I noticed these changes years ago. The biggest impact at this point appears to be moose and birds. Also, there’s a massive increase in ticks and tick diseases thanks to the warmer winters and unchecked logging. The primary carrier of lyme is the white-footed mouse, which flourishes in forest openings of ten acres or less. So these changes have directly impacted humans, as well.
Unless something is done, it’s only going to get worse.
Very sad state of affairs for the lower Yellowstone River. There was almost no regulation or enforcement of proper safety measures in this disaster. And as Rachel addresses, the clean up effort has been feeble.
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This happened just west of Billings. Very sad news. I have filmed beavers, muskrat, eagles, and other wildlife along the shores of the Yellowstone from Glendive To Billings. It’s a beautiful river, and we can only began to guess at the massive damage the spill has caused. All bets are on another cost-cutting measure that allowed for the ruptured pipeline.
The Yellowstone River is the longest undamned river in the Lower 48 and a national treasure. The underground pipe was only five to eight feet below the river. I guess they couldn’t afford to dig a few more feet.
Nice job, guys.
NBC news has video of the disaster:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/43626733#43626733
All signs point that way. The latest outrage is an email from Joe Biden in which he trashes a simple government website dedicated to the endangered desert tortoise. How brave. Biden and Obama cower and flinch when dealing with big business and the banks, but when they see a helpless desert tortoise they give it a good, swift kick.
Not only are these bad politicians, they’re just bad people.
Check out the story over at Ralph Maughan’s blog:
I’ve said it here many times. Our ability to produce chemicals far exceeds our ability to test for side effects. It takes years, and in many cases decades before we figure out what many chemicals actually do.
Formaldehyde is everywhere. Not only is it now linked to cancer, but it causes many problems for those who are chemically sensitive as well.
This is why I oppose virtually all applications of chemicals in the environment (including chemicals that kill fish so native fish can be planted). We simply don’t know, and won’t find out until our testing technology catches our production technology.
I applaud former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit. It’s no surprise that the Obama administration responed in a defensive fashion, basically saying their conservation policies have been more than previous administrations. That’s not true.
Pesticides and special fertilizers are not magic fairy dust that exist in a vacuum. These chemicals can and do come back to mess things up.
Another reason why Obama will not get my vote in 2012. His record on wildlife and public land is weak to say the least.
With the upcoming signing of the budget bill, Obama will have approved the biggest attack on the ESA in the history of the program.
What he’s done (with the help of Sen. Jon Tester) is allow for any rogue representative to hold any species they don’t care for hostage during regular bills that pass through congress. This is an unprecedented action that undermines the very nature of the law.
Sure, folks will disagree about how best to manage wolves. But the ultimate decision should come from those who are experts, and that is scientists, not politicans looking to stir up their base or score political points.
There’s already talk that the grizzly bear will be next. And let’s be honest folks – there are 1700 wolves in the Northern Rockies across 330,000 square miles. If you are “frightened” from that kind of wolf density, I don’t think wolves are the problem ,but perhaps a bit of paranoia is.
Who would have thought that the Obama administration and democrats would ultimately neuter the ESA? This move makes Bush II look like Johny Appleseed or Thoreau.
I honestly can’t see Tester winning in 2012, and when he loses, I wonder if Obama and the Dem senators who sacrificed the ESA would feel guilty. Probably not.
And top top it off, many people are now saying he’s failing to protect endangered species:
If you come to this blog, there’s a pretty good chance conservation and wildlife is very high on your list of voting priorities. So far, Obama really hasn’t given us anything to get excited about, and therefore we have no reason to vote for him in 2012.
