyoming governor
U.S. Sen. John McCain's remark last week that he believed the seven Western states that are parties in the 1922 Colorado River Compact should renegotiate the agreement prompted an immediate response from Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal who said he preferred a presidential candidate with no knowledge of the compact rather than one who was leaning toward reworking the accord for the benefit of the lower basin states.
Casper Star-Tribune; 08/21/2008
Utah governor says he's open to reworking 1922 Colorado River pact
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said he's open to Arizona Sen. John McCain's suggestion that the 1922 Colorado River Water Compact be reviewed, and for that reason Huntsman, who serves as the chairman of the Western Governors' Association, put water on the association's agenda this year.
Salt Lake Tribune; 08/21/2008
Fact & Fiction and the Bookstore at the University of Montana offer a review of offer a review of Courtney White's Revolution on the Range: The Rise of a New Ranch in the American West
July 28, 2008
Sept. 8-11: The U.S. Geological Survey's Third Interagency Conference on Research in the Watersheds, Estes Park, Colo. Read a preview.
Sept. 15-17: Headwaters Summit: Re-visioning how we use water in a changing climate, Missoula, Mont. Read a preview.
Sept. 22-24: The 32nd Annual Public Land Law Conference, "A Federal Lands Agenda for the 21st Century," Missoula, Mont. Read a preview.
Colorado utility board OKs Xcel's plan to shut down coal plants
Xcel Energy, Inc., Colorado's largest utility, got the go-ahead from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to shut down two coal-fired power plants in the state, the first time in the United States a utility has volunteered to shut down a plant to limit carbon emissions, and has received regulatory approval to do so.
Denver Business Journal; 08/21/2008
Company puts out bid requests on Canadian 'clean-coal' plant
Canada's first effort to build a coal-fired power plant that will capture and sequester carbon dioxide is different from the United States' now-scuttled FutureGen plant, in that the Saskatchewan project refurbishes an existing plant, rather than building one from the ground up, and the Canadian project also incorporates oil recovery, which will help to offset costs.
Bloomberg.com; 08/22/2008
U.S. House models renewable-energy bill after Germany's
Germany has jumped to the forefront in the world in the production of wind and solar energy, pushed ahead by a pioneering law that requires utilities to pay top dollar for electricity generated by renewable sources, and the U.S. House is considering similar legislation.
Christian Science Monitor; 08/21/2008
EPA grants more time to appeal decision on Desert Rock air permit
The Environmental Protection Agency extended the deadline to appeal its decision to grant an air-quality to the proposed coal-fired Desert Rock power plant in the Four Corners region to Oct. 2; the EPA's decision also allows Desert Rock representatives to participate in the appeals process but declined opponents' request to stay its decision on the plant's carbon-dioxide emissions.
Durango Herald; 08/22/2008
Utah pushes conservation to meet new demand for water
Nevada is second only to Nevada in per-person water use, and Utah water officials are pushing residents to conserve the precious resource, especially in the Salt Lake Valley, where 1 million Utahns have about 11 years before demand outpaces supply.
Salt Lake Tribune; 08/19/2008
Report lowers N.M. city's projected water shortfall
An updated report released by the Jemez y Sangre Water Planning Council reduced an estimate released five years ago that Santa Fe would have a 4 billion-gallon-a-year water shortfall in 2040 to just 1.4 billion gallons, but warned that climate change or an extended drought could again increase the gap between available water and demand in the New Mexico city.
Santa Fe New Mexican; 08/21/2008
Idaho DEQ releases new data on nitrate levels in groundwater
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality released new data on nitrate levels in groundwater, and while levels in the Cassia and Minidoka county areas haven't changed much from the 2002 levels, their standing in the state rankings dropped from third highest to eighth, and from ninth to 13th, respectively.
Twin Falls Times-News; 08/20/2008
DOE's application for Nevada n-waste repository under review
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said if the Department of Energy's 8,600-page application to build a national nuclear-waste repository in Nevada's Yucca Mountain is deemed complete, the matter could be placed on the NRC's docket in September, which would set the clock ticking on the agency's three-year review.
Denver Post; 08/20/2008
Idaho tribe withdraws from salmon negotiations
Nez Perce tribal officials said they would no longer participate in negotiations with the United States government over its plan to keep hydroelectric dams in operation during ongoing efforts to restore imperiled salmon and steelhead populations, but that the tribe would remain involved in litigation challenging the government's plan.
