Against intense local opposition, the Obama administration wants to demolish three dams on the Klamath River in Siskiyou County, California. Low-cost clean hydroelectricity as well as water for irrigation would be lost if the dams were removed. Removal of the dams would also cause chaos for ranchers, homeowners, and small business who live and work in the downstream of the dams. Despite this, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has been trying to force dam removal for the supposed benefit of some salmon and steelhead spawning habitat.Now, Prof. Paul R. Houser of George Mason University alleges that the administration's plan is all based on junk science. In his role as science advisor to the Bureau of Reclamation, he was closely involved in the project. He has filed a formal complaint (PDF) alleging "intentional falsification" and "intentional . . . compromise of scientific and scholarly integrity." In particular, he says that, under orders from Ken Salazar, the department produced a "summary" report that "intentionally distorts and generally presents a biased view of the Klamath River dam removal benefits." In particular, he alleges:
The changes, Prof. Houser alleges, report only the positive while distorting or falsifying the science.
- The summary section on Chinook Salmon recovery projects an 81.4 percent recovery, but says nothing about the nine contingencies summarized in the June 13, 2011, Klamath River Expert Panel Final Report: Scientific Assessment of Two Dam Removal Alternatives on Chinook Salmon report that could completely negate this projected recovery . . . .
- The summary states that "Coho salmon reclaim 68 miles of habitat", but says nothing about the April 25, 2011 statement in the Klamath River Expert Panel Final Report: Scientific Assessment of Two Dam Removal Alternatives on Coho Salmon and Steelhead that "the difference between the Proposed Action and Current Conditions is expected to be small, especially in the short term (0-10 years after dam removal)." . . . .
- The summary states that dam removal will likely reduce salmon disease, but does not properly state its uncertainty [which is] very high".
- The summary also spins an optimistic outlook for Steelhead trout, providing access to 420 miles of historical habitat. However, the April 25, 2011 Klamath River Expert Panel Final Report: Scientific Assessment of Two Dam Removal Alternatives on Coho Salmon and Steelhead states that this success would be dependent on effective implementation of the proposed and related actions [e.g.Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)]; whereas ineffective implementation would result in no detectable response.
You can read more about Prof. Houser's extensive qualifications here. Congress has not yet approved Salazar's plan. With luck, they will block it entirely.
UPDATE: Over a month, later, the MSM is catching up: the Daily Caller has a story on this scandal here.
Hat tip: Leonard
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14 comments:
Interesting...when science doesn't support decisions turn to economics. Who benefits financially in the removal of these damns? Thats the administration supporter driving this wagon.
The real goal, is to crush the evil Infedels, by making energy so expensive-it will break them.
Overestimate fueled state's landmark diesel law
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau (revision J. Lefor)
(10-08) 04:00 PDT Sacramento - --
California grossly miscalculated (lied about) pollution levels in a scientific analysis (Con-artist project) used to toughen the state's clean-air standards, and scientists (con artists) have spent the past several months revising data (falsified evidence) and planning a significant weakening (government control) of the landmark regulation, The Chronicle has found.
The pollution estimate (fabrication of falsified evidence) in question was too high - by 340 percent, according to the California Air Resources Board, the state agency charged with researching and adopting air quality standards. The estimate (fabrication of falsified evidence) was a key part in the creation of a regulation adopted by the Air Resources Board (Bureaucracy for total Nazi like control over California) in 2007, a rule that forces businesses to cut diesel emissions by replacing or making costly upgrades to heavy-duty, diesel-fueled off-road vehicles used in construction and other industries. (The private sector jobs that was lost in California)
The staff of the powerful and widely respected (Nazi Regime) Air Resources Board said the overestimate (extreme fabrication of falsified evidence) is largely due to the board (fake scientists) calculating emissions before the economy slumped (which they cause from the new ruling), which halted the use of many of the 150,000 diesel-exhaust-spewing vehicles in California. Independent researchers, (real scientists in the private sector) however, found huge overestimates (gianormously extreme fabrication of falsified evidence) in the air board's work on diesel emissions and attributed the flawed work to a faulty method of calculation (without the use of math) - not the economic downturn. (Which was cause from the evidence of gianormously extreme fabrication of falsified huge overestimates)
The overestimate, which comes after another bad calculation by the air board on diesel-related deaths that made headlines in 2009, prompted the board to suspend (lay down the hammer and sickle) the regulation this year while officials decided whether to weaken the rule.
