Tue, Feb 12 2008
WATER WARS GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER
Lake Mead = Hoover Dam. So it's not just water, it's power as well. Are we scared yet?
Lake Mead Could Dry Up by 2021
LiveScience.com - Lake Mead, a key source of water for millions of people in the southwestern United States, could go dry by 2021, a new study finds.
The study concludes that natural forces such as evaporation, changes wrought by global warming and the increasing demand from the booming Southwest population are creating a deficit from this part of the Colorado River system.
Along with Lake Powell, which is on the border between Arizona and Utah, Lake Mead supplies roughly 8 million people in the cities of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Diego, among others, with critical water supplies.
The system is currently only at half capacity thanks to a recent string of dry years, researchers say.
The study’s findings indicated that there is a 10 percent chance that Lake Mead could be dry by 2014 and a 50 percent chance that reservoir levels will drop too low to allow hydroelectric power generation by 2017. There is a 50 percent chance the lake will go dry by 2021, the study says.
Researchers say that even if water agencies follow their current drought contingency plans, those measures might not be enough to counter natural forces, especially if the region enters a period of sustained drought or if human-induced climate changes occur as currently predicted.
"We were stunned at the magnitude of the problem and how fast it was coming at us," said study coauthor Tim Barnett of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California at San Diego. "Make no mistake, this water problem is not a scientific abstraction, but rather one that will impact each and every one of us that live in the Southwest."
Several studies in recent years have predicted a prolonged period of drought in the Southwest as a result of global warming.
The team's analysis of Federal Bureau of Reclamation records of past water demand and calculations of scheduled water allocations and climate conditions indicate that the system could run dry even if mitigation measures now being proposed are implemented.
"It's likely to mean real changes to how we live and do business in this region," said coauthor David Pierce, a climate scientist at Scripps.
The new study has been accepted for publication in the journal Water Resources Research.Tue, Feb 12 2008
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO FISCAL CONSERVATIVE VALUES
Repuglicans are always bleating about 'tax-and-spend'. What the fuck is with this insane 'borrow-and-spend' shit??
Budget deficit running at faster pace
WASHINGTON, Associated Press - The federal budget deficit is running at a pace that is more than double last year's imbalance through the first four months of the budget year.
In its monthly review of the government's finances, the Treasury Department said Tuesday that the budget was in surplus in January, but totals $87.7 billion so far this budget year, double the $42.2 billion imbalance recorded during the same period in 2007. The new budget year started last Oct. 1.
The Bush administration sent its final budget request to Congress last week, projecting that the deficit for all of 2008 will total $410 billion, very close to the all-time high in dollar terms of $413 billion in 2004.
So far this year, federal spending is 8.3 percent ahead of last year's pace, at $949.1 billion. That is far ahead of the 3.2 percent increase in revenues, which have totaled $861.4 billion in the current budget year.
For 2007, the budget deficit totaled $162 billion, a five-year low. However, the slowing economy is expected to stunt the growth of tax revenues while the $168 billion economic stimulus plan passed by Congress last week will swell the deficit.
It is hoped the stimulus plan will keep the economy out of a recession or at least make the downturn milder and shorter than it otherwise would have been. The rebate checks are expected to start being mailed out in May with most Americans getting checks of $600 for individuals and $1,200 for couples filing their tax returns jointly. In addition, families with children will get an extra $300 per child.
For January, the surplus totaled $17.8 billion. That was down from a January 2007 surplus of $38.2 billion. The government's books are often in surplus in January because it is a month when many individual taxpayers make a quarterly estimated payment.
While the administration is projecting that the deficit for the current 2008 budget year will total $410 billion and decline only slightly to $407 billion in 2009, it projects a significant improvement after those years.
Bush's budget said that the president's goal of getting the budget back into balance in 2012, three years after he leaves office, is still achievable, forecasting a balance that year of $48 billion.
However, private forecaster have termed the administration's deficit projections unrealistic.
Goldman Sachs economists said last week that they had boosted their deficit forecast for this year to $425 billion and to $440 billion in 2009, reflecting the stimulus package.Tue, Feb 12 2008
DUBYA'S LEGACY
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