Twin Falls Times-News (AP); 08/22/2008
Arizona tribe returns to flood-devastated village
The good news in Sunday's flood of Havasu Canyon in the Grand Canyon is that no one died, but as the Havasupai people return to their Supai village homes, the devastation caused by the flood was hard to bear.
Arizona Republic; 08/20/2008
Lessons learned in Yellowstone fires change some policies, not others
Twenty years ago today, the Yellowstone fires doubled in size on what is now called Black Saturday, and over the past two decades, fire has made its way back into forest ecosystem management to a point, although efforts to fight wildfires in remote areas of northern California have been criticized, and the criticism increased when nine people died when a helicopter carrying firefighters into the wilderness crashed.
Idaho Statesman; 08/20/2008
Crews get a handle on Idaho wildfires
Firefighters expect to have the 32,000-acre North Minidoka fire in south-central Idaho fully contained today, and full containment is also expected on the 674-acre Pagari Bridge fire and the 120-acre Paymaster fire, while the 4,700-acre South Barker fire was being allowed to burn in the Sawtooth National Forest, although crews are actively working to keep it out of the Boise National Forest.
Twin Falls Times-News; 08/20/2008
USFS attacks Nevada wildfire as it wanders out of wilderness
Crews began to work a wildfire that has burned 8,400 acres in the Jarbidge Wilderness Area of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada near the Idaho border over the past two weeks to keep the wildfire from spreading east.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (AP); 08/22/2008
Battle over uranium mining moves to Grand Canyon's edge
Uranium mines from the 1950s still leach radioactive material into the Grand Canyon where the hot water is diluted down by the Colorado River, but with many more such mines now being contemplated, Arizona's governor, along with water authorities from two states and scientists are concerned about the cumulative effect such mines might have on the river, which provides drinking water to millions of residents of the southwest United States.
Christian Science Monitor; 08/20/2008
Proposal would change gun laws in national parks in 6 Western states
The Interior Department's proposed change to a 25-year gun ban in national parks would bring the laws in the parks in line with the laws of the states in which they lie, which means concealed weapons would be allowed in national parks in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming, as well as 18 other states that allow concealed guns in state parks.
Christian Science Monitor; 08/21/2008
Utah company says it has low-water solution to oil-shale work
Using $250 million in funding from GE Energy Financial Services, Utah-based 212 Resources says it has developed a way to pull oil out of the Green River shale formation that stretches from Wyoming through Colorado into Utah that doesn't use a lot of water, although a large-scale test of the method has yet to be done.
Deseret News; 08/17/2008
High mercury levels in Idaho fish prompt health warning
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare said high levels of mercury found in both smallmouth and largemouth bass in Idaho lakes, rivers and reservoirs made consumption of the fish by women and children a health concern.
Twin Falls Times-News (Lewiston Tribune); 08/19/2008
Clean energy summit could put Nevada's efforts into gear
Nevada's potential for clean energy has hardly been tapped, but the National Clean Energy Summit scheduled this week at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas could apply the gas.
Las Vegas Sun; 08/18/2008
Utah should consider fee for building in disaster-prone areas
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to impose a 1.4 percent surcharge on insurance premiums on homes and commercial property built in disaster-prone areas and use the money to pay for firefighting and rescue services, an idea Utah may want to consider.
Salt Lake Tribune; 08/19/2008
ESA changes won't put species in danger
The proposed changes to the federal Endangered Species Act would allow projects that would not affect or pose no significant threat to endangered species to go forward without consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. A letter from Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.
New York Times; 08/19/2008
Congress needs to make roadless rule a law
The best way to end the legal shenanigans over the Clinton-era rule that banned development in the nearly 60 million acres of roadless federal forest lands would be for Congress to pass a law making the rule a firm law.
New York Times; 08/21/2008
Alt-energy projects in Wyoming, Montana deserve support, scrutiny
As the nation's rush to ethanol has proven, all energy sources have some sort of drawback, but alternative resources must be found and the proposed coal-to-diesel plant in Wyoming, the Crow Tribe's partnership with an Australian company to build a coal-to-liquid plant on its land in Montana and the cellulosic ethanol plant in Butte deserve not only the public's support, but its scrutiny to ensure the drawbacks don't outweigh the benefits.
