Thanks Forward Montana

I'll keep this short -- this whole Matt Singer flap is little more than a blast of hot air from a few local blogs. Much ado about nothing.

I'll simply say thank you to Matt and the rest of the fine folks over at Forward Montana. There is a term for what they do. It's called organizing. It's mobilizing voters and building a progressive base here in Montana, and they're doing a damn fine job of it. Keep up the good work gang, and may the funding continue. Enough said.

"Water Water Everywhere...

...nor any drop to drink." Or something like that. Isn't that what Coleridge said in his classic poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner? Well, that may be closer to the truth than we think.

We've seen some awful dry conditions here in Montana for the past several years, and it doesn't matter much which side of the global warming argument you come down on. It's hardly arguable that the US, as well as much of the globe is suffering extreme drought conditions. Demand, usage, and outright waste of water is resulting in a situation where water is being used at a rate several times that of the earth's ability to replenish it. The Ogallala aquifer, which supplies much of the central US with water, is being tapped at 14 times the rate that it can replenish. Not good. Not good at all. We could be facing some severe water shortages soon. Here's from an AP story yesterday:

The government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years because of a combination of rising temperatures, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess.

On top of that, the push to privatize water supplies has been steadily growing for quite some time. Nestle Corp. has been buying local and municipal water sources to feed their bottled water business, and now own about 75 spring sites in this country, and the water in several American cities. The World Bank and the IMF have been quietly but relentlessly pushing for water privatization schemes around the world for a number of years. But where will this lead? If anything should be considered the commons, it should be water. Without it life dies. No exceptions. Millions around the world are already dying from lack of safe drinking water. To turn it into a corporate owned commodity to be sold for profit rather than to preserve it and conserve it for the common good is criminal as far as I'm concerned. It's nothing short of theft.

The Sierra Club has an active campaign concerning water privatization and offers several links to other sites and campaigns and resources. Check it out.

That Damn Fence Again

Then there's that damn border fence. I made mention a while back about Michael Chertoff's idiotic remarks in defense of building a fence on the border with Mexico, where he justified it by pointing out what a grave environmental threat illegal immigrants are to the planet.

Well, he's compounded his idiocy with some heavy-handed waiving of environmental protection laws to make sure the fence project stays on track. Endangered Species Act? Waived. Toxic Waste Disposal Act? Waived. Same for NEPA, as well as several others in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in Arizona. I trust Boeing, as well as a few other corporations with lucrative government contracts to build the fence are thrilled.

The only thing that can stop it now is an act of Congress. Let's get it done.

You Like Hightower?

I've read Jim Hightower regularly for a long time now. He's one of my favorite agitators. I received an email today with a new feature of his -- a weekly video commentary, complete with code to add it to your own site, which of course I immediately did and will do weekly for as long as he puts it out.

You can check it out here in the sidebar, and if you're a fan of Hightower's, you can see a new one right here every week or so. Enjoy.

Denial. The Policy Of Choice

That so many, here in Montana as well as elsewhere, can spend so much time and expend so much energy denying mankind's generous contributions to climate change in the face of all of this is truly mind-boggling. Seriously now folks...

Stand Proud

I'm sure all of us who spend any time at all on the blogs here in Montana have heard about Moorcat's recent arrest by the small-time big-shots down there in Dillon. I haven't weighed in on this yet -- not because I don't find it worthy of comment, but because it is so truly disgusting that I simply haven't found the words. Abuse of power is abuse of power, and petty tyrants are petty tyrants, whether they are sitting in national office or in city hall in small town Montana.

What I can say, and will, is that you've done some fine work Moorcat. The eyes of Montana are turning toward Dillon to see how this plays out. You'll stand up and do the right thing. I trust that you will. From what I've read from you, you strike me as that kind of man. Then you can stand proud, train your sights on these petty little assholes, expose them for what they are, and nail their bloody hides to the shithouse wall.

Any Thoughts?

I do love the wilderness here in Montana. Everywhere for that matter, but especially here. Indeed I do. Other things move me as well, particularly art and photography. I think there are definite deep connections within all of us between wilderness and art, but I'll be damned if I can grasp it enough to begin to put it into words, so I won't even try now. I'm working on it though.

