Army Engineers Insist on Killing 11,000 Cormorants

Update:  A federal judge refused to stop the slaughter of 10,000 or more comorants living on a artificial island in the Columbia River in May.  He turned down a request from four plaintiffs including the Audubon Society for a preliminary injuntion to prevent the killing of comorants nesting on Sand Island.  The Army Corps of Engineers sees the cull as a solution to the problem of declining numbers of spawning salmon returning to the Columbia River basin.  NOT. The judge took comfort in the fact that only the first year of killing in a four year cull will not result in a species-wide impact.  As of June 11th the killers have shot 125 birds and destroyed 1700 nests.  As usual the federal government is trying to keep their unpopular, lethal activities hidden from the public by shooting birds on their nests at night and releasing a minimum amount of information about the cull.  Government agents waited until a Sunday on Memorial Day weekend to begin their dirty work.  US Person would be ashamed too, if he was ordered to shoot comorants tending their young in the dead of night.

{03.04.15}It is the same unclear thinking that caused an officer in Vietnam to claim, "we had to destroy the village in order to save it". In this case the Army Corps of Engineers wants to kill 11,000 double crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) that nest on an island in the Columbia River estuary. Their offense is they eat too many salmon to please fishermen. Originally the Corps wanted to exterminate all 18,000 birds, but that proposal was too drastic even for the Corps. Now the plan is to kill only eleven thousand and use non-lethal tactics to reduce the number of breeding pairs from about 13,000 to 5600 on East Sand Island. The Army believes the cormorants consume an average of 11 million juvenile salmon each year. A commercial valuable fish, the Columbia River salmon and steelhead runs have been in decline for years despite expensive recovery efforts. The cormorant population is not doing well in its range except for the colony on East Sand. The 62 acre spit is man-made from dredging spoils. It is a nesting site for another bird that eats juvenile salmon: the Caspian tern. The tern colony, one of the largest on the west coast, was moved by the Corps to East Sand from another artificial island farther upstream. So it seems that this perceived problem is mostly man-made. The same can be said for shooting sea lions and seals that eat adult salmon near the first of several man-made barriers across the Columbia, the Bonneville Dam.

The Portland Audubon Society has promised to go to court to obtain an injunction against the proposed cull. The organization thinks the action is too drastic and not the underlying cause of declining salmon population. Habitat loss is driving the decline in salmon numbers and the proposed cull is 15% if the double-crested cormorant population west of the Rocky Mountains. The cormorants are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act which will require the Corps to get several permits before it can "take" eleven thousand seabirds birds doing what comes naturally--eating fish and feeding their young. The fact is that shore birds along the west coast are generally not thriving. Some observers think this phenomenon is caused by less food in an ocean that is becoming increasingly sterile. The kill plan is drawing a lot of public attention; the Corps received 152,000 comments on the draft EIS. The final plan is open for public comment until March 16th. There is a lesson here: seeking a scapegoat does not solve a systemic problem--man's mismanagement of an important riverine ecosystem. Tell the Corps.

'Toontime: Evolver & the Yoga Nerds

credit: Mike Lester
Wackydoodle axes: Wha' y'al gonna due when there ain't no minorities no'mor?

Of course Wacky, it will be on to the first alphabet person to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! The combinations are endless, so it keeps them from facing reality. And you know how much they hate dealing with reality.

credit: Chip Bok

BC Idonwanna sez: Buffalo Soldier speak with forked brain!

Australia Listens to Outrage Over Barrier Reef Dumping

credit: WWF

Hundreds of thousands of people around the world were mobilized to protect one of Earth's most beautiful living treasures, the Great Barrier Reef. {14.05.15} WWF's call on world leaders to protect the reef has resulted in Australia's promise to prioritize the reef's health over development. That promise should result in a full ban on dumping dredging soils within protected areas in a matter of months. UNESCO said it will monitor Australia's government behavior in delivering "effective and sustained protection" of the reef from industrialization and pollution. Australia must report its progress in protecting the reef in 18 months. UNESCO's world heritage committee emphasised in its recent review that long-term threats such as water pollution and climate warming remain and will require action.