Billings Gazette; 08/22/2008
Utah, Idaho congressmen team up on federal lands legislation
At a meeting of government and education officials in Idaho Monday, Utah Congressman Rob Bishop and Idaho U.S. Rep. Bill Sali discussed legislation crafted to reflect the Council of State Governments-West's Action Plan for Public Lands and Education initiative, which would allow states to use up to 5 percent of federal lands contained within their borders to fund public education.
Coeur d'Alene Press; 08/19/2008
Kempthorne tried changing ESA when he was Idaho senator
The changes proposed by the Bush administration to the federal Endangered Species Act are similar to reforms championed by Dirk Kempthorne when he served as Idaho's U.S. senator more than a decade ago, and although that legislation had support from both sides of the aisle in Congress, the political environment today means an uphill battle for Interior Secretary Kempthorne.
Idaho Statesman; 08/17/2008
Colorado senator's bill would allow Army to buy land for Pinon expansion
Colorado Republican Sen. Wayne Allard said he'll sponsor legislation that would allow the U.S. Army to buy the land it needs to expand its Fort Carson's Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in southeast Colorado, calling the legislation a win-win for both the Army and landowners willing to sell their land.
Denver Post; 08/20/2008
Change in primary schedule on Republican Party's agenda
When Republicans gather in Minnesota early next month to nominate Arizona Sen. John McCain as their party's presidential candidate, they will also consider a new primary schedule for the 2012 presidential race, one that will pack a number of state primaries on three successive Tuesdays late in the primary season, which would rotate every four years.
Washington Post; 08/22/2008
Colorado AG makes claim for $39.8M for holding illegal immigrants
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers sent a letter to the state's congressional delegation detailing $39.8 million the state spent incarcerating illegal immigrants last fiscal year, for which the state received only $3.3 million in reimbursement from the federal government, and asking them to seek additional reimbursement.
Denver Post; 08/19/2008
Democrats don't have candidates in 40 percent of Idaho races
The Democratic Party doesn't have a candidate in 39 state legislative races in Idaho, with most of those races in areas where Republican candidates have broad support.
Idaho Statesman; 08/18/2008
N.M. lawmakers end special session, say it was a waste of time, money
Lawmakers reluctantly passed scaled-down versions of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's taxpayer rebate and children's health insurance plans during a five-day special session that ended Tuesday.
Santa Fe New Mexican; 08/20/2008
Bishop, Hatch tout oil-shale's potential to Utah lawmakers
U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch and U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop were in Salt Lake City to talk with Utah legislators about the challenges the federal lawmakers face on shaping the nation's energy policy, but they primarily focused on development of oil-shale resources in the state.
Salt Lake Tribune; 08/21/2008
Montana study details cost of protecting homes from wildfires
At a hearing Wednesday before the Montana Legislature's Fire Suppression Interim Committee, Headwaters Economics (no relation to this publication) officials provided lawmakers with detailed analysis of what the state spent protecting homes built in the wildland-urban interface from wildfires in 2006 and 2007.
Great Falls Tribune; 08/21/2008
Groups criticize Montana's proposed climate-change recommendations
A group of Montana's top conservation and environmental groups charge that the 11 draft recommendations on climate change crafted by the Legislature's Environmental Quality Council don't adequately address the most urgent recommendations made by the Governor's Climate Change Advisory Committee.
Great Falls Tribune; 08/22/2008
Asarco files $2.4-billion plan to settle environmental, asbestos claims
Arizona-based Asarco LLC, the world's third-largest copper producer, filed its bankruptcy reorganization plan on Monday that would settle the $8.7 billion it owes for environmental and asbestos claims for $2.4 billion; Asarco's parent company Grupo Mexico is expected to file a competing plan, and a federal bankruptcy court and the company's creditors must still sign off on any reorganization plan.
Arizona Republic; 08/19/2008
U.S. billionaires take a tour of Alberta oilsands operations
Two of the world's richest people, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, spent Monday touring oilsands operations in Alberta, partly out of curiosity, but also with investment opportunities in mind.
Edmonton Journal; 08/20/2008
- Natural gas, oil production down in Alberta
Natural gas production is the single largest driver in the Alberta economy, providing 60 percent of the provincial royalty revenue, which makes the news that natural gas production is down sharply of concern, and a drop in oil production in the province has made the energy sector in Canada the weakest performer in the national economy.