Some of you may have noticed that I started another blog last winter or spring, whenever it was, about art and photography. I haven't been able to devote much time to it over the past months, and was planning to shut it down, but decided no. I'd rather revive it and keep it going. So I have, and this is a shameless plug for it.

Much as it's opened up the political scene to a greater number of participants, I feel the blogosphere can do the same for photographers and artists. What better and simpler way is there to show work and compare ideas than this? I am open to the idea of posting the work of others on the blog and generating interest in it. Who knows? It might do some good. If you are an artist or photographer and are interested in being a contributor leave me a comment, either here or over there. Maybe we can start something.

The Best Damn Wilderness Bill. Ever.

HR 1975, the far-reaching, innovative wilderness bill that would protect 7 million acres of wild land here in Montana, and roughly 24 million acres in the northern rockies ecosystem will reach a House subcommittee for hearing on October 18. This is a truly visionary, bioregionally oriented piece of legislation, and it's about time we started looking at our natural world in this way.

Both Denny Rehberg and Max Baucus oppose it of course. I don't know where Jon Tester stands yet. No surprise from Denny. You could echo what was said about James Watt back in the early '80's -- his idea of wilderness is a parking lot without painted stripes. Both he and Max are whining about it being a 'top down' attempt by the east coast elite to tell Montanans what to do with our lands. But hey guys, guess what? These are federal lands. The decisions on this must come from Congress. That only eastern Reps have shown enough balls to introduce and re-introduce this over the years doesn't change the fact that it was crafted by folks who live and work here in the Rocky Mountain west years ago. You know that. Don't even try to play the 'land grab' card.

Rehberg has a particularly obnoxious link on his website where you can vote whether you support HR 1975 or not. I was going to click in support until I read the choices. A yes vote states that you support limiting Montanans' access to public lands and locking local people out of the wilderness, as well as support something that is bad for Montana. I sent him an email instead urging him to change his stand on this bill, and to let him know that I think his question is deliberately misleading, offensive, an outright lie, and that even he should know better. I urge you to do the same.

The Alliance for the Wild Rockies website has links to much more information on this important legislation including text and summary, a list of the bill's co-sponsors, a response to Max Baucus, and details about a webcast of the subcommittee hearing on Thursday.

HR 1975 is a golden chance to do something right for our wildlands, and our future, for a change. Let's grab it.

Recent News On Mountaintop Removal

A recent poll was conducted where 65% of those polled indicated that they oppose mountaintop removal coal mining. Here are results from that poll:

Some key results of the poll included:

• 2 out of 3 Americans (65%) stated they opposed the efforts of the Bush Administration to weaken the buffer zone rule, which prohibits mining activity within 100 feet of a stream. When respondents learned more about the level of destruction that would be caused by this rule change, half of those who were initially supportive of the rule change changed their position.
• 9 out of 10 people (88%) agreed with this statement: “Before the United States puts in place new regulations to permit more coal mining, it should first make sure that coal mines and coal mining practices are safe for miners, nearby communities and the environment.”
• 77% of Americans feel it would be better for the Bush Administration to concentrate first on energy conservation before resorting to more mountaintop removal.
• Almost half of Americans, 45%, said that they had heard of mountaintop removal unprompted.
• 71% of people said they would be opposed to mountaintop removal on a mountain within 50 miles of their home, and 50% of those surveyed said they would strongly oppose such mining.
• Women were less likely than men to support expanded mountaintop removal.
• Opposition to mountaintop removal was bipartisan among Republicans and Democrats.

The poll was conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation for the Civil Society Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.

Last week 24 members of Congress sent a letter to Interior Secretary Kempthorne urging a 90 day extension on the public comment period that is due to end on the 24th of this month. Here's the letter in it's entirety:

October 2, 2007

The Honorable Dirk Kempthorne
Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240

Dear Secretary Kempthorne,

On Friday, August 24, 2007 the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) submitted a new regulation that would allow companies to dump hazardous fill material directly into water ways and streams, permanently destroying them.

The Proposed Rulemaking on “Excess Spoil, Coal Mine Waste, and Buffers for Waters of the United States,” 72 Fed. Reg. 48890 would repeal a 1983 regulation, adopted by the Reagan Administration, which protects streams from coal mining activities by creating a 100-foot buffer zone around them, unless the activity will cause no harm to the water course. We are requesting that OSM provide a 90-day extension of the Public Comment Period for the Proposed Rulemaking.