BP Reaches Settlement with DOJ

Awaiting a judgment from a federal judge in New Orleans on the size of the fine to be paid under the Clean Water Act for the Deepwater Horizon spill, the company reached a settlement with the Department of Justice at a significant discount of its potential liability.  The company's stock rose 4.6% when the settlement was announced.  Despite a finding that the company was grossly negligent in its operation of the Macondo well that caused a blow-out and fire killing eleven men and unknown millions of wild creatures in the Gulf of Mexico, the company agreed to pay a civil penalty of only $5.5bn over 15 years compared to potential damages of $18bn.  The company set aside $43bn in internal accounting to pay all costs associated with the biggest environmental disaster in the history of the United States.  BP will pay $7.1 billion under the settlement to Gulf states for natural resources damages.  The remainder of the settlement total represents various economic and other claims by states and municipalities. The settlement is symptomatic of the cozy relationship the government has with big business, especially the oil industry.  Of course company executives thought the settlement a "realistic outcome".  BP is not out of the legal patch yet as other court proceedings remain relating to the spill including criminal penalties.  Whether this settlement of the largest Clean Water Act violations affects the status of those proceedings remains to be seen.  The settlement is the largest paid by a single company in US history, which fits its crime.

American Female Executive Arrested in Japan

credit: Reuters

Update:  Julie Hamp resigned from her executive position at Toyota Motors.  Her resignation was accepted by the company which cited the concerns of stakeholders about her arrest for illegal possession of oxycodone.  Police raided Toyota's headquarters in Toyota City after her arrest on June 18th, causing severe loss of face.  Hamp, 55, was a key figurehead in the Japanese car company's efforts to diversify its executive ranks.
{19.06.15}Toyota Motor Corporation's first senior woman executive was arrested in Japan for illegally bringing Oxycodone into the country. Fifty-seven pills were found in a small parcel labeled "necklaces" sent to Julie Hamp in Japan. The package also contained toy pendants and necklaces. Hamp has been Toyota's Chief Communications Officer just two months. Hamp denied knowledge of the pills. Oxycondone, which is addictive (opioid), is a prescription drug in both the US and Japan; bringing it to Japan requires government approval. Because of the large number of pills Hamp could face years in prison, followed by deportation. She is a former General Motors and PepsiCo executive.

Creature Feature: Uporny Goes Free

WWF with cooperation from the Russian Forest Department and conservationists have successfully released another Amur tiger into the wild. This video records the release of Uporny, a three-year old male, who was captured last year because he was considered a "conflict" tiger. Uporny resorted to killing domestic dogs to survive because of the lack of prey in his territory. Uporny was captured and sent to a rehabilitation center in Russia's far east rather than suffer a life of captivity. Uporny's health was checked and he was released to a sparsely populated mountain area with a good source of prey. It is also home to a female Amur tiger. Obviously, we all hope that Uporny produces many little tigers in the years to come, contributing to the recovery of his magnificent species. Uporny wears a collar designed to drop off when his human monitors are satisfied with his progress adapting to his new home. Notice Uporny's eyes as he faces the freedom  after his stressful captivity! No wonder Kipling wrote, "Tiger, tiger burning bright in the jungles of the night..."

Justice Scalia Strikes Back

Just when you think you have gotten out, they suck you back in again. That is how it felt after the giddy euphoria over homosexual marriage legalization fizzled, and Justice Anthony Scalia stuck it to environmentalists. He wrote a 5-4 majority decision striking down the first ever rules requiring power plants to cut mercury and other toxins from their air emissions. In Michigan v EPA Scalia wrote that EPA failed to consider industry costs before adopting the rules, however, he did not void the rules outright, but sent the case back to a lower court for further proceedings. The EPA estimated an annual cost to the utility sector of $9.6bn when it adopted the rules in 2012. The agency decided that because it was dealing with a known threat to public health, it did not need to consider costs when deciding whether to control toxic emissions from power plants. The Supreme majority disagreed with that interpretation of the statutory standard "appropriate and necessary". The regulations were drawn up under a separate statutory authority (§7412 of the Clean Air Act) from those proposed for carbon emissions by power plants, an important regulatory effort against global warming. One coal mining company, Murray Energy, has sued the EPA over the carbon rules. It said Monday's ruling indicates the EPA would not be able justify the carbon rules either since they "impose billions of dollars in costs, with no discernible environmental benefit whatsoever. Murray Energy's minions must be living on Planet Zero, where the climate is always nice and homosexual marriage is good for business.  Pass the wedding cake, please!