2012 July Environment & Climate News

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) does not appear to consider global warming a security threat, Czech President Vaclav Klaus reported at The Heartland Institute’s Seventh International Conference on Climate Change. “I am glad to tell you that we did not discuss the global warming,” reported Klaus, who spoke at ICCC-7 after participating in talks with NATO leaders May 20-21 in Chicago.

Also in this issue:

• Mohave County, Arizona is suing the federal government over new mining restrictions that will make one million acres of uranium-rich lands off-limits.

• The resort town of St. George, Utah has won a long-running battle to gain approval for an airport on a former drag-racing strip. The Obama administration had threatened the city with $27,500 in fines per day for interfering with shallow dry washes that fill with water runoff during rare, heavy rainfalls.

• Alaska state officials are pressing the Obama administration to exercise restraint in implementing a new National Ocean Policy that threatens to shift power from the states to the federal government.

• Nebraska’s unicameral legislature has passed a bill designed to keep alive the possible approval of the Keystone XL pipeline previously rejected by President Barack Obama. The bill empowers state officials to independently evaluate an alternate route for the pipeline.

• Do 98 percent of climate scientists really believe in manmade global warming? A little research reveals the often-cited figure is a confused and erroneous reference to two different studies that fail to prove what those who cite them believe or allege.

• Three influential environmental activist groups are suing the federal government over plans to build a 100-turbine wind farm on federal land in Kern County, California. The suit alleges the proposed North Sky River project poses a threat to the endangered condor, the protected golden eagle, and other birds.