Diesel Proposal Continued:
On Thursday, after months of work, the air board and construction industry officials announced a proposal that includes delaying the start of the requirements until 2014 and exempting more vehicles from the rule. It would be a major scaling back of the rule if the air board approves it in a vote scheduled for December. The announcement was made as The Chronicle was preparing to publish this report, which had been in the works for several weeks.
The setbacks in the air board's research - and the proposed softening of a landmark regulation - raise questions about the performance of the agency as it is in the midst of implementing the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Absolute world power domination) - or AB32 (AWPD) as it is commonly called, one of the state's and the nation's most ambitious (criminal) environmental policies to date.
AB32, which aims to reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020, has come under intense political attack this year as the state prepares to elect a new governor. Critics cast the law as a jobs killer (REALLY?) because of the expenses to industry and businesses (loss of businesses) in conforming to new pollution regulations. Supporters say it will reinvigorate the state's economy and create thousands (ten) of new jobs in the emerging green sector. (Which doesn’t exist)
Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has promised (promises, promises) to suspend the law for at least a year, while Democrat Jerry Brown supports the law. California voters, meanwhile, will vote on Proposition 23, a November initiative to suspend AB32 (AWPD) until the unemployment rate - now at 12.4 percent in California - falls to 5.5 percent or less for a year. (Or everybody moves away because they have lost their job)
No answers
Mary Nichols, (Head of the Nazi Regime) chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, offered no explanation when The Chronicle questioned her about the diesel emissions miscalculation. She was recently asked why the air board estimate of a nitrous oxide source was off by at least a factor of two - air board scientists (her personal paid con artists) have since revised their numbers, and data show the estimate was off by 340 percent. Nichols' response: "I can't answer that for you." (I don’t understand how math works, I just take the falsified evidence they create, increase it more, then pass it along until I get and estimate that I can use to achieve more power for my bureaucracy)
Nichols was emphatic, though, when asked whether she has concerns about other scientific calculations made by air board scientists.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no and no," (hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail) she said.
Members of Nichols' board don't have an answer for the overestimate either, said Ron Roberts, an air board member who is a Republican supervisor in San Diego County and who voted in favor of the diesel regulation.
"One of the hardest things about being (a Nazi) on the board is separating fact (falsified evidence) from political fancy, (gianormously extreme fabrication of falsified evidence)" Roberts said.
Roberts has been on the board for 15 years and said the agency has built a solid scientific reputation, but he said the board can't afford another mistake (evidence of corruption leaking out) and he still does not know what really happened. (He was getting medicated with medicinal marijuana and Prozac)
"I think somehow some very poor decisions (flat out lies and corruption) have been made and politics have entered the picture too much," he said. "There are plenty of excuses but no explanations." (Except that a Nazi Regime wanted power over California)
cont:
The regulation - called the In-Use Off-Road Diesel Vehicle Regulation (Death to small business in Ca) - was adopted by the board in July 2007 to cut the amount of (business in CA) emissions released by diesel vehicles, with some exceptions, that aren't operated on regular roads and highways. Most of the affected vehicles are used in construction, mining and airport ground support and include such machinery as bulldozers, dump trucks, forklifts and cranes. (Businesses in the private sector)
The construction industry had said the rule would cost construction businesses $10 billion to $12 billion in equipment purchases or upgrades required to make the machines run cleaner. (I smell a $10 billion lawsuit?)
The regulation restricts the emission of two pollutants - nitrous oxide and particulate matter - to meet federal clean-air standards and to benefit public health. (The Nazi Regime)
Praise and criticism
Most standards created by the board have been praised as groundbreaking in the fight against pollution, but recent errors have also made the board a target for criticism.
One of the major recent problems was an air board estimate of premature deaths caused by particulate matter spewing from diesel engines. The first calculation (false evidence) found 18,000 deaths a year in the state had links to particulate matter. That has been revised down by nearly half.
The revision was ordered after the board scientist (con artists) who oversaw that study was ousted as having faked his scientific credentials.
Roberts and other board members were not told by Nichols that the scientist, Hien Tran, lied about earning a doctorate from UC Davis before they voted in favor of regulations based in part on his science (gianormously extreme fabrication of falsified evidence). That vote took place in December 2008. (right before us all lost our jobs)
Nichols, (Head of the Nazi Regime) who acknowledges she knew about the falsification (yet surprisingly was not charged with any criminal activity) prior to the vote, has apologized (I’ll buy that for a dollar) for not sharing that information with her fellow board members. (in some circles (believed to be what was once called the legal justice system) that is called withholding evidence)
Roberts called the spate of errors "a major black eye" for the board. (ooh the shame, bastards should be imprisoned) He said he does not know why the process to fix them is taking longer than first expected. (they haven’t been able to falsify evidence fast enough)
Changing data
Top researchers at the air board said they are dealing with complex issues and that their jobs (of lying) have been made harder because the economic downturn has shut down some of the pollution-emitting machines that were in use in industries like construction and trucking.
