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Countries Agree to Write New Climate Action Pact – NUSA DUA, Bali, Indonesia, December 15, 2007 (ENS) – Governments meeting in Bali today agreed to launch negotiations towards a strengthened international climate change pact. The new treaty will be a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires at the end of 2012.

The decision by 187 countries includes a clear agenda for the key issues to be negotiated by 2009. The agenda will cover action for adapting to the negative consequences of climate change, such as droughts and floods; ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; ways to widely deploy climate-friendly technologies; and financing of both adaptation and mitigation measures.

Concluding negotiations in 2009 will ensure that the new deal can enter into force by 2013, following the expiration of the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol.

“This is a real breakthrough, a real opportunity for the international community to successfully fight climate change,” said Indonesian Environment Minister and President of the conference, Rachmat Witoelar. “Parties have recognised the urgency of action on climate change and have now provided the political response to what scientists have been telling us is needed.”

Delegates applauded the consensus, and also the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in appreciation of their hard work and efficiency in guiding the negotiations.

Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said, “We now have a roadmap, we have an agenda and we have a deadline.”

“But we also have a huge task ahead of us and time to reach agreement is extremely short, so we need to move quickly,” he said.

The U.S. delegation at Bali agreed with the consensus early this morning after previously expressing reservations. The United States blocked the inclusion of firm emissions targets by a date certain that were endorsed by the European Union countries and others.

In discussions during the high-level segment of the meeting, which has been underway since Wednesday, Canada’s Environment Minister John Baird said his government is determined to honor existing commitments. Canada ratified the Kyoto Protocol but under the current Conservative government has backed away from its commitment, saying it would be impossible to achieve.

Baird supported a long-term global target to cut emissions in half by 2050. He urged engagement of “all major emitting countries, with appropriate levels of ambition and timetables in a new binding agreement.”

Not waiting for the national governments to reach agreement world mayors and local governments have committed themselves to leadership and action with the launch of a global agreement to address the issue of global warming.

The World Mayors and Local Governments Climate Protection Agreement, introduced Wednesday by Mayor Michael Bloomber of New York, sets forth six commitments that not only address the challenge of climate change, but also accept the opportunities it presents.

“Today, two powerful and historic forces converge – the urbanization of the world’s people and our alteration of the world’s climate,” Mayor Bloomberg told a conference session Wednesday. “Both trends are accelerating.”

“Fifty years ago, fewer than 100 of the world’s cities had populations of one million or more people,” he said. “Within 10 years, nearly 500 cities will.

“The evidence of escalating climate change is indisputable and the world’s cities, which account for 80 percent of humanity’s production of greenhouse gases, recognize that inaction is not an option,” the New York mayor said.

“Let’s focus on what the nations that you represent, and the cities that I speak for, can do, rather than what they can’t,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “In that spirit, I ask you to take these two steps in finalizing the Bali Roadmap.”

“First, set out, honestly and fully, the duties that we all share. If we are to stabilize the world’s climate, science says we must cut carbon emissions by some 60 percent to 80 percent worldwide by mid-century,” he said.

Local governments Wednesday launched the World Mayors and Local Government Climate Protection Agreement, committing themselves to these targets.

“And second, I ask you to make the cities and local governments of the world an integral part of this process,” Bloomberg said.

“Mayors and local governments, if genuinely empowered and resourced, can lead emissions reductions to ensure high global targets are met,” explained Deputy Mayor of London Nicky Gavron. ” Cities and urban areas are responsible for 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. If governments don’t give us the means to deliver deep cuts we cannot avoid catastrophic impacts from climate change.”

The World Mayors and Local Governments Climate Protection Agreement is being launched by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, the World Mayors Council on Climate Change, United Cities and Local Governments, and the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group. Collectively, these organizations represent a majority of global cities and local governments.

“My hope is that when this conference re-convenes in 2008, local officials from every land will be able to speak for themselves, not as outsiders, but as full members of their national delegations, said Mayor Bloomberg. “That will set the stage for their playing a productive role in negotiating the successor to the Kyoto Protocol in Copenhagen in 2009.”

Texas A&M Residence Halls Compete to Conserve Energy – Agriculture students residing on campus have joined in Texas A&M;’s ongoing energy conservation program, which has helped the university avoid multi-millions of dollars in costs.

Texas A&M Residence Halls Compete to Conserve Energy

With one of the nation’s largest on-campus dormitory operations, housing about 11,000 students, the program got a boost this semester when the university’s 29 residence halls began competing to determine which could cut their energy consumption the most.

“It’s highly gratifying to see our students so enthusiastically join in the campus-wide effort to conserve energy and help the university reduce its electrical and related costs,” said Ron Sasse, director of residence life at Texas A&M.;

Motto of the Residence Hall Energy Challenge is “When not in use, turn off the juice.”

