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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (79472)	9/18/2006 9:33:09 PM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362348

Warming Expert: Only Decade Left to Act in Time MSNBC News Thursday 14 September 2006 "We have a very brief window of opportunity," NASA scientist says. Sacramento, California - A leading US climate researcher says the world has a 10-year window of opportunity to take decisive action on global warming and avert catastrophe. NASA scientist James Hansen, widely considered the doyen of American climate researchers, said governments must adopt an alternative scenario to keep carbon dioxide emission growth in check and limit the increase in global temperatures to 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit). "I think we have a very brief window of opportunity to deal with climate change ... no longer than a decade, at the most," Hansen said Wednesday at the Climate Change Research Conference in California's state capital. If the world continues with a "business as usual" scenario, Hansen said temperatures will rise by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius (3.6 to 7.2 degrees F) and "we will be producing a different planet." On that warmer planet, ice sheets would melt quickly, causing a rise in sea levels that would put most of Manhattan under water. The world would see more prolonged droughts and heat waves, powerful hurricanes in new areas and the likely extinction of 50 percent of species. Clashing With White House Hansen, who heads NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, has made waves before by saying that President Bush's administration tried to silence him and heavily edited his and other scientists' findings on a warmer world. He reiterated that the United States "has passed up the opportunity" to influence the world on global warming. The United States is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide. But Bush pulled the country out of the 160-nation Kyoto Protocol in 2001, arguing that the treaty's mandatory curbs on emissions would harm the economy. Hansen praised California for taking the "courageous" step of passing legislation on global warming last month that will make it the first US state to place caps on greenhouse gas emissions. He said the alternative scenario he advocates involves promoting energy efficiency and reducing dependence on carbon burning fuels. "We cannot burn off all the fossil fuels that are readily available without causing dramatic climate change," Hansen said. "This is not something that is a theory. We understand the carbon cycle well enough to say that." Most scientists believe global warming is due in some measure to the greenhouse effect, which occurs when so-called greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere. These gases trap in Earth's heat like the glass walls of a greenhouse. Greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, are byproducts of the burning of fossil fuels. Arctic Studies Hansen spoke as NASA released two studies that found sharp reductions in winter Arctic sea ice. One of those studies was from Hansen's institute. "It is not too late to save the Arctic, but it requires that we begin to slow carbon dioxide emissions this decade," Hansen said in a statement. Scientists and climate models have long predicted a drop in winter sea ice, but it has been slow to happen. Global warming skeptics have pointed to the lack of ice melt as a flaw in global warming theory. The latest findings are "coming more in line with what we expected to find," said Mark Serreze, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. "We're starting to see a much more coherent and firm picture occurring." "I hate to say we told you so, but we told you so," he added. Serreze said only five years ago he was "a fence-sitter" on the issue of whether man-made global warming was happening and a threat, but he said recent evidence in the Arctic has him convinced. Summer sea ice also has dramatically melted and shrunk over the years, setting a record low last year. This year's measurements are not as bad, but will be close to the record, Serreze said. Shrinking Arctic ice means less sunlight gets reflected and more gets absorbed, exacerbating the problem of warming. It also threatens Arctic species, notably polar bears, said Claire Parkinson, a research scientist at the Goddard center. The polar bear population in Canada's Hudson Bay has dropped from 1,200 in 1989 to about 950 in 2004, a decline of 22 percent, Parkinson said at the teleconference. Polar bears typically hunt on Arctic ice, but when ice is depleted, they will forage on land, she said. This has led to more sightings in Inuit settlements, but does not mean that the number of polar bears is increasing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. -------

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (79472)	9/18/2006 9:50:00 PM
From: ThirdEye	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362348

Halliburton to Wounded Employee: You'll Get a Medal -- If You Don't Sue By Justin Rood - September 18, 2006, 2:10 PM Halliburton will help its combat-zone employees get the honors and recognition they deserve -- if they promise not to sue the company. That's according to new documents released today by Senate Democrats. Ray Stannard was a truck driver in Iraq for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. In 2003, he was part of a fuel convoy that was ambushed by insurgents. Seven Americans died in the attack and 26 were injured, including Stanner. He is suing the company. His company knew the convoy's route was dangerous and unprotected, he says, but sent the convoy through anyway. "What they did was murder," Stannard told CBS News recently. "And I stick by that." The circumstances of his injuries qualified Stanner for the U.S. Defense of Freedom medal, the civilian equivalent to a soldier's Purple Heart. In offering to forward Stanner's medical records to the Department of Defense so they could confirm and appove his award, KBR required him to sign a release form. (You can see the document here.) The document, sent to Stannard in November 2004, appears to be boilerplate -- but for one curious paragraph that appears to indemnify KBR from any wrongdoing that may have led to Stanner's injuries: . . . I agree that in consideration for the application for a Defense of Freedom Medal on my behalf that. . . I hereby release, aquit and discharge KBR, all KBR employees, the military, and any of their representatives. . . with respect to and from any and all claims and any and all causes of action, of any kind or character, whether now known or unknown, I may have against any of them which exist as of the date of this authorization. . . . This release also applies to any claims brought by any person or agency or class action under which I may have a right or benefit. Stannard didn't sign the form. He received the medal. And he filed suit against the company the following May. tpmmuckraker.com