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The Looming Choice: Fuel or Food?
I’ve never been quite sure what ‘a perfect storm’ means (didn’t see the movie), but it seems to mean a situation where everything gangs up on you. If so, we seem to be already in perfect storm territory in the building competition between hungry people and thirsty vehicles for corn and other grains. Just the…
Read MoreU.S. Risks Losing Vote in International Negotiations
The U.S.may lose its right to vote on international ship pollution standards because Congress has failed to implement a treaty setting limits on ship pollution. At risk is a vote in upcoming negotiations on stricter standards proposed by the U.S. delegation to the International Maritime Organization. House and Senate lawmakers are trying to resolve differences…
Read MoreWe're Soaking In It
A new survey reveals that Americans place global warming LAST on a list of domestic priorities. I learned that from an article in ClimateWire. About a week later, I read an opinion piece by Bill McKibben from the LA Times. Something he said explained to me why Americans are so blasé about global warming. "Americans…
Read MoreAn Angry Question: Why Not Drill in Arctic?
Hundreds of angry people, urged on by a right-wing talk show host, called Earthjustice recently to ask why we are challenging plans to drill in Alaska’s Arctic Ocean. Like many Americans, the callers are suffering from gasoline price increases and other costs, like food, that have gone up with the price of oil. They had…
Read MoreEPA Welcomes Smog to National Parks
Aah, summer! Time to hit the road and visit some our crown jewel national parks here in the West. It’s time to enjoy the trees, the canyons, the birds, bees, and bears, the ranger talks, the smog. The smog? Yep, get ready for it. Because if the EPA has its way, the tremendous views from…
Read MoreAlaska Wants to Buy a Few Scientists
As everyone knows by now, the administration has moved to give Endangered Species Act protection to the polar bear—sort of. The bear goes on the list, but there a big footnote that says that energy development can proceed unhindered. Interior Secretary Kempthorne proclaimed that the Endangered Species Act must not be used to combat global…
Read MoreDrink? Or Drive?
Drink? Or drive? That may sound like questions to ask a a prospective designated driver before a night on the town. It may soon be the stark choice faced by an entire region. That’s because Shell Oil is planning to build giant oil shale extraction plants in western Colorado. The dirty little secret of oil…
Read MoreIt’s a Gas War, Let's Ration
We are strictly nonpartisan and apolitical here at Tom’s Turn, so we will be naming no names today. Let’s put it this way. Two powerful and influential figures with overweening political ambition have suggested that the federal government should suspend federal gasoline taxes between Memorial Day and Labor Day this year to provide some relief…
Read MoreOff-Road Vehicle Driving May Be Hazardous to Your Health
Advocates for off-road vehicles (ORVs) — dirt bikes, three-wheelers, and all-terrain vehicles — like to say that their recreation is all about the three F’s: "family, freedom, and fun." Now they’ve decided to add "lung disease" to the list. In California, a 48-square-mile area of Bureau of Land Management Lands known as "Clear Creek" apparently…
Read MoreWayne Newton, Uranium Mining, and the Grand Canyon
In the late 1980s, the country celebrated the 200th anniversary of our most important legal text: the U.S. Constitution. To do so, a commission was established, headed by respected former Chief Justice Warren Burger. And to lead a celebration in Washington, D.C., an equally distinguished American was chosen: Wayne Newton. Wayne Newton!!?? The original Las…
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