The Texas A&M; Office of Energy Management gives computing tips such as:

Turn off your computer at night and when you are not using it for several hours.
Enable the Power Management feature for your monitor.
Turn off your monitor when you are not using your computer for 15 minutes or longer.
If you buy new computer equipment, purchase Energy Star approved equipment.
If you buy a new computer, consider a laptop. Laptops use only 1/10 the energy of a desktop computer.
If you buy a new monitor, consider a flat screen. They use only 1/3 the energy.
Don’t enable screen savers on the computer – they keep the hard drive and monitor active and waste energy.

And in general Texas A&M; asks that students:

Turn off all lights whenever you leave a room or bathroom. Open your blinds on warm, sunny days instead of turning on extra lights. Use energy saving compact fluorescent lamps in your room.
Don’t use decorative lighting (neon, lava, string lights, etc.).
Turn off lights, computers, printers, coffee makers, television, VCR, DVD, radios and other equipment when not in use.
Share a fridge!
Wear a sweater or other clothing appropriate for reduced temperatures in cold weather and higher temperatures in warm weather.
Use low flow control settings on air conditioners whenever leaving the room for an extended period of time, such as evenings and weekends.
Close blinds after sunset on cold days to keep the heat in.
Wash and dry full loads of clothing. Wash clothes in cold water. Clean lint filters after each use.
Conserve water by taking short showers.
Air dry your hair.
Don’t leave water running when brushing your pearly whites or while shaving.
Report energy and water waste to Resident Hall Manager.

Homer Bruner, energy manager, said, “The Residence Hall Energy Challenge was a cooperative effort between hall residents, Residence Life and the Office of Energy Management. It was a joy seeing Aggies getting involved in campus energy conservation and change their individual lifestyles by going green.”

A dorm room at Texas A&M

To make the energy-reduction competition as fair and balanced as possible, the university’s residence halls, were divided into six categories by architecture: ramp-style halls, balcony-style halls, corridor-style halls, halls in the Commons, modular Northside and modular Southside halls.

This year Clements Hall, with A.J. Stramaski as hall director, achieved the highest reduction of 20.15 percent.

The halls in each group with the greatest reduction in energy usage compared to a consumption baseline from last year will be awarded $400 in Department of Residence Life-funded items for their halls. Clements Hall will receive a traveling trophy, engraved with the hall name.

One of the goals of the challenge, sponsored by the Department of Residence Life and Physical Plant Utilities, is to raise awareness of and promote greater campus involvement in conservation while still having fun, organizers say.

The student organizers note another goal is to encourage their fellow students to “go green” and change their individual lifestyles and attitudes about the need for conservation and the importance of sustainability.

They also encourage residence hall students to participate in campus energy conservation as the “right thing to do” to help save money and reduce fossil fuel emissions from power generation plants.

Los Angeles Port Agrees to Monitor Greenhouse Gases – The Los Angeles Harbor Commission on Thursday approved an agreement with the Port of Los Angeles to “identify and reduce” some of the greenhouse gases generated at the port at the same meeting that it approved a proposal to increase ship calls by 30 percent at one of the West Coast’s largest shipping terminals.

Los Angeles Port Agrees to Monitor Greenhouse Gases

The increase will add 1,800 daily truck trips to an overburdened neighboring area where residents have complained of unbreathable air for years.

The commission hearing at Banning’s Landing Community Center in Wilmington drew about 200 people.

The panel voted 4 to 0 to certify the environmental impact report for the $1.5 billion upgrade at the TraPac Terminal.

California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. is seeking to balance that traffic increase with new requirements that the Port of Los Angeles monitor and report its greenhouse gas emissions.
“This path breaking agreement calls for several important steps that will identify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with maritime operations at the Port of Los Angeles,” Attorney General Brown told a December 7 news conference with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Brown and Villaraigosa told reporters the policy is specifically meant to address the global warming impact of the TraPac terminal expansion.

Under the agreement, the port will conduct a comprehensive inventory of port-related greenhouse gases, tracking these emissions from their foreign sources to domestic distribution points throughout the United States.

The port will annually report this data to the California Climate Action Registry, a program which gathers baselines emissions data about greenhouse gases generated in California.

The port will track:

Emissions of all ships bound to and from the Port of Los Angeles terminals, encompassing points of origin and destination

Emissions of all rail transit to and from Port terminals, encompassing major rail cargo destination and distribution points in the United States

Emissions of all truck transit to and from Port terminals, encompassing major truck destinations and distribution points

“Today’s agreement demonstrates the commitment of the City and Port of Los Angeles to take specific and concrete steps to fight global warming,” Brown said.
Under the agreement the Port will construct a 10 megawatt photovoltaic solar system to offset about 17,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.