Todd Sax, chief of the board's mobile source analysis branch, said scientists are trying to keep up with changes in the economy to have the best pollution estimates and to ensure the state meets federal air-quality obligations.
"We've been trying to get the numbers right, and the recession continues to take hold," Sax said, adding that his branch is "constantly re-evaluating" its numbers.
Their latest estimate for sources of nitrous oxide found that off-road vehicles are burning 228 million gallons of diesel fuel per year. The previous estimate was 1 billion gallons, which means the first estimate was 340 percent higher than the new calculation. Sax said roughly half of that is due to the recession but the other half is due to a revised method of calculation (née meni mingy mo) that focuses more directly on the amount of fuel sold instead of estimates about equipment use.
The problem, and the revised counting method, came to light after Robert Harley, a UC Berkeley professor of environmental engineering, and a colleague at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory did their own evaluation, which was published in December in the journal Atmospheric Environment.
cont:
While air board officials and other defenders of the board's science point to the economy as a major factor in the overestimates, Harley found that prior to the recession the board's estimates of nitrous oxide were too high by a factor of 4.5 (450% off) and its estimate of particulate matter was off by a factor of 3.1, an extraordinarily high amount to be off scientifically. (even for fabricated bullshit)
"The difference is large enough that it changes policy," Harley said.
Harley said he has not found major discrepancies in other industrial sectors - such as trucking - where the air board has estimated pollution emissions.
Meanwhile, the estimate of premature deaths linked to diesel engine particulate matter has been downsized to 9,200 from the previous studies estimate of 18,000. Bart Croes, chief of research for the air board, (head of the fake scientists) noted that the board used an entirely new model developed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (like they are more reliable) that more directly links pollution with mortality and that the levels of uncertainty are much smaller under the new estimate.
The Air Resources Board acknowledges that the new estimates mean that emitters of the pollution would need to make significantly smaller - and in turn less expensive - changes to their vehicles.
Orchestrated delay?
Some construction industry leaders, whose businesses have been a major target for reducing pollution, said they have long been skeptical of the board's estimates. (because they are closing them down) They had eagerly awaited proposals for regulation changes, and some even believe the air board was intentionally slowing down the adoption of changes to lie low while the debate over AB32 rages in the public forum.
"I think they're waiting till after November because they are really hoping the election goes one way that's more favorable than another and they would have a freer hand to do what they want to do," said Michael Lewis, president of the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition, (he was actually waiting until they all went out of business) which monitors regulations affecting the industry.
The coalition supports Prop. 23, but has not made major donations to the campaign, Lewis said, citing the severe impact of the recession. "There's not a lot of money to spread around on ballot measures," he said.
The Associated General Contractors of America, which jointly announced the air board's proposed regulation scale-back Thursday, expressed satisfaction with the planned changes. (due to large payoffs)
On Thursday, Michael Kennedy, general counsel for the industry group, called the proposed changes a "win-win" for industry and the air board, and called the board staff "fair." (thank you for not throwing us in a concentration camp) The group said that despite the significant flaws, the air board did the right thing.
Air board staff members are considering changing other regulations, too, including for on-road trucks, though there has been no formal agreement (put on the shelf until the next rezeim) like the one announced Thursday.
Julie Sauls, spokeswoman for the California Trucking Association, said the delay has led to immense confusion in the industry over what regulations companies ultimately will have to comply with and when. The initial rules affecting trucks begin this year, and the more expensive regulations take effect and ramp up over the next several years.
She said she could only speculate on the delay, (most scientific announcement so far) but said, "I think maybe they're just waiting" to see what happens on Election Day. (DOOM) The association has endorsed Prop. 23.
cont;
AB32 delays
While the air board has spent the past few months revising (editing gianormously extreme fabrication of falsified evidence) its diesel data, something else has happened: It has pushed back one of the most controversial parts of AB32 - the cap-and-trade program for carbon emissions. (no smog required if you’re from Mexico? The truth comes out at last!)
The cap-and-trade regulation was expected to be put before the public for review this spring, but now board officials say it will be sometime this fall and will be voted on before the end of the year.
