The Dittmar Deliverer

President Obama will address the green economy at a wind power plant in Iowa on Earth Day, according a report in the New York Times.
Obama will discuss his administration's energy agenda, which includes decreasing dependence on oil and the creation of green jobs, at a Maytag plant in Newton, Iowa
Van Jones, White House Council on Environmental Quality adviser, said that Obama's speech in Iowa shows how the administration is doing more to reach out to areas that are not considered mainstream environmental areas.
"I think normally you would not expect the president of the United States to spend Earth Day standing in a closed plant in Iowa," Jones said. "You will see a manufacturing hub that was part of the last century's economy coming back as a manufacturing hub of the next century's economy."
According to the Washington Post, Obama urged congress to pass legislation that would allow $150 billion to be invested towards research and implementation of renewable energy also.
Obama also pressured congress to speed up the process of installing a cap-and-trade system with companies emissions.

Posted by dittm027 at 2:19 AM | Permalink

This years "Goldman Environmental Prizes" will take place in San Fransisco on Monday where six environmental activists from around the globe will be awarded $150,000 according to USA Today
One winner is selected from each continent in Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America.
The winner selected from North America this year is Maria Gunnoe, of Bob White, W.Va, who is working on removing the process of ending mountain top removal mining.
Gunnoe said she is been fighting since 2003 in which a creek flooded, as a result of the mining, and caused damages to her house.
"I've had a 60 foot wide, 20 foot tall wall of water come at me. They lost their intimidation tactics right out the gate," she says.
According to a report in the Contra Costa Times, this year's event will be the 20th anniversary, and 3,300 people from around the nation and the world will attend the invitation-only event.

Posted by dittm027 at 4:39 AM | Permalink

The U.S. has promised to increase their efforts in decreasing their greenhouse gas emmissions at United Nations climate talks on Wednesday, according to a report by the New York Times.
However, many delgates and U.N. officials are concerned that the U.S. plans are not as immediate as those needed.
Jonathan Pershing, the deputy special envoy for climate change, said at a news conference that Obama's plan requires all countries, including developing countries, to curb their emissions by the year 2050.
The Kayoto Protocol established in 1997 requires emission reductions by the year 2012 for developed nations.
He also said that most other programs, such as the European Union program, sets rates for decrease of emissions for 2020.
Pershing said that the U.S. plan will have a more detailed outline by June in which negotiations will resume in Bonn, Germany.
However, Pershing said that details like how much the United States would reduce emissions, when the reductions would take place and how much money would be spent on curbing emissions would unlikely be decided by June.
“U.S. policy is something we’re developing at home, according to what we see as the science and political capacity.” Pershing said

Posted by dittm027 at 7:14 PM | Permalink

Thirteen immigration students and employees were killed and four wounded in a massacre at a social service center in Binghamton N.Y. on Friday, acoording to a report from USA Today.
Jiverly Wong, 42, barricaded the door with his car before open firing on a room of students taking a citizenship exam and then shooting himself.
According to Binghamton Police Chief Joseph Zikuski, six people were wounded, one critically, and were taken to the hospital.
Wong's first victims were the two receptionists at the center.
One died immediately while the other crawled underneath a desk to call 911 for help.
Wong was an Vietnamese immigrant who had been taking classes at the center until recently to improve his English, was in full body armor and used two handguns as weapons.
According to the New York Times, Zikuski said, “At one point in his thinking process, he was going to take the police on — or at least try to stop us from stopping him.”
There is currently an investigation on the cause's of Wong's actions.
Zikuski believes his frustrations of an immigrant may have pushed Wong to act extreme.
Wong was having difficulty learning English and was dependent on government financial support.

Posted by dittm027 at 9:44 PM | Permalink

Mount Redoubt, an Alaskan Volcano, erupted several times on Thursday since it last erupted on Sunday, said a report in USA Today.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory said there were two significant eruptions that caused ash to spew as far as 12 miles into the air. reeruption
The first started at 8:30 am and shot ash 30,000 feet in the air while the second eruption shot ash as high as 65,000 feet.
There were 5 to 10 smaller eruptions after these but none of them reached altitudes over 20,000 feet.
The National Weather service reports that winds could carry the ash to communities in the Western Kenai Peninsula as well as the states largest town, Anchorage.
The volcanic ash is also causing flooding problems and airline complications.
The New York Times reported that the volcano also erupted five times overnight Sunday and Monday sending an ash plume more than nine miles into the air.
Before this week the last time Mount Redoubt was active was 20 years ago, in which eruptions continued for four months.
"We can have these large explosions pretty much any time," said Stephanie Prejean, an observatory seismologist. "We don't know how long this will continue."