The Port also is adopting a program to use electricity, rather than fossil fuels, to power ocean-going vessels when in port.

Ocean-going vessels alone emit more carbon dioxide, CO2, emissions than any nation in the world except the United States, Russia, China, Japan, India and Germany.

These emissions are projected to increase nearly 75% during the next 20 years.

“Imports of foreign goods are a growing source of greenhouse gas emissions,” which totals the equivalent of nearly all the emissions from the State of California annually, the attorney general said.

“The need for action to combat climate disruption is urgent,” said Brown.

He quoted Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, the chief of the Noble Peace Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, who said, “If there’s no action before 2012, that’s too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment.”

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that while industrialized countries account for about 80 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, the poorest nations will suffer the most severe consequences of climate change.

Increased flooding from glacier melting could reduce freshwater availability for Central, South, East, and South-East Asia, potentially harming more than a billion people by 2050.

“Disruption of freshwater access in Africa could decrease agricultural production and may threaten up to 250 million people by 2020,” Brown said. “Latin America will likely see a drop in crop productivity due to global warming, leading to an increased risk of starvation.”

Canadian Bulk Carrier Spills Oil Into Maumee River – Droves of cleanup workers spent much of the weekend trying to contain and collect 3,300 gallons of diesel fuel that spilled into Ohio’s Maumee River Friday night by a Canadian bulk carrier.

Canadian Bulk Carrier Spills Oil Into Maumee River

Loaded with grain, the Algonorth was leaving the Midwest Marine Terminal Friday night when the vessel’s stern smashed into the dock, rupturing two fuel tanks 10 feet above the water line, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and company officials.

The 730 foot carrier is owned by Algoma Central Marine of St. Catharines, Ontario and managed by Seaway Marine Transport.

The spill forced a closure of the Maumee River, the largest river flowing into the Great Lakes. Four commercial vessels were delayed as a result. After a 14-hour river closure, the Captain of the Port opened the river just after noon Saturday.

Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Toledo, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the city of Toledo, Environmental Services and oil spill response contractors continue to respond to the spill of 3,100 gallons of light diesel and 200 gallons of blended fuel.

The Coast Guard and clean-up contractors deployed a 2,400 foot boom of containment material in the vicinity of the spill.

An additional 1,600 feet of boom is available but is not needed, since most of the spill will have evaporated or dissipated by now making it unrecoverable, incident team officials said.

BP Oil, Sun Oil and the Northern Ohio and Michigan Aid consortium provided resources to the response.

Boats from Coast Guard Station Toledo and an HH-65 helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Detroit provided surface and aerial patrols to search for impacted areas.

Prevailing winds blew some of the floating fuel to the shore at the Midwest Terminal where workers tried to suck up the fuel with vacuum trucks and absorb it with large pads.

The spill was the largest in the Maumee River in years, officials said, but it could have been far worse. The spill amounted to less than one percent of the fuel on the ship, said Captain John Greenway, vice president of operations for Seaway Marine Transport, which manages the Algonorth.

But the spill worsens environmental conditions on the river, which was just beginning to recover from decades of dumping toxic waste, pesticides and herbicides.

The 1987 U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement lists 43 Areas of Concern – specific geographic regions where aquatic life is impaired. The Maumee River is one of them.

The Great Lakes Wiki information service, which tracks the 43 Areas of Concern, says, “The river has begun to recover and is exhibiting signs of a healthy ecosystem. Walleye are beginning to run and breed on a regular basis. The eagles have begun to re-occupy their niche here as well.”

The spilled fuel spread over about a square mile, but most of it should evaporate, officials said. The cause of the incident is under investigation.

Southeast Governors Speed Up Water Dispute Resolution – The governors of Florida, Georgia and Alabama and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today agreed upon a revised schedule to address the short-term and long-term water supply needs of all three states.

Southeast Governors Speed Up Water Dispute Resolution

The agreement came during a day-long meeting at the Florida Governor’s mansion hosted by Governor Charlie Crist with Governors Sonny Perdue of George and Bob Riley of Alabama at a time when rainfall across most of north Alabama and northwest Georgia is its lowest since 1839.

The three governors agreed to a new date of March 15 for state and federal partners “to develop improved drought strategies,” Governor Crist said. The March 15 date moves the schedule up more quickly than the previously agreed date of June 1.

“Water conservation is precious to our three states,” Crist said. “The people of our state have suffered due to the recent reduction of water flow. Due to recent rainfall, we see increased amounts of water entering Florida that will assist our oystermen,” he said.

