No Climate Bill in 2008

The Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act failed to survive a cloture vote this morning, 48-36. The vote was mostly along party lines. Here is the roll call.

All three presidential candidates skipped the vote.

I am not sorry to see the demise of this particular bill, as it had many flaws. However, its failure sends a very bad message. As one of the world's largest polluters our country has the greatest responsibility to rein in greenhouse gases. It has been ten years since the Kyoto Protocol, yet the US government still lacks a coherent approach to climate change.

Here's a look at one of the bill's chief opponents.

Loose Feathers Postponed

There will not be a "Loose Feathers" this morning. I was too sick last night to put it together.

Instead, check out some recent carnivals:

• Circus of the Spineless #33
• Carnival of the Blue #13
• Festival of the Trees #24
• Birds in the News #133
  

Condor Dies of Lead Poisoning

Seven endangered California condors have become sick with lead poisoning.

The birds started turning up sick about a month ago during random trappings at Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge in the San Joaquin Valley.

One of the birds died during treatment at the Los Angeles Zoo, and six others are still being treated there.

Officials do not yet know the source of the contamination, but a United States Fish and Wildlife Service official said the birds had probably been poisoned by eating the carcasses of animals shot by hunters....

The California condor nearly became extinct in the 1980s, but a trapping and breeding program has helped restore the species. There are about three dozen of the endangered birds in Southern California and about 200 in the wild over all.

California condors typically succumb to lead poisoning after ingesting fragments of lead bullets that remain in animal carcasses shot and left behind by hunters. In recent years, the ingestion of lead fragments has been one of the major obstacles to condors' recovery from near-extinction.

Last year, in response to the problem, California enacted a ban on the use or possession of lead ammunition within the condors' territory. Unfortunately the ban will not go into effect until July 1 of this year, so hunters may still be using the lead bullets in condor restoration areas in the meantime. Even after the ban takes effect, many years worth of bullet fragments will still be left in the environment, so condors may feel the effects of human hunting for years to come.

Act for Songbirds

Please consider signing the American Bird Conservancy's petition in support of renewing the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (H.R. 5756).

U.S. Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI) and Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) have introduced bipartisan legislation to better fund efforts to protect migratory birds. The bill, H.R. 5756, reauthorizes the existing Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) at significantly higher levels to meet the growing needs of our migrants, many of which are in rapid decline.

NMBCA is the only federal U.S. grants program specifically dedicated to the conservation of our migrant birds that is available Americas-wide. It has a proven track-record of success, having supported 225 projects in 44 U.S. states/territories and 34 other countries since its inception in 2002. More than $21 million in NMBCA grants have leveraged over $97 million in required matching partner contributions. Advances in conservation for many species, such as work by ABC and its partners to protect the declining Cerulean Warbler, owe much to the NMBCA.

The reauthorization bill proposes a significant increase in maximum funding from $6 million to $20 million. Currently, many more grant applications are received than can be funded, and so many worthwhile projects go unsupported. This increase in the NMBCA is therefore crucial in helping achieve international bird conservation goals.

No More Hummers?

Speaking of cars, It looks now as if high gas prices will finally bring an end to Hummer production.

Reacting to growing consumer sentiment, General Motors chief executive G. Richard Wagoner Jr. said yesterday that the world's biggest automaker will consider revamping or selling off some of the world's biggest passenger vehicles -- the Hummer line....

Before GM's annual meeting yesterday in Wilmington, Del., Wagoner said the automaker is "undertaking a strategic review of the Hummer brand, to determine its fit with GM's evolving product portfolio."

High fuel costs are hurting sales of GM's high-profit trucks and sport-utility vehicles. Wagoner said yesterday that GM will close four production plants and start making more small vehicles, which the Hummer decidedly is not.

"At this point," Wagoner said, "we are considering all options for the Hummer brand . . . everything from a complete revamp of the product lineup to partial or complete sale of the brand."

If GM cannot find a way to make Hummers economically viable in the current market, chances are that no one else will be interested in manufacturing them, either.

As the article mentions, Hummers are well-designed for some purposes, but those do not represent the majority of commercial purchases. Most are really a form of conspicuous consumption. In this case, each Hummer represents not only a conspicuous amount of money to purchase the vehicle, but also of nonrenewable resources – fossil fuels and a temperate climate.

As bad as Hummers are, however, there is one thing worse: a stretched Hummer.