Calgary Herald; 08/22/2008
Four Montana schools qualify for DOE wind-energy program
A program jointly sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Western Communities Energy and NorthWestern Energy in Montana will build wind turbines at schools in Cascade, Fairfield, Stanford and Livingston and will provided classes on wind energy and technology at those Montana schools.
Great Falls Tribune; 08/20/2008
National laboratory picks Montana State U. for wind center
Montana State University will get $40,000 a year for the next three years from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to establish a Wind Applications Center and to offer classes in wind-related technology.
Billings Gazette; 08/21/2008
Arizona utility offers customers loans for solar-power projects
In an effort to meet state mandates on renewable energy, the Arizona Public Service Co. launched a program to provide its customers with low-interest loans to install solar panels on their homes.
Arizona Republic; 08/22/2008
NRC official tours nation's largest uranium mine in Wyoming
During a tour of the Cameco Inc.'s Smith Ranch-Highland in-situ leach uranium mine in Wyoming, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Dale Klein said his agency has received four new applications for in-situ uranium mining permits in Wyoming, and that agency experts expect another 13 will be received for such projects in the Cowboy State over the next three years.
Casper Star-Tribune; 08/21/2008
Idaho homebuilder's bankruptcy rumbles through local economy
The bankruptcy of the owner of the now-defunct Crestwood Construction, an Idaho company that was once a major home builder in Idaho and Utah, will leave 800 creditors, including painters, house cleaners and suppliers with $11 million in unsecured debt, and some Idaho cities with the modern-day version of ghost towns: unfinished subdivisions littered with partially complete homes and construction debris.
Idaho Statesman; 08/21/2008
D.C. appeals court hands EPA another judicial rebuke
A federal appeals court tossed a rule put place in 2006 by the Environmental Protection Agency that limited states' ability to require monitoring of some industrial emissions.
New York Times; 08/20/2008
French firm to add uranium recovery to Washington state plant
Areva and the University of Idaho teamed up to create a process to remove enriched uranium from ashes of materials incinerated at the French company's plant in Richland, Wash.
Tri-City Herald; 08/22/2008
Firefighting disaster reflects USFS's reliance on private contractors
Only one of the nine people killed in the crash of a helicopter ferrying fire crews from a remote site in northern California earlier this month was a U.S. Forest Service employee; seven were privately contracted firefighters and the eighth was a pilot from a private contractor as well.
New York Times; 08/18/2008
Gregoire, Rossi are again in the race to be Washington governor
Washington state's new primary system, in which the two candidates who get the most votes advance to the primary regardless of party affiliation, resulted in few surprises on Tuesday, with incumbent Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire and her Republican challenger in 2004, Dino Rossi, advancing to the November election.
Spokane Spokesman-Review; 08/20/2008
Oregon, tribes push for higher water standards
Oregon's current water quality standard considers residents eat just more than a half an ounce of fish each day, but tribal officials, along with state and federal authorities, want to raise that standard to a more realistic 6.2 ounces, a decision that would make Oregon's waters much cleaner; Washington's standard is about twice Oregon's current standard but state officials there said they'll review that standard when Oregon is done.
Portland Oregonian; 08/22/2008
Montana's Glacier Park losing icons of its name
The glaciers that earned Glacier National Park its name 100 years ago are melting away, just as changes are killing Joshua Trees in California's Joshua Tree National Park, and drying up the glades in Florida's Everglades.
Missoulian; 08/18/2008
Hotter temperatures send Glacier's 'rock rabbits' ever higher
Sightings of the pika, a small mammal related to rabbits, that live high above tree lines in nation's highest climates, are becoming increasingly rarer in Glacier National Park, and some say the pika may be the canary in the coal mine of climate change. Another in a series.
Missoulian; 08/18/2008
- Groups sue USFWS to put pika on endangered species list
A lawsuit filed in federal court in California alleges the pika, a tiny rabbitlike animal that lives high above the treeline on some of the West's highest mountain peaks, is threatened by climate change, and that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should stop dragging its feet and put the pika on the federal endangered species list.
Santa Fe New Mexican (McClatchy Newspapers); 08/20/2008
New challenges confront Montana national park in its next century
Glacier National Park will celebrate its centennial on May 10, 2010, and while preparations are under way for the big anniversary, the Montana park's next century is fraught with changing climate conditions and uncertain funding for infrastructure projects. First in a series.
Missoulian; 08/17/2008
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