While some rain has fallen in south Florida, last week the South Florida Water Management District declared an “extreme District-wide water shortage” and adopted an unprecedented one-day-a-week watering schedule for residential landscape irrigation to conserve regional water supplies.

The governors agreed to send a high level staff delegation to Washington, DC in early January to discuss steps needed to move toward a new drought protocol for the three states that share the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers.

It was also agreed that the governors would meet in February to conclude a tri-state water protocol that would take effect on March 15, 2008.

Representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service participated in today’s meeting to provide factual information on current conditions of both river basins.

The dispute over surface water usage, known as the “tri-state water wars,” began in 1990 when the city of Atlanta, after assessing its projected population growth and future water needs, sought a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to create new reservoirs on the Chattahoochee River, the Flint River, and the Coosa River.

The reservoirs would hold back an additional 529 million gallons of water a day to be stored in Lake Sidney Lanier, Atlanta’s major source of drinking water.

Atlanta’s long-term plan included an increase in withdrawals of 50 percent from the Chattahoochee and the Flint by the year 2010.

But downstream, aquatic life in the Apalachicola Bay on the Gulf of Mexico needs water and so do the people who depend on it.

The Apalachicola Bay fishing industry is responsible for $134 million in direct economic output and an additional $71 million in indirect value-added impacts.

The region produces 90 percent of Florida’s oyster supply, 10 percent of the nation’s oysters, and the state’s third-largest shrimp harvest.

A conservation group says the real problem is that Atlanta’s “uncontrolled growth” has outrun its water supply. The Apalachicola Riverkeeper holds Georgia responsible for allocating water “without regard for the future or downstream users.”

After fighting over these issues in the courts for at least two decades, on November 1, for the first time, the governors of the three states met to discuss the challenges faced by sharing water use during drought conditions in the Southeast.

That meeting opened up communications pathways that resulted in today’s meeting.

Icy Northeast Storm Claims Nine Lives – Winter storm warnings and gale warnings are in effect from the eastern Great Lakes into New England and across central West Virginia today. The U.S. Coast Guard warns that severe weather conditions are expected to continue throughout the day Monday, generating wind gusts up to 50 knots and seas around 25 feet off the coast of the New England states.

Icy Northeast Storm Claims Nine Lives

“We know commercial fishing demand is high during the holiday season, but staying safe is the best gift a fisherman can give his family,” said Lt. Aurora Fleming, a First Coast Guard District Command Center duty officer.

Today, high winds and snow-covered runways are affecting flights across the Great Lakes, New England and the Atlantic states. Flights departing New Jersey’s Newark International airport and New York’s LaGuardia airport are delayed by nearly two hours.

Boston’s Logan airport is experiencing up to one hour detparture delays, and Chicago’s O’Hare airport is delaying flights about half an hour, according to the Federal Avaiation Administration.

But the National Weather Service says most of the snow carried by the storm that swept the region Sunday has now fallen.

Before tapering off, the storm deposited up to 18 inches of snow, claiming at least nine lives. Icy roads were blamed for four deaths in Indiana, two in Michigan and one each in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.

The storm stranded air and road travelers and caused a jet plane to skid off a runway in Rhode Island.

A U.S. Airways Express Flight from Philadelphia carrying 31 passengers and three in crew slid off the runway when it attempted to come in to T.F. Green Airport, with about seven inches of snow on the ground. No injuries were reported.

The airport closed all runways for more than two hours. The incident is under investigation.

About 300 flights at Boston’s busy Logan International Airport were cancelled Sunday, and cancellations occured at Buffalo, New York; Portland, Maine; and Manchester, New Hampshire.

The storm downed power lines across the region, leaving 142,000 customers without power in Pennsylvania and 38,000 in Maryland. A total of 45,000 customers in Virginia and West Virginia and 550 in Delaware are also still in the dark.

In Toledo, Ohio, the University of Toledo winter commencement and other activities were canceled Sunday due to the combination of snow and ice that hit the area.

Winds are expected to continue weakening across much of the Northeast during the day as the intense storm moves farther Northeast away from the United States.

Precipitation in the Northeast will be limited to snow showers in northern New England, much of New York State, northern and western Pennsylvania, and the mountains of West Virginia.

Snow clearing crews and equipment have been hard a work and many roads across upstate New York are now clear. With many main roads all or partially cleared, forecasters are warning drivers to beware of blowing snow that could reduce visibility to as little as a mile.

Winds are expected to reach 15 to 30 mph, with gusts to 40 mph, through early afternoon, said Tom Wasula, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albany, who said blowing and drifting snow would be the biggest problem for motorists.

