kobzarm's blog

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/fuels/rfg/f01033.pdf

This defintely has some health and environmental concerns that nobody is addressing.Winter blend gasoline rolling out, drops in MPG possible

With the weather beginning to cool in the United States and Canada, the formulation of gasoline is also beginning to change. Regulations require gasoline with lower emissions and pollution in hotter months (summer gasoline), but those rules don't apply during the winter in many areas, so refiners move back to a type of gasoline that is cheaper to produce.

September 15 was the day that gasoline requirements were eased in many areas (aka the date of the first increase in RVP [Reid Vapor Pressure])- however- since the change to cheaper winter gas is not mandated, stations don't need to sell out of fuel before purchasing winter gasoline. Basically, since there is no requirement, stations don't purchase winter gasoline until they run low, so depending on a stations volume, you may not be pumping winter gasoline just yet. This is especially true premium gasoline- stations likely still have summer blended premium on hand and thus you may notice if you use premium that your fuel economy hasn't yet taken a hit.

Monday Jan 2, 2012 10:59 amBy Kari LydersenA Rocky Flats plant worker holds a plutonium button in 1973.   (Photo via Wikipedia)BOULDER, COLO.—When the Green Bay Packers score, fans pound thunderously on the corrugated metal wall of the patio at the Rocky Flats Lounge. Newcomers to the area would likely never guess that in decades past, the tavern between Denver and Boulder would be packed with workers involved in a secretive, controversial and dangerous industry…and that the expanse of wind-swept, weedy, rubble-strewn land across the highway from the tavern was where private contractors working for the U.S. government constructed atomic bombs out of tons of plutonium and other radioactive and toxic elements.Weapons production halted at the Rocky Flats plant in 1992, and most of the buildings have been dissembled and 80 percent of the area is officially designated a wildlife refuge. But as journalist and University of Colorado Professor Len Ackland told me recently, "the Rocky Flats story is still going on."

By — Associated Press, Friday, December 30, 2:31 PMHannah Isenhart has gotten up close and personal with black bears, photographing several roaming around Yellowstone National Park.She has captured images of moose exploring Wyoming’s Grand Tetons and wolves nestled in the grass of the Flatirons of Colorado — all taken from just a few feet away.

 TNCThe ocean’s bounty may seem inexhaustible, but overharvesting has already pushed many of the world’s fisheries to the brink.  Choosing to consume sustainable seafood is one way to ensure that ocean resources are not exploited.Do you have a recipe that tastes good and is good for the planet?  Share your sustainable seafood recipes below or find inspiration for your next home-cooked meal.Learn moreabout how delicious conservation can be and nature’s role in putting seafood on your table. Login to my.nature.org to read your personalized posts, or to share your thoughtswith our online community.
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 GUNNISON, Colo. -- Winter is a stressful time for wildlife, a time when they need peace and quiet.  Colorado Parks and Wildlife is reminding people who collect shed antlers that special regulations in the Gunnison Basin restrict when antlers can be collected from public lands.
     
It can be tough for animals to get through the winter. Deer and elk can lose 30 percent or more of their body weight during the cold-weather months and often struggle to find food.
     
"Animals are under a lot of stress during the winter; the less energy they use unnecessarily the better their chance of surviving the winter," said J Wenum, area wildlife manager in Gunnison for the agency. "We request that people not disturb big game on the winter range."
     
In the Gunnison Basin, where antler shed collecting is popular, there are two regulations in place to prevent disturbance of animals on public lands in big game management units 54, 55, 551, 66 and 67. Collection of shed antlers is prohibited on public lands within those units from Jan. 1 through March 14. From March 15 through May 15, shed antler collection is prohibited from legal sunset until 10 a.m.
     
Collecting of shed antlers for commercial use has grown during the last decade. At this time of year human activity in winter range can cause significant disturbance to deer, elk and the Gunnison sage-grouse during the birds' mating period in early spring.
     
"These regulations have been in place for several years now, so collectors should know about them; no one can plead ignorance," Wenum said.
     

By Joe Prentice, Camera Staff WriterPosted: 12/14/2011 11:43:51 PM MST
A few common redpolls have been seen in Colorado this season. The species sometimes "irrupts" to areas far south of where it normally spends the winter. (Courtesy photo) December brings the arrival of airborne visitors from the north, and not just the jolly old elf who sets out from the Pole on Christmas Eve.Birds from Arctic and boreal regions also head south, periodically in dramatic invasions of species that don't normally winter in a particular region. These "irruptions" are a good time for birding -- but can be a bad time for the birds themselves.The birds most commonly associated with irruptions are the "winter finches" -- such as pine siskin, common redpoll, pine and evening grosbeaks, red and white-winged crossbills. But other birds, such as nuthatches, chickadees and waxwings, also stage irregular invasions.Irruptions usually occur somewhere in North America every winter, but every once in a while, huge numbers of birds descend simultaneously on an area, such as the northeastern U.S., which saw a massive "superflight" of finches in 1997-98.

Windy Gap water project closer to becoming realityProject would bring more Colorado River water to Boulder CountyBy Laura Snider Camera Staff WriterPosted: 12/10/2011 06:50:12 PM MST
 A project designed to pull more water from the Colorado River across the Continental Divide to thirsty Front Range towns -- including some in Boulder County -- is nearing the end of the federal permitting process.The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has released the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Windy Gap Firming Project, which clears the way for the federal agency to make a final decision about whether the project can move forward."It's been a long haul for us, but we see a light at the end of the tunnel," said Dana Strongin, spokeswoman for Northern Water, which is spearheading the project that will serve a number of local towns, including Louisville, Lafayette, Longmont, Broomfield, Erie and Superior. "We entered into this process in 2003. It takes a lot of work to take this water planning and put it into action."The goal of the Windy Gap Firming Project is to make the supply of water from the original Windy Gap project, which was finished in 1985, more reliable. The original Windy Gap project was never able to deliver all the water promised to towns on the Front Range because it has to piggyback on some parts of the Colorado-Big Thompson diversion system to make it across the mountains.

RARE MINNOWS RESTORED TO ARKANSAS RIVER

ROCKY FORD, Colo. - Two rare minnows are once again swimming in the Arkansas River thanks to pioneering research efforts at the John Mumma Native Aquatic Species Restoration Facility.
 
Plains minnows (Hybognathus placitus) and suckermouth minnows (Phenacobius mirabilis) are native species on the Colorado threatened and endangered list. The small minnows were stocked into the Arkansas River above John Martin Reservoir in the vicinity of the Rocky Ford and Oxbow State Wildlife Areas in November.  The fish will be monitored annually to determine the success of the stocking effort. 
 
"We've been working on getting them re-established in portions of their native habitat for over a decade but were unable to reproduce them successfully until recently," said Paul Foutz, Southeast Region Native Aquatic Species Biologist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
 
Because plains minnows and suckermouth minnows are exceedingly rare, efforts to aid in their recovery were hampered by the fact that very little research was available about the optimal conditions for them to reproduce in a hatchery. Since 2000, the staff at the Native Aquatic Species Restoration Facility near Alamosa has worked meticulously and persistently to produce viable offspring.  Several times they were able to achieve successful reproduction, only to encounter difficulties raising the young fish to maturity. 
 
Colorado Parks and Wildlife hatchery technicians worked in conjunction with fish culturists at Colorado State University and the Albuquerque Aquarium investigating spawning and rearing techniques using methods similar to those that were successful for another small fish, the silvery minnow. 
 

Will be adding something soon.