In the Rockies today, conservation groups push for federal protection of wolverines and Alberta commits $4 billion to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided last March to not list wolverines in the United States as endangered or threatened because wolverine populations in Canada were viable and genetically similar to the 500 or so wolverines in the lower 48 states.
Earthjustice, acting on behalf of 10 conservation groups including the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, is challenging that decision, and filed a notice of intent to sue on Tuesday to get the agency to reconsider its position.
Earthjustice lawyers said, had the agency used a similar rationale on grizzly bears or bald eagles, neither of those species would have ever been listed as endangered, nor would they likely be found today in the lower 48 states.
In Alberta, where high oil prices have boosted the province's projected budget surplus to somewhere near $10 billion, Premier Ed Stelmach has committed $4 billion to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
The money will be evenly divided between two funds, one to further work on carbon capture and sequestration, and the other to improve mass transit systems.
Rockies today
Groups say they'll sue to get federal protection of wolverines
Earthjustice, acting on behalf of 10 conservation groups, filed the preliminary paperwork for a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service challenging the agency's decision not to list the wolverine as an endangered species.
Jackson Hole News & Guide; July 9
USFWS: Preble's mouse threatened in Colorado, not in Wyoming
On Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took the Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse in Wyoming off the agency's list of threatened species, although the species will retain that listing in Colorado.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (AP); July 9
Alberta earmarks $4 billion to capture carbon, build mass transit
In the campaign to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Alberta officials announced Tuesday that they would put $4 billion into two funds, one to fund research on the capture and sequestration of carbon and another to expand the province's mass transit systems.
Toronto Globe and Mail (Reuters); July 8
Lack of financing shackles once-booming Idaho resort
Tamarack Resorts in Idaho made headlines in 2003 as it was one of only a few new ski resorts to get approved in the West in decades, and for four years construction of the homes, shops and restaurants made Donnelly, the small town 95 miles from Boise, a boomtown, but in late 2007, a lack of financing stalled all new construction, delivering a hard economic punch to the town and Valley County.
Wall Street Journal; July 7
Utah valley residents say proposed resort too big for area, road
The developers of Powder Mountain, a proposed ski and golf resort with 3,950 homes and hotel rooms that will straddle two Utah counties near Ogden, said they'll drop their effort to incorporate the Utah resort into its own town using a short-lived state law, if Weber County officials approves the development plan, but area residents said the narrow, winding road won't support all that development.
Salt Lake Tribune; July 9
Obama critical of USFS, Plum Creek closed-door talks on Montana roads
On Tuesday, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama blasted the U.S. Forest Service for conducting closed-door talks with Plum Creek Timber Co. officials about road easements in Montana which could ease development of some of Plum Creek's 250,000 acres of land in the state.
Missoulian; July 9
Ozone levels bust through federal limits in Colorado
New federal ozone limits put in place in March put seven locations in Colorado out of compliance, and state officials said the new federal standards will mean practically every monitor on the Front Range will be in violation.
Denver Post; July 9
Unaffiliated voters largest bloc in Colorado
For the first time in almost two decades, the number of voters who decline affiliation with political parties, are the largest voting bloc in Colorado, with 34.19 percent of the state's 2.9 million registered voters declining party affiliation; 34.14 percent are registered as Republicans and 31.2 percent are registered Democrats.
Denver Rocky Mountain News; July 8
Opinion
Nevada must hear from all sides on Las Vegas water plan
The Nevada state engineer should deny Southern Nevada Water Authority's request to exclude a couple of Utah counties, along with 13 other applicants who want to have their say on the agency's plan to pump groundwater from an area along the Utah-Nevada border to Las Vegas because SNWA's plan could have a considerable, and possibly detrimental, impact on the area.
Deseret News; July 9
9th Circuit Court's decision on timber sale a return to common sense
Now that an 11-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously felled a previous decision of that court which required justices to second guess U.S. Forest Service scientists on timber sales, projects designed to curb wildfire risk can get approved and common sense will once again reign in the nation's forests.
Kalispell Daily Inter Lake; July 9
Beyond the region
Wildfire in N. California destroys 40 homes
As crews successfully defended containment lines on wildfires near Big Sur and Goleta, the 38,000-acre Camp Fire in Northern California leaped a containment line and consumed 40 homes.
Los Angeles Times; July 9
Group of 8 leaders pledge to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050
President Bush, along with the leaders of Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Russia, agreed Tuesday to address global warming by halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, an accord environmentalists said does too little, too late.
New York Times; July 9
Congress returns to D.C. ready to work on energy
After spending a week with their constituents who questioned them about what they're planning to do about rising energy costs, federal lawmakers returned to Washington, D.C. ready to shed the blame game and tackle legislation on the issue, which may include increasing domestic production.
New York Times; July 9
Texas oilman launches $58M campaign to wean nation off foreign oil
T. Boone Pickens, legendary oilman turned hedge-fund manager, said he'll spend $58 million of his own money to cut the nation's dependence on foreign oil more than a third over the next decade, with "The Pickens Plan," based on the installation of thousands of more wind turbines in the center of the country to boost wind-generated electricity supplies and using natural gas for transportation fuel.
Denver Post; July 9
Former EPA official: Cheney's office tried to change climate testimony
Jason K. Burnett, a former Environmental Protection Agency official, declined to name just who in Vice President Dick Cheney's office worked on altering the sworn testimony of EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson before Congress in January on the threat greenhouse gas emissions posed.
Los Angeles Times; July 9
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