“Much of the storm has moved to our east, but the effects of significant icing have caused many problems with downed trees blocking roads and triggering power interruptions,” said Richard Flinn, deputy director for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. “We’re not completely out of the woods, yet. People need to continue to monitor weather reports and postpone unnecessary travel.”

If travel is necessary, motorists are advised to drive with extreme caution and be aware of black ice, as well as downed trees and power lines.

The storm blew in less than a week after an ice storm was blamed for at least 38 deaths, mostly in traffic accidents, across the Midwest.

Thousands of homes and businesses still have no electricity in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa.

In Oklahoma, 153,426 customers are still without power, and 47 shelters remain open with 2,400 people.

Kansas officials report 61,089 customers without power, and 52 shelters are still open serving 1,119 people.

In Missouri, 14,900 electricity customers are still in the dark and 13 shelters are open with 139 people; and in Iowa, 2,533 customers are still without power.

Senate Passes Farm Bill Strong on Bioenergy Conservation – The U.S. Senate Friday approved a $286 billion farm bill shepherded through by Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, who chairs the Agriculture Committee. The measure improves farm income protection and makes investments for the future in energy, conservation, nutrition and rural development initiatives.

Senate Passes Farm Bill Strong on Bioenergy Conservation

Harkin hailed passage of the Food and Energy Security Act of 2007, saying it received more votes than any other farm bill since 1973. The final vote count in the Senate was 79-14.

Differences between this bill and the version of the farm bill passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year will now be worked out in conference between the two chambers.

Harkin, a Democrat, says it has not been easy to craft the bill under the threat of a veto by President George W. Bush. The 79 votes in favor would be more than enough to overcome a presidential veto.

Still, the Bush administration maintains its opposition to the bill. Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner said Friday, “Farmers and ranchers face enormous uncertainties and deserve a safety net, and I am a firm believer in federal support of agriculture. Yet, the farm bill just passed by the Senate fails to strengthen the safety net and increases taxes to generate $15 billion in revenue used to grow the size and scope of government.”

Conner said the Bush administration opposes income support for wealthy farmers contained in the bill. “The bill further increases price supports and continues to send farm subsidies to people who are among the wealthiest two percent of Americans,” Conner said. “The Senate-passed farm bill does not represent fiscal stewardship and lacks farm program reform.”

“This legislation is fundamentally flawed,” he said. “Unless the House and Senate can come together and craft a measure that contains real reform, we are no closer to a good farm bill than we were before today’s passage.”

Switchgrass can yield almost twice as much ethanol as corn, estimates geneticist Ken Vogel. (Photo by Brett Hampton courtesy USDA)
“This is a strong, bipartisan bill – evident by the fact that it passed Committee after only one day of deliberation with no negative votes voiced against it and passed the Senate today by an overwhelming majority,” Harkin said.

Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Ranking Republican Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee who coauthored the measure, called passage of the bill “a real victory for American agriculture.”

“The legislation will strengthen the nation’s food security, protect the livelihood of our farmers and ranchers, preserve our efforts to remain good stewards of the environment, and enhance our nation’s energy security efforts,” said Chambliss. “I consider a safe, affordable and abundant food supply a critical national security interest and this bill takes us in the right direction to ensure those priorities.”

The nutrition title received the largest funding increase, totaling over $5 billion. Chambliss says the increase was “no small accomplishment” and additional resources were made available by reductions in the commodity and crop insurance programs.

“After months of negotiations, we were able to work within a very strict budget allocation to complete our work and pass a farm bill that is good for agriculture, good for rural areas and good for the health of Americans,” said Harkin.

“The nutrition title strengthens our commitment to fighting hunger and promoting sound health and nutrition,” he said. “It updates archaic nutrition program rules, increases Food Stamp benefit levels, and stops the erosion of benefits that has gone unchecked since 1996.”

The bill expands the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program to reach nearly 4.5 million children in elementary schools nationwide.

The energy title provides investments in farm-based energy by creating initiatives with financial incentives to help farmers transition into biomass crops, and supports the construction of biorefineries for cellulose ethanol with a loan guarantee program that will provide up to 80 percent of total project cost with a loan cap of $250 million.

The bill expands markets for biobased products, and invests in farm-based energy R&D;, and in helping farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses move to renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The National Farmers Union, NFU, which represents 250,000 farm and ranch families, says the Senate bill includes many of its top farm bill priorities such as creation of a standing disaster assistance program to aid producers affected by devastating weather conditions.

“Farmers and ranchers across the country, unfortunately, are going to be affected by natural disasters. A permanent disaster program will provide the certainty they need when a disaster strikes,” said NFU President Tom Buis.

“The Senate farm bill includes record investments in nutrition, conservation, renewable energy and specialty crop programs while maintaining a strong safety net for producers when prices fall,” Buis said.