The magnitude of the documents that must be reviewed, the diversity and severity of impacts this proposed rule would have on different communities in many states and the need for citizens living in affected communities to understand those impacts and develop comments based on sound legal and scientific analysis, all make it clearly impossible, under the current schedule, for citizens to provide OSM with comments that can include the information your agency must have in order to make an informed decision about the Proposed Rulemaking.

In addition, we are requesting that your agency hold at least one full-day public hearing on the Proposed Rulemaking, in which the scientific and legal basis of the Proposed Rulemaking is more thoroughly explained, and in which citizens may submit oral and written testimony, including questions that your agency will answer.

It is simply inappropriate to allow the excess spoil from this type of mining to be dumped in mountain streams, polluting waterways, filling valleys, and in some cases, potentially endangering the lives of area residents. A 90 day extension of the Public Comment Period and transparent public hearings are essential in order to achieve a competent review of this Proposed Rulemaking.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to continuing to work together.

Sincerely,

Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ-06)
Rep. Chris Shays (CT-04)
Rep. Heath Shuler (NC-11)
Rep. Ben Chandler (KY-06)
Rep. John Yarmuth (KY-03)
Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05)
Rep. Henry Waxman (CA-30)
Rep. Todd Platts (PA-19)
Rep. John McHugh (NY-23)
Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (MD-01)
Rep. Jay Inslee (WA-01)
Rep. Earl Blumenaur (OR-03)
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH-10)
Rep. Tom Allen (ME-01)
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL)
Rep. Barney Frank (MA-04)
Rep. Jim McDermott (WA-07)
Rep. Donald Payne (NJ-10)
Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ-07)
Rep. Lois Capps (CA-23)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (NY-22)
Rep. Patrick Kennedy (RI-01)
Rep. Ed Markey (MA-07)

It's not a done deal yet. Hopefully the short-sighted fools who are trying to ram this one through won't prevail this time.

While America Shopped

I imagine it's much the same everywhere, but here in Missoula we have a strip on North Reserve Street where all of the big box stores have congregated over the past several years. I don't go there much anymore, especially on weekends. The congestion is horrendous. The shoppers are out in full force, and I'm sure today is no different. Saturdays are like that.

Last Saturday marked what the New Economics Foundation has termed ecological debt day, the day where the world's consumption of goods exceeds the ability of the earth to sustain it in any given year. We are in what they call ecological overdraft. It came three days earlier this year than last year, which was three days earlier than the previous year. It's been coming earlier every year since the early '80's. Simply put, we are fouling our home and using up it's resources faster than it can recover from our onslaught. From Reuters:

If everyone in the world had the same consumption rates as in the United States it would take 5.3 planet earths to support them, NEF said, noting that the figure was 3.1 for France and Britain, 3.0 for Spain, 2.5 for Germany and 2.4 for Japan.

But if everyone emulated China, which is building a coal-fired power station every five days to feed its booming economy, it would take only 0.9 of a planet.

I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but this chronic, incessant shopping seems like a fool's game. Seriously, how much 'stuff' do we need? We have been easily convinced that we need much of what we spend our time chasing after by a powerful advertising industry, but how much of it do we really need? And the fact that our entire economy is based on this model, and our goal is apparently to keep growing it bigger and bigger every year, well, it begs the question -- are we cheerfully going to shop ourselves into oblivion, or will we wake up in time? The American Dream will fast turn into a nightmare if we continue on the path we're on. No economy, no matter how thriving, can replace this planet. If we pass the point where this earth, our life-support system, can support us the game is over. It's over simply because we have no place else to go.

If us earthlings, and Americans in particular, would exercise our citizenship -- politically, environmentally, and consciously -- as diligently and regularly as we exercise our credit cards and checking accounts we could make a huge difference. But like I said I don't know. The longer I live the less hopeful I get that it will ever happen.

Oh Good Grief

Sometimes you can only shake your head and wonder:

"Illegal migrants really degrade the environment. I've seen pictures of human waste, garbage, discarded bottles and other human artifact in pristine areas," Chertoff said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "And believe me, that is the worst thing you can do to the environment."

That from our illustrious head of Homeland Security while touting the benefits of a border fence.