Here’s another story, from the Washington Post, about the Appeals Court ruling that strikes down efforts by the EPA and the Obama Adminstration to reduce emissions. Among those companies who challenged the EPA is Energy Future Holdings in Texas, owned by TPG Capital, whose founding partner, David Bonderman, sits on the boards of directors of The Wilderness Society and the Grand Canyon Trust. If we replaced the name “Bonderman” with “Koch Brothers” in this story, what kind of response would this article receive from the “progressive,” environmental community?

AN EXCERPT FROM THE ARTICLE:    EPA officials calculated that by 2014 the requirements would yield health benefits for 240 million Americans, including D.C. residents, and save between 13,000 and 34,000 lives a year. The agency predicted that in two years this rule, in concert with others, would cut sulfur dioxide emissions nationwide by 73 percent, compared with 2005 levels, and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 54 percent.

But Southern Co., EME Homer City Generation and Energy Future Holdings Corp. units in Texas challenged the rule, saying they could not meet the new requirements in time.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/federal-appeals-court-strikes-down-obama-air-rule/2012/08/21/50af1caa-eb9c-11e1-b811-09036bcb182b_story.html?socialreader_check=0&denied=1

AN EXCERPT:  “A new Environmental Protection Agency rule on interstate air pollution, which was challenged by Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings, the state of Texas and other energy companies, is unlawful and cannot be enforced, a federal appeals court in Washington ruled.”

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ZEPHYR COMMENT:  The Obama Administration and the EPA impose stricter standards for coal-fired plants…Energy Future Holdings, part of TPG Capital’s investment portfolio, challenges the ruling… David Bonderman is the founding partner of TPG…David Bonderman is on the board of directors and a major contributor to The Wilderness Society and the Grand Canyon Trust….WHY is this kind of hypocrisy tolerated by mainstream environmental organizations and the ‘green’ media?

View forever ruined from the Wheeler Peak Trail in Great Basin National Park. The industrial sprawl of the Spring Valley Wind Project from Pattern Energy as seen from the view from Great Basin National Park. The view to the west has been destroyed from multiple locations and elevations in Great Basin National Park. (photo by Dennis Ghiglieri)

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Above is a computer generated image of a small section of the Moab/Colorado River Elevated Bikeway. Though we’ve been unable to get a number from people involved in the project, our best guess, based on an examination of the river bank, is that about a mile and a half of elevated bikeway will be required to complete the trail. (We welcome more detailed information from those we’ve contacted when you can make it available)  The image is courtesy of Horrocks Engineering in Salt Lake City. 

Below you can see the same cottonwood tree, as it appears now, adjacent to Hwy 128.

The bottom graphic  is an architect’s map of the bikeway, from its beginning at Lions Park to its terminus at the junction with the Porcupine Rim Trail.  When funding is available, plans are underway to extend the bike trail to Negro Bill Canyon. Beyond that…who knows…JS

more…

TO READ THE MOAB SUN NEWS STORY ABOUT THE ELEVATED BIKEWAY CLICK HERE

AN EXCERPT:  ““The plan is not a simple one. The elevated concrete paths are built like bridges with girders and decks. Holes will need to be drilled for piers. A crane, which will take up both lanes of traffic, is needed to place the girders and decks.”

“I always divide people into two groups. Those who live by what they know to be a lie, and those who live by what they believe, falsely, to be the truth.”

Christopher Hampton

AN EXCERPT:   Accordingto UNWTO-UNEP-WMO (2008), emissions from tourism, including transports,
accommodation and activities (excluding the energy used for constructions and
facilities for example) account for about 5% of global CO2 emissions. However,
other greenhouse gases also make signifi cant contributions to global warming. In
the tourism sector, this is particularly relevant for emissions from aviation. In 2005,
tourism’s contribution to global warming was estimated to contribute between
5% and 14% to the overall warming caused by human emissions of greenhouse
gasses (for more details see section 5).

Of the warming caused by emissions of greenhouse gas emissions. According
to UNWTO-UNEP-WMO (2008), emissions from tourism, including transports,
accommodation and activities (excluding the energy used for constructions and
facilities for example) account for about 5% of global CO2 emissions. However,
other greenhouse gases also make significant contributions to global warming. In
the tourism sector, this is particularly relevant for emissions from aviation. In 2005,
tourism’s contribution to global warming was estimated to contribute between
5% and 14% to the overall warming caused by human emissions of greenhouse
gasses…

By 2035, tourism’s contribution to climate change may have grown considerably. A
recent scenario developed by the expert team of the technical report in the UNWTO-
UNEP-WMO (2008) publication considers different emission pathways, including a
‘business as usual’ projection based on anticipated growth rates in tourist arrivals,
as well as distances travelled by various means of transport. These projections
indicate that in terms of the number of trips made, global tourism will grow by
179%, while guest nights will grow by 156%. Passenger kilometres travelled will
rise by 222%, while CO2 emissions will increase at somewhat lower levels (152%)
due to efficiency improvements. The share of aviation-related emissions will grow
from 40% in 2005 to 52% by 2035. Tourism’s contribution to global warming
including all greenhouse gasses will be even larger, with an expected increase in
radiative forcing of up to 188%, most of this once again caused by aviation. The
development of emissions from tourism and their contribution to global warming
is thus in stark contrast to the international community’s climate change mitigation
goals for the coming decades.

TO READ THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT, CLICK THE IMAGE

http://www.unep.fr/shared/publications/pdf/DTIx1047xPA-ClimateChange.pdf

(AN EXCERPT)  A Scottish company has installed its second “Resomation” machine, in the US state of Minnesota. The new facility in Stillwater, Minnesota, has already processed the remains of 20 individuals….Resomation involves the dissolution of the deceased in an alkaline solution, and is billed in the US as “green cremation” or “flameless cremation”.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19259804

Along the Colorado River near Moab on State Road 128

Mule deer & Hummingbird

Outhouse at Sunrise

Moonrise over Lone Cone. August 2012

Monument Valley. Early morning. June 2012.

Miner’s cabin.  Utah. 

Utah/Colorado state line.  2012

Nik Hougan. Near Moab in 1997.

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Looks like Death Valley with the Panamints in the distance…amazing

 To look at all of Curiosity’s raw images click the pic below:

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This is the short (800 word) version of a longer article that appeared in the current Zephyr.

AN EXCERPT:  Imagine some non-motorized recreationists as they make their way to Moab. They board a flight in London or New York or Los Angeles or Atlanta and fly thousands of miles to Salt Lake City, or Denver, or Phoenix, or Las Vegas, where they rent a car and drive hundreds of miles to stay in one of Moab’s many motels, so they can drive out to the Moab Transit Hub each day and ride their bicycles for ten or twenty miles.

This is NOT “non-motorized recreation,” as proponents of the Hub/Bikeway claim.

CLICK THE IMAGE TO GO TO THE ARTICLE:

http://www.moabsunnews.com/opinion/article_b98c9532-22c8-11e2-9af4-0019bb30f31a.html