“A strong safety net is vital to a successful farm bill,” he said. “Past experience has taught us that any farm bill will work during good price years but is really needed during times of low prices. The Senate farm bill will see farmers through the good and the bad.”

The National Corn Growers Association applauded passage of the bill. “Corn growers nationwide are pleased by the Senate’s support for advancing an optional revenue-based safety net for farmers,” said Ron Litterer, president of the association.

“This is a forward-looking farm bill with greatly strengthened initiatives to support renewable energy, conservation, nutrition, rural development and to promote better diets and health for all Americans,” Harkin said. “It maintains a strong safety net for farm producers, and strengthens programs that will help agricultural producers of all kinds across our nation.”

The bill includes a newly named Producer Income Protection title of that continues basic features of the 2002 bill, which have worked well, and it gives producers a new option, beginning with the 2010 crop year, to choose to participate in a state-level revenue protection system.

“The Average Crop Revenue program offers producers better options for managing risk on their farms in today’s uncertain, rapidly changing farm environment,” Harkin said.

Yet Acting Agriculture Secretary Conner says farmers themselves oppose income protection provisions of the bill. “We have heard from farmers all across America in over 50 Farm Bill Forums since 2005, and most have made it clear that there must be an end to income subsidy payments for the richest people in the country.”

“Farmers understand that a program that takes tax dollars from middle income America and transfers those dollars to the nation’s wealthiest few is bad policy, and damages the credibility and the purpose of farm programs,” Conner said Friday.

The conservation title extends key conservation programs and increases critical funding. This will allow CSP – now renamed the Conservation Stewardship Program – to grow vigorously at a pace of more than 13 million acres a year, which with the 15 million acres already enrolled, will equal 80 million acres in 5 years.

This funding will also continue to allow increased enrollment in the Wetland Reserve Program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and the Grassland Reserve Program.

The bill’s livestock title will promote market opportunities for producers; it will protect animal health; and it will strengthen enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act. This title strengthens the mandatory Country of Origin Labeling, with minor changes.

The rural development title provides $400 million in budget authority for a variety of initiatives that will promote economic growth and create jobs in rural communities. This title will help agriculture producers and small businesses to create and capitalize on new opportunities. It will bring quality, affordable day care as well as improved access to broadband to rural America. It will provide loans to rural hospitals so that they can acquire the best equipment possible.

The bill increases assistance to growers of fruits, vegetables and other specialty crops and contains a full reauthorization of the Commodity Exchange Act until 2013.

New Jersey Sues Over Pennsylvania Power Plant Pollution – Because air pollution recognizes no borders, the state of New Jersey today filed suit against the owner of a coal-fired power plant across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania.

New Jersey Sues Over Pennsylvania Power Plant Pollution

Alleging that Reliant Energy MidAtlantic Power Holdings modified its coal-fired Portland Generating Station in Pennsylvania in ways that increased emissions, New Jersey filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania.

The lawsuit alleges that Reliant has violated the federal Clean Air Act by modifying and operating the Portland power plant without required pollution control equipment and construction permits and without the best available pollution control technology.

The Portland plant is located in Northampton County less than a mile from New Jersey’s western border. It is upwind and directly across the Delaware River from New Jersey’s Warren County, inhabited by about 105,000 people.

“The Portland Generating Station continues to operate each day in violation of federal law, and pollutants from the plant continue to carry across the Delaware River on prevailing winds, harming the air breathed by New Jersey residents,” said Attorney General Anne Milgram.

A July 2007 report by the Environmental Integrity Project entitled “Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants,” ranks Portland as number five in terms of having the highest sulfur dioxide emission rate per megawatt generated in the entire country.

Enough is enough,” said Lisa Jackson, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, DEP. “It seems that we cannot rely on Reliant, except to put the public in harm’s way.

The fact is, while Reliant continues to shirk its environmental responsibilities, New Jersey residents are being exposed to a host of pollutants, and we simply will not let this go on,” Jackson said.

New Jersey’s lawsuit asks the court to enjoin Reliant from operating the Portland plant unless it is in compliance with the Clean Air Act.

The complaint also asks that Reliant be required to install and operate “best available” control technologies for each pollutant.

The lawsuit also asks that Reliant be ordered to conduct an audit of its operations to determine if any additional plant modifications have occurred that are not included among those discussed in the state’s complaint.

The lawsuit seeks assessment of “an appropriate civil penalty” against Reliant and the other defendants who are previous owners of the power plant, and asks the court to award New Jersey legal fees and costs associated with bringing the lawsuit.

New Jersey tried to address the increased emissions from the Portland power plant through a variety of legal actions over the past year.

