Liberty
Matters News Service
April 16, 2007
Detour Ahead
On Tuesday, April 10, progress was made in potentially slowing down the Trans Texas Corridor. The Texas House of Representatives approved Amendment 1 to HB 1892 by a vote of 123-17, then passed it on third reading by 137-2. The bill now provides a 30-month moratorium on any contract where a private partner will collect or be paid from toll revenues. It is believed HB1892, and the nearly identical SB 1267, will pass both House and Senate, but may hit a roadblock on Governor Perry's desk. "We are one big step closer to stopping the Trans Texas Corridor," was the message from David and Linda Stall of Corridor Watch. "However well-intentioned, the moratorium adopted by the House would eliminate an enormous pool of non-tax money to address traffic and transportation needs," said Joe Krier, chairman of Texans for Safe, Reliable Transportation. The moratorium also would halt seven near-term projects in the state," said Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R- Brenham, author of the amendment. Governor Rick Perry opposes the moratorium. "There are no such things as freeways. There are taxways and tollways and for 50 years we have tried taxways that have been underfunded by Austin and Washington," Perry complained. HB 1892 is now in the Senate Transportation Committee and everyone is urged to immediately call the Texas Senate to pass the bill out of committee and get it to the floor as soon as possible. With only five weeks left in the session, members need time to override Perry's veto of the bill. HB 1892 needs to go to the Senate floor with the strongest two-year moratorium language on private toll roads as possible.
Moratorium Sought
URGENT ACTION REQUESTED for HB 1892
San Luis Obispo County Nixes UN Heritage Site
Residents of San Luis Obispo County, California scored a victory last month, when the Wilderness Society pulled its nomination of the Carrizo Plain as a UN World Heritage Site. County Supervisors voted 3-2 against the nomination and without local support, the Society decided to give up. Alberta Lewis, a member of a pioneering Carrizo Plain ranch family told county supervisors: "I can see no intelligent reason to tie up any of America with the United Nations." Supervisor James Patterson expressed disappointment, calling the proposed designation "a Nobel Prize" for natural wonders. San Luis Obispo residents enlisted the aid of Fred Kelly Grant, president of Idaho-based Stewards of the Range to help them defeat the nomination. Mr. Grant has been instrumental in helping several citizen groups successfully fight unfair zoning plans and other land restrictive land use plans by teaching people how to use the laws to their advantage. John Martini, head of the California Independent Petroleum Association, said UNESCO's guidelines allow the UN to recommend buffer zones around the sites, which could negatively impact the rich oilfields nearby. In 1995, the UN declared Yellowstone National Park endangered because of a proposed gold mine three miles outside its borders. Seven years after the Clinton administration killed the mining plan, the label was removed.
County Rejects U.N. Listing for
Carrizo Plain
Bearly Believable
The Alaska House of Representatives isn't falling for environmentalists' claims that man-made global warming is poised to "threaten" the existence of polar bears. The House passed a resolution opposing efforts to list the animals under the Endangered Species Act. Governor Palin's administration also sent comments to U. S. Fish and Wildlife opposing the federal listing. Rep. Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage said the polar bears are being used by environmentalists to serve a "'bigger, darker agenda' to punish business and change American habits." If the bears were listed, that could mean new limits on North Slope oil and gas production to protect Arctic coastline as critical habitat. The Nunavut government likewise objects to any listing of the bears. "Polar bears have become a political tool for environmental groups trying to force a change in U. S. climate change policy," said Environment Minister, Patterk Netser. We oppose the listing of polar bears because it is currently unwarranted, highly speculative and will hurt Inuit and our economy," Netser continued. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has received more than 500,000 comments on the issue. Listing the polar bear would create a broad new reach for the Endangered Species Act, according Alaska state officials.
Alaska in no Rush to Protect Polar
Bear
Nunavut Against Plan to List
Polar Bears as Endangered
No Matter the Cost
Alameda Superior Court Judge Fran Roesch, last month, ordered the California State Department of Water Resources to shut down the state's water export pumps in the South Delta to save some fish. "The Water Department provides some or all of the drinking water to 24 million people in California, including the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego." Water from the Delta also irrigates 775,000 acres of cropland in the San Joaquin Valley," according to Sue Sims, Department of Water Resources (DWR) spokesperson. "We're perplexed with the court's ruling in this case," said Lester Snow, director of DWR. "We find the prospect of curtailing pumping to be unacceptable in terms of the economic consequences to the state." The judge gave DWR 60 days to work out an agreement to comply with the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) mandatory incidental take permit requirements. Michael Lozeau, the attorney representing the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) that brought the lawsuit, said the agency will have to mitigate fish losses by reducing pumping, and improving habitat, among other measures. "They have to replace every single Delta smelt, winter run chinook or spring run chinook that is taken in the Delta pumping facilities," Lozeau said.
Judge Orders State to Shut Down
Pumps to Save Delta Smelt, Salmon