New West Energy Grok
Yes, Global Warming Can Be Stopped
This week's issue of Foreign Policy magazine features an article that could hardly be more depressing. Under the headline "Why Climate Change Can't Be Stopped," the authors – a pair of former Bush administration officials – argue that "Unfortunately, given the scale and complexity of modern economies and the time required for new technologies to displace older ones, only a stunning technological breakthrough will allow for reductions in emissions that are sufficiently deep to stop climate change."
That conclusion echoes the one reached by Newsweek columnist Robert J. Samuelson in an August column: "The overriding reality seems almost un-American: we simply don't have a solution for this problem," Samuelson declares. "We lack the technology to get from here to there."
This is not only nonsense: it's pernicious nonsense.
In other energy news: Newcomers lead the fight against uranium mining in western Colorado; Project Rulison natural gas field called essentially a hazardous waste site, except with nuclear materials,” and Wyoming residents turn up their noses at wind power.
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Featured Photo from New West Images
"Little Green Bag," photographed by Michael C. Calanan as a part of his street photography series, Drive-by Shootings. Michael is a professional photographer who has recently relocated from Buffalo, NY to Salt Lake City, Utah.
See more photos on the New West Images photoblog.
Diary Of A Mad Voter: Jon Schwedler
Real Candidates Please Step Forward
There is no good way to answer how one ends up watching a C-Span program about an Owings Mills, Maryland political focus group. But I was alone in my hotel room, don’t have cable at home, it was nappy-time, and the remote was clear on the other side of the room. A perfect storm.
So in this near-catatonic state I lay defenseless to the biases of 14 voters from the suburban hinterlands of Baltimore—6 Dems, 6 Reps, and 2 Independents.
Editor's note: Jon Schwedler's guest blog is part of a new feature on NewWest.Net/Politics called "Diary of a Mad Voter," a group blog, published in partnership with the Denver Post's Politics West intended give a glimpse into the hearts and minds of several independent-minded voters and thinkers in the Rocky Mountain West in the '08 election cycle. Check back this week at www.newwest.net/madvoter.
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New West Book Review
Kim Todd’s “Chrysalis”
Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis
by Kim Todd
Harcourt, Inc.
282 pages, $27
Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis, a nonfiction book by Missoula writer Kim Todd, sounds like a Victorian adventure novel: a fifty-two-year-old woman abandons her husband and European continent to study the metamorphosis of caterpillars in Surinam. But this was before the Victorians. In 1699, more than a century before Darwin, sixty-five years after Galileo’s prosecution, and a time when witch hunts were part of the recent past, Maria Sibylla Merian embarked on a journey of scientific discovery in the dangerous New World with only her daughter for company. While the male colonists grew sugar cane on their plantations, Merian’s slaves and servants helped her locate insects, reptiles, and plants for her to study and depict in her captivating watercolors. She trusted the natives’ knowledge to assist her research, something that would be used against her reputation in the decades after her death.
Kim Todd will discuss Chrysalis at the Helena Festival of the Book, October 13-14.
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Idaho Politics: Commentary
Craig Forgets Idaho With His Egotistic DecisionSen. Larry Craig’s refusal to resign his seat to serve out his full term until January 2009 is the egoistic act of a self-glorifying man.
His words have a Nixonian, bunker-mentality ring of self-insulation. Craig forgets his responsibilities to his constituents and the state of Idaho; he forgets he’s been stripped of his committee power and can likely accomplish nothing as he stays in Washington. In his disastrous September press conference, he said that he could not be effective under the circumstances. That is also apparently forgotten.
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Craig's Guilty Plea Stands
Craig Loses Court Appeal, Says He Will Not Resign
The Minnesota judge who heard arguments from Idaho Sen. Larry Craig's attorney and the Hennepin County prosecutor has ruled that Craig's guilty plea to misdemeanor disorderly conduct will stand.