In December 2006, the state filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, for violating the Clean Air Act by not responding to a petition from the DEP that objected to a proposed operating permit for the plant.

When federal agency had not acted on the petition by February, the state filed suit contending that the agency was not doing its job, and that its failure to act on New Jersey’s objection was contributing to the state’s inability to attain its clean air goals.

On June 20, the EPA issued a final order denying the New Jersey petition request. The state responded by filing an appeal of the EPA ruling in the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals. That appeal is still pending, as is a petition for reconsideration of the original denial filed with EPA.

“This facility poses an environmental danger, and our concerns have not been given due consideration by the EPA,” Attorney General Milgram said.

The state’s petition for reconsideration before the EPA asserts that increases in air emissions at the Portland Generating Station would violate national air quality standards designed to protect public health in the vicinity of the plant both in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Zoos and Aquariums Celebrate 10 Wildlife Conservation Successes – From breeding toads back from extinction to developing a hormone test for North Atlantic right whales, 200 zoos and aquariums across the United States are working as members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to ensure the survival of rare and endangered animals. Today they issued a Top 10 List of wildlife conservation success stories for 2007.

Zoos and Aquariums Celebrate 10 Wildlife Conservation Successes

In the last five years, facilities accredited by the nonprofit Association of Zoos and Aquariums, AZA, funded 3,693 conservation projects in more than 100 countries. Annual spending on conservation by member organizations averages nearly $70 million per year.

AZA President and CEO Jim Maddy said, “The 2007 top 10 list is just a small sample of the important work of AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums.”

From amphibians to dolphins to gorillas, “AZA accredited institutions and their partners are at the forefront of wildlife conservation here in North America and around the world,” said Maddy.

Top 10 AZA Wildlife Conservation Success Stories of 2007

1. Wyoming toads Staff at the Detroit Zoo are raising 40 juvenile Wyoming toads, one of the most endangered amphibians in the United States. The species is now considered functionally extinct in the wild, with the last remaining individuals only found in zoos and aquariums across the country. The zoo breeding partnership, led by Central Park Zoo and Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, has successfully released more than 6,000 tadpoles, toadlets and toads in Wyoming since the programbegan in 1995. This summer in a monitored protected area, conservationists discovered the first clutch of Wyoming toad eggs found in the wild in 10 years.

2. Perdido Key beach mice This summer, Santa Fe Community College Teaching Zoo in Gainesville, Florida, began housing 52 Perdido Key beach mice to protect the species from extinction. The mice originated from the University of South Carolina, but needed to be relocated after damage from Hurricane Ivan. The Brevard Zoo , Florida Aquarium and Palm Beach Zoo have since shared in the responsibility of caring for and studying the mice. There are only a few hundred individuals left in the wild, inhabiting one barrier island off the coast of Pensacola. Scientists fear that a hurricane could be disastrous to the beach mice. Breeding studies have commenced to safeguard their numbers.

3. North Atlantic right whales The world’s rarest large whale, fewer than 400 North Atlantic right whales currently exist in the world, and are threatened by ship collisions and entanglement in fishing gear, habitat loss, pollution, and disease. The New England Aquarium’s Right Whale Research Project has developed a hormone test to learn more about the reproductive rates of the endangered species.

4. Black-and-white ruffed lemurs Black-and-white ruffed lemurs born in zoos are getting a feel for their new home at the Betampona Natural Reserve in eastern Madagascar. The Madagascar Fauna Group and the Duke Lemur Center coordinated the plan to reintroduce zoo-bred lemurs to the wild, with the help of other partners and institutions, including Salt Lake City’s Hogle Zoo , the Los Angeles Zoo and the Santa Ana Zoo. The released lemurs have done well so far, with four offspring born from three mothers.

5. Kemp’s ridley sea turtles The Kemp’s ridley sea turtle population is in bad shape, but cooperation between U.S and Mexican officials and scientists is protecting nesting sites. The Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas, and Mexican conservation workers have protected the turtles’ nesting sites on beaches in Tamaulipas, Mexico and Padre Island National Seashore. The zoo reports an increase in nests by the hundreds each year on the Mexican Gulf Coast, indicating success of the program.

6. Grevy’s zebras The Saint Louis Zoo has partnered with several Kenyan non-profits help Grevy’s zebras that are threatened in Kenya by poaching and competition from livestock. Efforts to raise awareness in Kenyan villages have been paying off. Several communities have established livestock-free conservation areas, which benefit not only the zebras, but all forms of wildlife in the region. Over 30 Grevy’s zebra foals have been born and raised at the Saint Louis Zoo over the past five decades.

