Monthly Archive for Environment
Environment Stories Posted in July 2008
Critics Assail 'Self-Serving' Ballot Measure
Category: Rent-Seeking · State: California · Source: Contra Costa Times
Texas billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens has made no secret of his desire to open up the market for natural gas-powered vehicles. The founder of a company that develops natural gas vehicles, Pickens believes he has a foothold in an emerging field of clean energy resources — just as soaring gas prices and carbon emissions are causing many to look for alternatives. He's gotten kudos from environmental leaders for mounting a national campaign to lead the country away from its reliance on foreign oil. But, critics are howling at what they're saying is Pickens' brazen attempt to get California voters to foot the bill for a $5 billion bond measure, Proposition 10, that would expedite natural gas development — and line his already-gilded pockets. Pickens wrote the ballot measure, and his company, Seal Beach-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp., solely bankrolled the $3.25 million drive to get the initiative on November's ballot — and is expected to spend millions more to get it approved by voters.
Shut the Spigots on Selling Out State Water
Category: Environment · State: Michigan · Source: Detroit Free Press
If you're not in favor of commercializing the Great Lakes, you won't be pleased by the water policy Michigan's Legislature has just enacted. The PR campaign would have you believe that the new laws are a giant breakthrough in the protection of Michigan and Great Lakes water. The reality: While the laws contain some worthwhile features, they establish a state policy that the water in Michigan's lakes and streams and springs can be sold; that our water can be exported in any volume as long as it goes out in containers of 20 liters or less; that up to 25% of any Michigan river or stream can be legally consumed by water exporters and others; and that groundwater, which supplies up to 50% of the flow to the rivers and Great Lakes that we enjoy for fishing, boating, swimming and drinking, is not protected by a public trust standard.
Other Monthly Archives for Environment
- July 2008 (2)