In brief, the court ruled against Craig's request for a plea withdrawal because his plea was "intelligent," "accurate," and "voluntary." The court also ruled that while the withdrawal request was not too late to be valid, it was "untimely." In the refusal, judge Charles A. Porter Jr. wrote, "...the State argues that the reason given to withdraw the plea is not intrinsic to the case itself but is motivated by the social and political events... In essence, the State maintains that the Defendant waited until external political events compelled him to act to protect his political career."
Tuesday, Craig released a statement (which you can see in its entirety here) saying he is not planning to resign.
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NO WONDER THEY HAVE AN IMAGE PROBLEM
Cyclists on Cell Phones?
In today's society, it's hard not to be frustrated about a lot of things. Nonetheless, each week when I sit down to write my column, regardless of the morning's news, I tell myself not to rant. But today, I can't stop myself, so I apologize in advance. This will be a little ranty, but if any subject deserves it, this is it.
Earlier today, I'm walking down the sidewalk on my daily trip to the Post Office, and I'm almost run down by a young woman riding a bicycle, one hand on the handlebars, one hand pressing a cell phone on her ear. On top of all that, she was riding with no helmet and way too fast down a busy downtown sidewalk where people can pop unexpectedly out of businesses and cause a major crash.
And this is the third time I have observed this most dangerous and thoughtless behavior in the last two months, all within a block of my downtown office.
Don't you agree this warrants a rant?
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Western Politics
Domenici’s Retirement Leaves another Western Seat Vacant
Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) is expected to announce his retirement today in a press conference in Albuquerque.
Recently, Domenici's health has been questionable. News accounts say he's suffering from a "progressive brain disease." The senior senator is the state's longest serving, and holds the senior Republican position on the Energy and Natural Resources and Appropriations committees. This year hasn't been so good to the senator: he, along with heir-apparent congresswoman Heather Wilson was said to have pressured former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias to bring indictments in a politically charged corruption investigation of local Democrats ahead of last year's election.
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ROCKY MOUNTAIN LAND USE GROK
Aspen Grapples with Glitz OverkillThe trouble with living in a swanky resort town is, well, being able to afford living in a resort town. Oh sure, it's great to have Gucci down the street. But where are you supposed to go for underwear? It's a dilemma the Wall Street Journal calls "A Rocky Mountain High-End Problem."
Now, some Western towns aren't too keen on land use codes, but not so Aspen, which sees a legislative fix to this thorny problem.
"While other resort and historic towns are slamming the door on retail chains like Hooters and McDonald's for fear of becoming too plebeian, Aspen is studying ways to limit the Gucci and Prada-style stores filling its downtown streets," writes the Journal.
It's an interesting turnabout for a town that has relished, and wrestled with, its Glitter Gulch cachet.
Also in Grok: Reining in ORVs; wildlife versus drill rigs; thirsty subdivisions
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Clear Creek Station Fire
Many Questions in Hydro Plant DeathsFor the families of the five workers who died yesterday in a chemical fire at the Clear Creek hydroelectric plant outside Georgetown, there is no comfort today. But, as the bodies are recovered from the water shaft 1,500 feet underground, there are plenty of questions.
For example: Though rescue workers arrived less than 40 minutes after the fire was reported, why did it take five hours to reach the men?
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Guest Opinion
Backcountry Areas are Key to Idaho’s World-Class HuntingWhen it comes to big-game hunting, Idaho is about as good as it gets. From the Great Basin to the Panhandle, in places like the Bannock, White Cloud and Selkirk ranges, the Gem State’s expansive landscapes offer opportunities for backcountry experiences found nowhere else on earth.
This fall, deer and elk hunters are already enjoying another world-class Idaho hunting season. However, as sportsmen head into in the field, state and federal officials are at work on a plan that may impact the future of hunting on some of Idaho’s finest big-game habitat. Their actions are likely to determine the long-term management of 9.3 million acres of Idaho’s roadless backcountry.
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