Posted by dittm027 at 4:22 PM | Permalink

After a month of delays the space shuttle Discovery took flight on Sunday night with a crew of seven members, according to a report by The New York Times
The shuttle blasted off from 7:43 p.m. and will be traveling two days to the International Space Center to install power generating solar array wings to the station.
"You had a little bit of a wait, but that will just make the payoff that much sweeter," Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach said.
The ship also carries parts to fix a recyclable water system that turns urine into sanitary drinking water.
The blast off was reported by The Times as being aesthetically pleasing with grays, oranges and sunset colors.
“I’ve seen a lot of launches,” said Michael D. Leinbach, the shuttle launching director. “This was the most visibly beautiful launch I’ve ever seen.”
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2009-03-15-shuttle-launch_N.htm">USA Today reported the delay in the blast off to be a result from a complication "with valves in the shuttle's main propulsion system."

Posted by dittm027 at 3:52 AM | Permalink

An Associated Press report in USA Today announced that an oil spill that took place on Australia's northern shore is ten times worse than previously thought, according to a government official.
Queensland state Deputy Premier Paul Lucas told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio that officials estimate the ship leaked around 60,700 gallons of oil.
Previous estimates were around 5300-7900 gallons of leaked oil.
Swire Shipping Ltd told government officials that containers of fertilizers broke through the fuel tank when the tides were rough causing the 11,000 gallons of oil spilled into the sea.
Premier Anna Bligh said that Britain's Swire Shipping Ltd told government officials that the amount of oil was actually much less than what was accurate.
Hundreds of government officials are currently working to clean Australia's Sunshine Coast and Moreton Island.
Under Australian law, the company may be liable to pay up to $160 million more in penalties for causing environmental damage.

Posted by dittm027 at 1:37 AM | Permalink

An Alaskan sled dog was reunited with her North Dakota musher Friday after being seperated on the in the Iditorod, according to a reoport by The Star Tribune.
Rookie driver, Nancy Yoshida, crashed her sled and Tuesday in the race and her husky, Nigel, has been running around the Alaskan wilderness since.
Searchers were spotted and tracked Nigel from the air three days later to Talvista Lodge near Skwentna, Alaska wear he was found.
"She was crying," Iditorod spokesmen St. George said. "She was so excited. You could tell the two of them missed each other a lot."
Shortly after the crash 58-year-old Yoshinda dropped out of the race. Rules state that mushers need to reach the next checkpoint with the same number of dogs as they left the previous one or they’re disqualified, The Grand Forks Herald said.
Though Yoshinda could have continued after the husky was found, it was unlikely she would finish within the time limit.

Posted by dittm027 at 5:40 PM | Permalink

According to a report by USA Today, President Obama will sign an executive order on Monday that will allow human embryonic stem cell research and will separate the political and scientific spheres in the nation.
Obama's plan is a reversal of former President George Bush's limits on federally funded stem cell research.
"We've got eight years of science to make up for," said Dr. Curt Civin, director of the University of Maryland Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.
Bush decided in 2001 to limit federal funds to the research of 21 lines of stem cell colonies.
Obama's reversal will allow that scientists to use hundreds of lines that will be used towards finding more cures of diabetes and Parkinsons.
Member of Obama's Domestic Policy Council, Melody Barnes, said The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy will isolate federal science advisers to be free from political interference.
However, a report in The Star Tribune said that many restrictive state policies will still regulate, ban, and restrict stem cell research. Though sociologist Hasaon Owen-Smith believes lifting federal policies will still bring many opportunities to scientists.
"Lifting federal restrictions will allow already active researchers to switch their efforts to newer cell lines or to start work on cell lines from multiple sources," said Sociologist Jason Owen-Smith of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Posted by dittm027 at 3:27 AM | Permalink

Attention to ash pond pollution is growing as damages continue from the crash of a damn spilling over a billion tons of sludge through Knoxville Tennesee, that occurred two years ago according to a report by USA Today
The incident at a Tennessee Valley Authority plant caused contaminated drinking water for the small community of East Mount Camel and caused damages to a nearby wildlife sanctuary for endangered birds.
USA Today said that clean-up efforts for the ash ponds, ponds filled with ash waste, are still in the process.
Problems such as those that occurred in Tennessee have drawn attention to environmentalists who are now calling for legislation in handling ash and coal combustion wastes.
Many want ban the ability to use ash ponds, that is known for polluting water, altogether.
We need a national regulation that gets rid of that practice," said Jeff Stant, director of the Environmental Integrity Project's effort to address coal combustion waste. "What happened at Gibson shows why."
According to the Ethical Traveler, ash spills will threaten wildlife for years by trace amounts of arsenic, cadmium, mercury, thallium, and other toxins in the coal ash.