7. Great white sharks For the third time since 2004, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has placed a young white shark on public exhibit. The shark was caught accidentally in commercial fishing gear off Southern California. Through its White Shark Research Project, the Aquarium has worked since 2002 to learn more about white sharks in the wild, and has since tagged and tracked 10 juvenile white sharks off Southern California. White sharks are in decline worldwide, in part because they are slow to reproduce and because of growing fishing pressure. Their fearsome reputation has also made them a target of trophy hunters and the curio trade. The aquarium hopes its exhibit will change public attitudes and promote greater protection for these ocean predators.

8. Florida butterflies The Florida Butterfly Monitoring Network, which includes Brevard Zoo, Central Florida Zoo , Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the Jacksonville Zoo , Lowry Park Zoo, and Miami MetroZoo, is working to survey butterfly populations throughout Florida. Volunteer citizen scientists trained by the zoos conduct monthly counts of butterflies in both natural and manufactured habitats on zoo grounds.

9. Vancouver Island marmot The Vancouver Island marmot is the most endangered animal in Canada. Native to British Columbia’s Vancouver Island, these creatures are being threatened by massive habitat destruction in the wild. Their current wild population is estimated at nearly 50 animals, but thanks to breeding centers devoted to the species, such as the Toronto Zoo , the population is now around 150. Calgary Zoo in Alberta was the first to successfully breed the marmots at their facility, and produced an impressive five litters in 2007.

The Vancouver Island Marmot lives only in the alpine areas of the mountains on central Vancouver Island. The zoo plans to reintroduce the pups in their natural habitat at Mount Washington, British Columbia.

10. Bald eagle America’s national symbol, the bald eagle, this year was removed from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Endangered Species List. This was a grand feat for the species, which just a decade ago faced dwindling populations.

The San Francisco Zoo has been instrumental in breeding and releasing captive eagles, and has reintroduced more than 100 bald eagles over the past 22 years. The zoo reports about 200 nesting pairs of bald eagles in California today.

Two New Mammals Found in Remote New Guinea – A miniscule possum and an enormous rat were recorded by scientists as probable new species on a recent expedition to a remote and virtually unknown area of Indonesia in the pristine wilderness of western New Guinea’s Foja Mountains.

Two New Mammals Found in Remote New Guinea

Scientists with Conservation International and the Indonesia Institute of Science, LIPI, were accompanied by the first film crew to obtain footage of the region and its wildlife on an expedition to the Fojas in June 2007.

The scientists discovered dozens of new plants and animals on their first expedition to the region in late 2005.

A National Geographic photographer/scientist and a CBS News camera crew joined the team as they returned to the mountains. An account of the 2007 expedition was aired on the CBS News program, “60 Minutes” on December 16.

“It’s comforting to know that there is a place on earth so isolated that it remains the absolute realm of wild nature,” said Conservation International Vice President Bruce Beehler, who led the expedition.

“We were pleased to see that this little piece of Eden remains as pristine and enchanting as it was when we first visited.”

The Foja Wilderness is part of the Mamberamo Basin, the largest unroaded tropical forest in the Asia Pacific region.

Conservation International says that “as the global community searches for solutions to climate change, large untouched forested areas such as these will become more and more valuable as essential carbon sinks.”

The cutting and burning of tropical forests worldwide emits at least 20 percent of total global greenhouse gases. Protecting these forests minimizes the impact of climate change while providing direct benefits to local populations, such as fresh water, clean air, food, seed dispersal, pollination and sources of medicines, the environmental group says.

The Indonesian government has declared the region a national wildlife sanctuary, and Conservation International is working with the government and local communities to build on this conservation success and ensure even greater protection of the area.

During the June expedition, the team documented two mammals, a Cercartetus pygmy possum, one of the world’s smallest marsupials, and a Mallomys giant rat, both currently under study and apparently new to science.

They also recorded the mating displays of several rare birds for the first time.

“The giant rat is about five times the size of a typical city rat,” said Kristofer Helgen, a scientist with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. “With no fear of humans, it apparently came into the camp several times during the trip.”

The film crew obtained the first film documentation of several spectacular birds found in Foja, capturing on tape the full courtship displays of the golden-fronted bowerbird, Amblyornis flavifrons, and of the black sicklebill bird of paradise, Epimachus fastuosus.

They also recorded the “lost” Bird of Paradise, Parotia berlepschi, known as Berlepsch’s six-wired bird of paradise – and the newly described wattled smoky honeyeater, Melipotes carolae, both known only from the Foja Mountains.

Conservation International and LIPI plan another expedition back to the Foja Mountains in late 2008 or 2009. This time they will seek to survey the summit forests of the highest peak, and the little-studied lower montane elevations.

The scientists predict they will find more new species of frogs, mammals, butterflies, and plants.