Monday, February 16, 2015

MUENCHHAUSEN, Feb. 16, 2015



MUENCHHAUSEN
AN ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER ABOUT ENVIRONMENT,
RENEWABLE RESOURCE TECHNOLOGY,
AND RELATED TOPICS
By BOOTSTRAP PRESS, INC.
BETHESDA, MD
JJGREENBARON(at)VERIZON.NET
FEBRUARY 16, 2015
==============================================================
WELCOME!
The Green Baron (TGB) welcomes one and all who take the time to read Muenchhausen. He aims to “tell it like it is” as much as possible, and avoid advocacy and ideological positions. There are enough of those to go around in other publications.

The Green Baron also welcomes comments from anyone who may read Muenchhausen. Please send comments to the e-mail address above.

KEYSTONE XL PASSED CONGRESS: SO WHAT?
Well, a bill to approve the construction of the much-debated Keystone XL Pipeline to ship Alberta Oil Sands oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast area of the US finally has passed both houses of Congress, been reconciled, and forwarded to the President for signature, after years of discussion. TGB believes that the chances of a presidential signature or a Congressional veto override are lower than TGB’s chances of hitting the jackpot on the Mega Millions or Power Ball lottery. But let’s see what political and economics analysts at the Union Bank of Switzerland have to say about it in their own words (and they reputedly are among the best in their professions):

More Energy to Come After Keystone. The House voted this week to pass the Senate-passed legislation approving the Keystone XL Pipeline project. The bill will be sent to President Obama, who is expected to veto it. A federal study from the Environmental Protection Agency indicating possible adverse environmental impacts from the pipeline project was strategically released last week, and it will be cited as part of the reason for the President's veto. The veto will end legislative efforts on Keystone for now, but it will not end the broader debate over energy policy. Look for new and separate debates and votes soon over lifting the prohibition on the export of U.S. crude oil, accelerating U.S. exports of natural gas, pipeline infrastructure improvements, designation of land to be used or not used for energy production, and other measures (1).

FUNDING TO STUDY “R”
By “R”, TGB means microbial resistance to drugs. It appears that $100 million could be allocated to the National Institutes of Health’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to study how bacteria attain “R” and to develop new drugs and diagnostics that detect diseases and get around “R” (2). In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, GA) could receive funding—perhaps nearly $700 million—to create an “isolate bank” of “R” strains and to educate hospital personnel in properly using antibiotics in such a way as to minimize the emergence of resistant organisms. Among other efforts would be working on ways to minimize the use of antibiotics in animal feed or, better, exclude them from feed (Food and Drug Administration and US Department of Agriculture). 











Resistant bacteria: trying to meet the challenge.

GOLD IN THEM THAR HILLS?
Not if the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has its way. In southwestern Alaska, near Iliamna Lake, it is estimated that there is ore containing 6.7 million pounds of gold, worth about $120 billion at current prices (3). Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., a Canadian firm, proposes to establish Pebble Mine to extract this ore. Problem is that this mineral treasure is located beneath spawning ground for one of Earth’s biggest runs of sockeye salmon. This fishery is reputed to generate $500 million a year in revenue.

EPA might invoke a rarely used legal authority to bar the company from beginning work on Pebble Mine. This action is known as a “preemptive veto”. Many conservationists, Alaskan natives, fishermen, and other interests oppose any such mining activity. It will be interesting to see the extent to which EPA’s preemptive veto may be contested in Congress and in cognizant courts—TGB somehow expects the matter to go to court—or whether the EPA action will stick.

iliamna.jpg 












Iliamna Lake, Alaska: Major salmon spawning grounds (4)

REFERENCES
1. Union Bank of Switzerland. www.ubs.com/fs.
2. Kaiser, J., Servick, K. “Biomedical initiatives get top billing in budget rollout”. Science, 6 Feb. 2015, 347, p. 601.
3. Warrick, J. “In EPA’s likely mine ‘veto’, foes see a vein of overreach”. The Washington Post, Feb. 16, 2015, p. A1.
4. Natural Resources Defense Council. http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/mskoglund/pebble_mine_in_alaska_worst_id.html.


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