Also on today’s menu:
Warm Days Ahead For New Hampshire
Tamworth Bans Marathon Runners From Passing Through
Debt Ceiling Compromise Passes U.S. House
The North American model of wildlife conservation, as envisioned by Theodore Roosevelt, established wildlife as a public trust and established regulations to ensure sustainable populations through the financial contributions of hunters and anglers. Wildlife advocates today acknowledge that the approach has saved many species from extinction and staved off the destruction of some animals, but they say the approach views wildlife as a “resource” managed for maximum harvest, and not for its ecological importance.
Lawmakers in the state of Washington recently allocated tens of millions of dollars to allow wildlife managers to implement plans to help foxes, frogs, butterflies, and hundreds of other species. Barbara Baker, chair of the appointed wildlife commission in Washington, said the agency is transforming from a game management department into a broader conservation role.
“Do we kill cougars because they’re killing elk that hunters want to hunt?” she asked. “Do we understand that cougars eat meat and value their place in the ecosystem? Those are questions that are extremely volatile.”
Warm Days Ahead For New Hampshire
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that New England will experience a hotter summer than usual, along with most of the United States. Above-average temperatures are projected to continue through the end of 2023, and possibly longer.
The Granite State has been getting warmer for decades, with the number of days with a heat index over 90 degrees having doubled since 1980, from eight to 15 days, according to state health officials.
The state’s latest climate assessment, from 2021, predicts that, by the end of the century, New Hampshire could see up to 60 days above 90 degrees each year, if the world continues to rely on fossil fuels.
Tamworth Bans Marathon Runners From Passing Through
The Ragnar Road Reach the Beach, one of the nation’s oldest relay races, attracts about 350 teams of runners who start at Bretton Woods and make their way to Hampton Beach. The runners traditionally pass through Tamworth, but the race will have to be rerouted this year after selectmen by a 3-1 vote denied the request to be included in this fall’s marathon, scheduled to take place on September 15-16.
Selectmen and Police Chief Dana Littlefield said the race is getting too big to manage and complained about support vans that he said were decorated with sexual innuendo, van drivers having “complete disregard for traffic laws”, vehicles parking illegally, public urination, and contestants running in the middle of the road and disobeying traffic control officers.
Emery Roberts, chair of the Tamworth Board of Selectmen, commented, "I've been a driver on the road when this race is coming through, and it’s just overwhelming. I don’t know how there are not more accidents or people getting hit by cars. It just seems completely unsafe to me.”
Debt Ceiling Compromise Passes U.S. House
One hundred sixty-five Democrats joined 149 Republicans to approve the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 by a total vote of 314-117. The bill now goes before the Senate for action before the nation defaults on its debt obligations.
I lost the link to one commentary that put the debate over paying the country’s debt in terms of a family budget. A family debates whether or not to purchase a home or a car, but once the decision is made, there is no question that they will make the payments on the purchases they have made. The debt ceiling is something no other country has: Once the budget is set, other countries understand they must make the payments. In contrast, the United States sets its spending level, then when the bills become due, Congress has to approve the payment. That gave the Republicans a chance to hold up payments until they got concessions on future spending.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy managed to satisfy the demands of the majority of his conference without alienating some of the Democratic lawmakers he needed to support the bill in order for it to pass. Going forward, lawmakers should either eliminate the debt ceiling entirely or at least raise it high enough that the country is not facing default every few years. (The current agreement only raises the current debt ceiling for two years.)
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