House Votes to Rescind Oil Drillers’ Tax Breaks -- House Democrats passed legislation Thursday that would rescind $14 billion in tax breaks & subsidies for oil drillers & reserve the money to develop alternative energy projects and conservation technologies. The measure passed 264 to 163, with many Republicans joining a bloc of Democrats. Passage came despite opposition from the oil industry and the Bush administration.

A proposed open-pit coal mine in British Columbia threatens to undermine the most valued treasures of Glacier National Park. A mine that would generate 2 million tons of coal each year is proposed in the headwaters of the international Flathead River, which forms the western boundary of Glacier National Park. Not only does this dangerous proposal threaten grizzly bears and native trout populations, but it also poses a great threat to Glacier's pristine waters.

TAKE ACTION: Flathead River is no place for a coal mine. The government of British Columbia is currently accepting comments on this reckless proposal. Urge the government to abandon this proposal and put a stop to the attack on the Flathead River and Glacier National Park. Take action!

Gloom and Doom With a Sense of Doomed-er
Doomsday Clock ticks to 11:55 p.m., thanks in part to climate change

Cue ominous music: We're edging closer to annihilation, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists' famed Doomsday Clock -- a symbolic measurement of how close civilization stands to ultra-mega-doom, or "midnight." Last week, the group pushed its famed ticker two minutes forward to 11:55 p.m., adding climate change to its traditionally nuke-based calculations for the first time. "When we think about what technologies besides nuclear weapons could produce such devastation to the planet, we quickly came to carbon-emitting technologies," says Executive Director Kennette Benedict. The clock has been adjusted 18 times since 1947; the nearest brush with midnight was a spine-tingling two minutes in 1953, and this latest tweak is the closest since 1984. Says renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, "We foresee great peril if governments and societies do not take action now to render nuclear weapons obsolete and to prevent further climate change." By action now, he means in five minutes, right?

straight to the source: BBC News, Molly Bentley, 17 Jan 2007

straight to the source: Yahoo! News, Reuters, Will Dunham, 17 Jan 2007

straight to the source: The Independent, Rupert Cornwell, 17 Jan 2007

• Monday, May 19 ~ Geo-thermal: Alternative to Alternatives - John Dibble, www.geo-thermalnorthwest.com, 6 PM - Location: Sandpoint High School Auditorium, 410 S. Division Ave.

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• Saturday, May 24 ~ Plant-Climate Relationships: Biogeographic, Ecologic and Genetic Impacts of Global Warming , 9:45 AM Jerry Rehfeldt, USFS (retired), researcher of plant-climate relationships of Rocky Mtn. conifers  - Location: Sandpoint Community Hall, 204 S. First Ave.

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• Coeur d'Alene branch of ClimateCAN will meet Next date - To Be Announced - from

  6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Harding Family Center, 411 N.15th