Nichols, the air board chairwoman, rejects notions that the air board is avoiding the spotlight, calling the delays the nature of science (editing gianormously extreme fabrication of falsified evidence) and adding that, "In politics people can fudge (REALLY?); in science you can't. (REALLY?) DIDN’T YOU JUST DO THAT BY 340%?) The great benefit of science is it is peer-reviewed."(done by their own secretaries)
Dan Kalb, California Policy Manager for the Union of Concerned Scientists, which strongly supports cap-and-trade, said he is not aware of an orchestrated slowdown of work, (this guy must be a real idiot then) but said the board is sensitive to the attention it is receiving. (they are just so sensitive, good, sensitive Nazis)
"The Air Resources Board is trying to be as careful and thorough as they can. (so they can cover their asses before the truth comes out for real’s Everyone knows they're in the spotlight, (of a energy efficient 12 watt light bulb that put harmful mercury in the environment) the national spotlight," Kalb said. He said it did not matter to him if it takes longer than planned, (they will forget about everything if we give the public another Lindsey Lohan scandal) “Just as long as they get it done." (what were they going to do again…I was focused on Lindsey Lohan?)
No matter what happens, Nichols said her board will complete its work on AB32 by the mandated end-of-year deadline. "We are on schedule; there has been no delay, (as far as you know)" she said. Nichols said every new regulation involves times of uncertainty and requires time to come to the best rule.
"It's science and its analysis, (gianormously extreme fabrication of falsified evidence) and it takes however long it takes," Nichols said.
About the board
The Legislature (paid off corrupt politicians) created the California Air Resources Board in 1967 to oversee the state's air quality by conducting research into sources of pollution and ways to remove it from the air, (how about planting trees?) and by setting and enforcing emissions standards. It has an 11-member board (one short of the dirty dozen) and a large staff. (that is a giant stick they use to strong arm the entire working industry for the past forty five years)
The air board sets the pollution limits used in vehicle smog checks and consumer products like spray paint and even sets standards for idling trucks and buses. It has created some of the strictest clean-air rules in the country. (Because it wants power over all just likes the Nazi’s)
HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES BITCHES
As a civil engineer, cost estimator, and SWPPP, the greatest damage to the environment is if they destroy the dam. The contamination of concrete and steel that are so old, would not only cost as much to demolish in this day and age as it cost to build, but it would contaminate the water ten fold. They have no idea what it takes to remove a dam! The demolition crew would bankrupt the town. The water would not be drinkable. A $1.5 billion water and power plant would be needed in its place to replace what it does. The conclusion would be a 50% decrease in fish due to debree and noise vibration (what do you think you won't scare the fish tearing down a dam morons?)
Salizar is an old embedded communist. These cradle to grave communist/extortionist all have assignments to destroy local and state economies. Do you think they have succeeded?? It's hard to believe that some rancher hasn't looked this puke up.
This is just another example of the Obama admistration's continued destruction of the United States. They are trying to make us into another third world country. Their feeling is that you cannot raise all countries up so you have to tear some down to equalize things around the globe. That is exactly why we are not drilling in teh Guld of Mexico. They want Mexico and Central and South American companies to drill so that they can drain money out of the United States in order to be lifted up closer to where the US is. These people are anti-American and very dangerous to our way of life and the future of our nation.
If obama get his way and they remove the dams it will be next to impossible to have them built again because the tree huggers will file lawsuit after lawsuit to stop them.
Just look at California with the stupid little smelt fish that put farmers out on their a*sses and took away jobs.
How exactly do they expect to recover the populations of Silver (Coho) Salmon and Steelhead upstream of a dam, when these dams have prevented spawning from occuring in those upstream grounds for decades? Salmon return to where they originated, so any attempt to rebound salmon upstream of the dams would take a considerably large, and likely futile, experiment to "farm" fish in those former grounds. All other points against the demolitions have been well-made, so I won't add anything more.
It's dangerous when Greenies can influence the executive branch this much. I am all for conservation of the biosphere and working to develop a greater ecological consciousness in our fellow man, but this top-down bureaucratic control from afar has got to end. Somewhere along their quest to save the environment, the environmentalists aligned with the government, and thus destroyed their cause.
Why don't the farmers and ranchers make these extortionist pigs at the trough an endangered fecies?????
I've never understood why/how removal of these dams, which had been in place for many decades when I was a boy in Yreka, would help the salmon. The Klamath and tributaries were black with salmon during the spawning season --- but the dams were in place. Something else is causing the decline in the annual runs, not the dams.
The dams may not be efficient generators anymore and the power company may want to replace them. Follow the dollars that way ...
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