Cataba River, Lake Wylie Dam and the continued drought of the southern USA (click here).
This issue needs to be confronted with reason and possibility. This has taken an emotional tone and there is far less scientific involvement than there should be. Scientists need to 'literally' oversee the 'transport in' of water to reinfuse the lakes while ensuring the biotic nature of the lakes are preserved through water testing with the arrival of tankers of H2O. There is no sense in spending infrastructure monies on anything but desalination facilities. The emergency of water resources in the south can use the current lake resources 'artifically' infused with water trucked in from areas similar in biotic nature to insure balance. I don't see currently stable watersheds, such as the Great Lakes being tapped for the lack of preparedness of the south. It would throw the Great Lake system into chaos.
It's a two directive approach. This is gross negligence of the federal authorities of the USA in relation to Human Induced Global Warming and it's much predicted consequences.
Funding for the infrastructure changes as well as the trucked in water can be obtained through little and under utilized excise taxes, such as cigarettes tax (click here), liquor taxes (click here), and state sales taxes (click here).
The Conservative South has been at the center of denying the existance of Human Induced Global Warming and there is no reason the rest of the country, which has been prudent in taking steps at the state environmental level, should feel an obligation to rescue them. There were eleven states in this country that sued for controls to Greenhouse Gases while the remaining states provided 'industy cronies' to defeat such a measure. Now, when they are in need of effective policy the rest of the country's resources is supposed to bail them out of trouble?
NO WAY.
The Southern Conservative states need to realize their folly and develop policy, infrastructure and the means to pay for it BY THEMSELVES. Otherwise, we will continue to have Republican legislators in DC all to willing to continue to obstruct effective federal law to stop and reverse the deadly trends we are seeing today !
Drought in southeast US fuels battle over water resources (click here)
Docks and piers at T-Bones, a shoreline restaurant on Lake Wylie, sink into the mud, showing the effects of increasingly low water levels 20 October 2007 in Lake Wylie, South Carolina. An extreme drought in the southeastern United States has fueled a bitter tri-state battle over dwindling water resources.
Millions of people in the state of Georgia fear their taps could run dry, while environmentalists in Florida say freshwater mollusks protected under the US Endangered Species Act risk dying off.
Hoping to guarantee no one will go thirsty, Georgia authorities want to drastically reduce the outflow from a reservoir that supplies drinking water to three million people. But neighboring Alabama claims that would have devastating economic effects on its population, while Florida says a reduced flow would threaten fragile ecosystems. "You'd think people would come before mussels," said Bob Leamy, 55, walking on caked mud that was once under Lake Lanier's waters. The man-made lake is at the frontline of the battle of words. It supplies drinking water for more than three million people in the city of Atlanta, feeds the Chattahoochee river that runs along the border with Alabama and flows into Florida's Apalachicola river. Because of the drought, the 38,000 acre reservoir is almost five meters (15 feet) below average levels, and officials say the water will continue to dwindle. Georgia has filed a legal motion seeking to force the US Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the reservoir, to limit the release of water. Alabama and Florida both oppose the motion...
...while in the UK...
Benn announces 'stronger' climate change bill (click here)
Rosalind Ryan, Elizabeth Stewart and agenciesMonday October 29, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
The government today announced a "stronger, more effective and more transparent" climate change bill, following a period of public consultation and scrutiny.
The environment secretary, Hilary Benn, said in a speech at Kew Gardens that the amended bill was a "ground-breaking blueprint" to help lower Britain's carbon emissions and would strengthen the country's position in response to climate change.
Mr Benn said: "We need to step up the fight against climate change and we need to do it fast. The draft bill we set out earlier this year and have now refined is a ground-breaking blueprint for moving the UK towards ea low carbon economy."...
...in Australia...
Greens want clarification on climate change agreement (click here)
Posted 7 hours 10 minutes ago
The Greens are calling on Prime Minister John Howard to explain what kind of global climate agreement the Coalition would be willing to ratify.
Mr Howard said this morning that his Government would be willing to sign and ratify an international agreement, as long as it applied to major emitters like China and India in an appropriate way.
Greens climate and energy spokeswoman Senator Christine Milne says Mr Howard has to explain what that means.
"If he's talking about ratifying a treaty which is very weak or which doesn't bind Australia to significant targets then it's worthless," she said.
"Let's hear something real from the Prime Minister, instead of just hot air."
There is absolutely no reason why First World nations have to POSTPONE their own infrastruture changes 'anticipating' the entrance of Third World nations such as China and India into standards of climate change protocol. It's a strategy that is superfluous of purpose and seeks to undermine global protections instead of empowering them through infrastruture changes and economic incentives/sanctions leading to the cooperation of China and India. The policies of Howard and Bush are dismal and stupid while geared toward profiteers and exploitive cronies.
Making 'commitments' toward responsibility to change the course of Human Induced Global Warming is NOT meeting those commitments either. Commitments have to be met with rigor to satisfy in an aggressive manner that will actually 'deliver' environmental safety as well as the political 'mind speak.' It takes infrastructure monetary commitments that are real and measurable with NO corruption tolerated, but, every dollar devoted to it's purpose. These are the monies of the people that need their safety net intact and Earth lush and green insuring the safety of species once again.
PM's climate change credibility 'shredded' (click here)
By Adam Gartrell, Jane Bunce and Peter Veness
October 27, 2007 05:55pm
LABOR says the coalition's climate change credibility has been "shredded" by revelations Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull recently failed to convince cabinet to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
Mr Turnbull and Prime Minister John Howard today repeatedly refused to contradict a newspaper report the minister told cabinet just six weeks ago the Government would gain kudos and lose nothing by ratifying the international climate change agreement.
Cabinet reportedly decided not to take Mr Turnbull's advice because it believed such a backflip would not look credible with voters after 10 years opposing the agreement.
Mr Turnbull today refused to even say whether he personally believed, or had ever believed, Australia should sign Kyoto.
He said it would be only a symbolic or political move if Australia did sign the agreement at this stage.
"It would not change what we are doing because we are already committed to meet ... those targets," Mr Turnbull told Sky News....
