My Page: Matt Singer

<< Newer articles <<    Author Home     >> Older articles >>

Back to 4

Jim Edwards, the 5th declared candidate for Mayor and only one who is not a member of the City Council, is apparently not eligible for the office, not because he isn't on the Council, but because he isn't in the city. The Missoulian has the gritty details. Basically, though, I'm wondering if we should have trusted the position to someone who thinks it is unfair to not let someone who pays local taxes run for local office. Under that guideline, anyone who did business in multiple jurisdictions would get multiple votes. That seems a mite bit problematic.

FBI Report

The FBI has issued a new report claiming that environmental and animal rights activists are the number one domestic terrorism threat facing the United States. If that's true, we're probably doing alright. Honestly, as the man presenting the report admits, "No deaths have been blamed on attacks by those groups so far."

Still, Senator James Inhofe saw fit to take the opportunity to blame PETA* and other mainstream animal and environmental advocacy organizations for supporting terrorism. Of course, he lacks evidence. Not that a lack of evidence has ever stopped Senator Inhofe.

*Don't get me wrong. I love eating animals.

MT AFL-CIO

Four years after an election that shook up Montana’s labor federation, the Montana AFL-CIO comes together again this week for a convention that could prove just as historic for labor. Two candidates have announced their intention to succeed Jerry Driscoll as Executive Secretary of the Federation, seeking to lead Montana’s labor community in what is proving to be a difficult time for organized labor, not just in Montana, but across the country. [more]

Robot Extraction

Some people would watch this video of a robot building another robot and think, that's weird, that's cool, or that's us entering the Matrix.

Chris Shults of Grist looked at it and wondered where more advanced versions of these robots will get their resources?

Can we program these robots to have an environmental ethic? Unless they start enjoying hunting, or find a need for clean water, it may be difficult.

Invisible Hand

Adam Smith, in his note-worthy The Wealth of Nations, defended three areas of intervention into markets: defense, protection of property, and maintenance of "public works" (things that benefit society greatly, but where profit-motives fail to stimulate sufficient capacity). This last category is now known also as public goods or goods with positive externalities. Good examples would be things like schools, highways, and, arguably, wild lands for hiking and fishing. These public goods are widely desired, but individual profit motives would be unlikely to protect them, simply because most of the benefits go to society.

All of which raises a good question: Is Wal-Mart a public good? Because as Richard Barr points out today in the Santa Fe New Mexican, taxpayers sure are helping keep it afloat. [more]

Environmental Roundup

It's 9:40 AM. Do you know what's in your water? The Clark Fork Coalition does. The Missoulian reports on the watershed that houses 1/3 of Montana's population. Meanwhile, in the Klamath Basin, conservationists and tribal leaders may be starting the next great Western fight by calling for market rates for electricity used for irrigation, as a means to protect Salmon populations, according to the Idaho Falls Post Register.

On the energy front, The New York Times reports that a handful of prominent enviros have come out in favor of nuclear power as a means of reducing greenhouse gases while the Idaho Statesman reports that the head of Idaho's Water Resources Department is warning of higher temperatures, smaller snowpack, and earlier runoff in that state. The Christian Science Monitor is reporting that oil companies are eyeing more than just ANWR in Alaska.

In wildlife news, Colorado is eyeing measures to protect grouse while Governors Owens, R-Colorado, and Guinn, R-Nevada, use the experience to call for loosening of the Endangered Species Act by giving states a larger role.

The Idaho Falls Post Register calls for conservationists to work Congressman Mike Simpson on a Wilderness Bill that has something for everyone -- enviros, motorized enthusiasts, and developers. Is this yet another true "multiple use" proposal? It appear that it may be.

Finally, Flagstaff voters will be referending tomorrow on a proposal to regulate big box stores. Wal-Mart, a major opponent of the referendum, opposed the referendum with advertisements comparing the proposal to Nazi book-burning. Wal-Mart has since apologized, admitting it was a "terrible" decision to run the ad. Right. Always low standards. Always.

Missoula Websites

For those interested, Lou Ann Crowley, one of the candidates for Mayor in Missoula, has a website up.

While I'm at it, the Missoula County Democrats are also working on a website. I don't think this is the final design (I've seen some sketches), but it is functional. That's the Missoula website news.

Enviro-Grok

The Associated Press reports that the federalis have "ordered the killing of a pack of endangered Mexican gray wolves that has been preying on livestock in the Gila National Forest." In other fauna news, Scripps Howard takes a look at the costs of saving the flycatcher, "a small, migratory bird."

The nuclear options aren't just weighing heavy on the Senate. Across the region, nuclear power issues are in the news. A US House subcommittee "is directing the Energy Department to start sending nuclear waste to an interim storage site next year," reports the Associated Press. Both the Idaho Falls Post-Register and USA Today look at the impacts of radiation on "downwinders," while the Navajo Nation is moving to ban uranium mining, according to the Associated Press.

The Times-News of Twin Falls, ID reports that "Several facilities in the Magic Valley topped the federal government's list for releasing the most pollutants in Idaho during the year 2003, raising concerns for environmentalists."

After the Fire

Five years after the Cerro Grande fire in Santa Fe National Forest, trees are popping up through the soil and grasses are restoring the watershed.

Blind Justice

The judge that let Cheney off the hook for the energy task force? Yeah, he has some industry connections.

<< Newer articles <<    Author Home     >> Older articles >>