Posted by dittm027 at 6:06 PM | Permalink

According to a report by USA Today, Obama is siding with the Bush Administrations policies regarding U.S. rights and detainees at Brigam Airfield in Afghanistan.
There are over 600 prisoners at the military base that will be refused the right to challenge their imprisonment.
Though similar rights were given to those held in Guantanamo Bay last summer, the Justice Department argues that Afghanistan is a war zone in which "the prisoners are the result of continuing military action."
According a The New York Times, other policies supported by Obama nominees include detaining terrorist suspects without a trial, or transferring detainees across country boarders where they can be denied a trial.
"They've now embraced the Bush policy that you can create prisons outside the law," said Jonathan Hafetz, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.
Many human rights attorneys are concerned about the direction of Obamas policies an foreign prisoners.

Posted by dittm027 at 5:07 PM | Permalink

A continental commuter plane crashed into a Buffalo suburban home Thursday killing all 49 passengers and the resident of the house, according to a report by USA Today.
Continental Connection Flight 3407, traveling from Newark, N.J. and was five miles away from its destination at Buffalo Niagara International Airport when witnesses heard the aircraft sputtering and from fall from the sky to come crashing directly into the house.
The plane was carrying 5000 pounds of fuel and immediatly exploded after the crash creating flames 50-100 feet high.
Though one resident of the house, not yet named, died, two survivors of the incident escaped from the house, Karen Wielinski, 57, and her 22-year-old daughter.
County Emergency Coordinator David Bissonette said it was surprising that more damage was not caused on the ground.
"It's remarkable that it only took one house. As devastating as that is, it could have wiped out the entire neighborhood."
The cause of the crash is under investigation as there wasn't an emergency call before from the pilot before the crash. Though after listening to air traffic control messages, one of the pilots said they were collecting ice on their wings since 20 miles south of the airport.
The NY Times said that the boxes are being analyzed by the National Transportation Safety Board this afternoon.

Posted by dittm027 at 3:39 PM | Permalink

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking to remove the California Conservation Corps program to help with the state's $42 billion budget deficit according to a story in the NY Times Sunday.
Currently the government gives $34 million dollars to keep the Corps running, giving many young adults jobs and opportunities to help the environment.
The corps works on restoration services, creating trails, and clearing highways of brush.
Eliminating the program would take away these services from California and also make as many as 1300 individuals unemployed. Most come from poor neighborhoods and as many as half haven't graduated from high school.
“To cut off the opportunity for disadvantaged kids to get their feet on the first rung of the ladder to future green careers is criminal,�? said Van Jones, author of the best-selling “Green Collar Economy."
This would also be an opposition act of the Obama administration and its Congress Stimulus Package as it is working to provide more of these types of jobs for youth.

Posted by dittm027 at 9:48 PM | Permalink

A criminal investigation is being conducted by the Food and Drug Administration regarding the salmonella outbreaks found in peanut products issued from the Peanut Corporation of America according to a report issued Saturday by the NY Times.
The organization has admitted to sending the products being aware of the contamination.
However, this is not the first occasion in which the company has been proven of peanut product contamination. Metal shavings were found in a shipment from Canada and was refused entrance into the United States last April, according to the F.D.A.
This caused the agency to ask officials in Georiga to inspect the company's plant in Blakely to ensure its safety.
Previously, products suspicous of contamination were only those sold in bulk to schools, nursing homes, and hospitals.
However, as of Friday the recall of PCA products was expanded to include all products made in its Blakely plant that were produced in 2007 and the first half of 2008 says a report from USA Today
Currently more than 400 products have been recalled.
Though Stephen Sundlof of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition ensures the safety of the peanut butter sold in jars in grocery stores. "We don't have concern about the national, name-brand peanut butter that's sold in jars at supermarkets and retail outlets."

Posted by dittm027 at 12:13 AM | Permalink