Titanic Post

by Ken Nicholson

As you have probable guessed by now, both sides of the climate change issue have their own scientists. If you look closely, however, you will see that the skeptics among the scientists have affiliations or funding from large and powerful corporations that have a financial interest in supporting the idea that human driven global warning is a hoax. Those scientists who have found evidence supporting global warming and human causes tend to have more neutral sources of funding. (more…)

Printed in “Republicans for Environmental Protection”

By John R. E. Bliese, Ph.D.

We can’t afford any more environmental protection, because it will hurt the economy.

How many times have you heard that line? Probably every time any new standards were proposed to clean up our air or water and protect our health. And every time we try to preserve some rare plant or animal we have pushed to the brink of extinction, it’s “owls (or whatever) versus jobs.”

These arguments are the most common ones we face in trying to protect the earth. Politicians spout them freely, and so do business groups and radio talk show entertainers. There is only one problem with these assertions: They are simply not true!

There have been dozens of well-designed studies by economists who have tested these claims, and the results are clear: environmental protection normally has no negative impact on the economy overall, and sometimes it has a positive effect.

What I want to do here is summarize a few of the more notable studies, to show that there is good quality ammunition for us to use when anti-environmentalists trot out those tired old claims. (more…)

Grasslands, Gas and Government

By Nathan Newcomer
www.oteromesa.org

Vast desert grasslands, wilderness characteristics, abundant wildlife and a fresh water aquifer are colliding with the Bush-Cheney energy policy in New Mexico’s Otero Mesa. A debate that has been on going since 1997, when Harvey E. Yates Company (HEYCO) first found natural gas in Otero Mesa, has pitted ranchers, hunters, conservationists, and State authorities against the oil industry and Bush administration policies.

Nestled in south-central New Mexico, Otero Mesa stretches over 1.2 million acres, or roughly the same size as the State of Delaware. It is home to over 1,000 native wildlife species, including black-tailed prairie dogs, desert mule deer, mountain lions, golden and bald eagles, over 250 species of songbirds, and boasts the state’s healthiest and only genetically pure herd of pronghorn antelope. Furthermore, there is evidence that the Salt Basin aquifer, which originates in Otero Mesa and travels south into Texas, is the largest untapped fresh water resource remaining in New Mexico.

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