House Democrats unveil sweeping plan to reshape energy in America

By Renee Schoof and David Lightman

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ Democrats in the House of Representatives on Tuesday announced a sweeping plan to change how the nation produces and uses energy in order to reduce the risk of dangerous climate change.

No environmental legislation in America has ever attempted such wide-reaching changes. The bill _ an incomplete draft that will evolve in the months ahead _ would provide incentives to boost wind, solar and other renewable energy, would improve efficiency so that homes and businesses need less fuel and would support the development of cars that run on biofuels and electricity.

It also would make using fossil fuels more expensive _ and that will be the central issue of debate in Congress, with armies of lobbyists on both sides.

The measure contains a variety of terms intended to help businesses survive the energy transition, but it leaves open for debate the central question: how revenues from pollution permits would be used. That means the question of how consumers would be helped also remains to be worked out.

The plan calls for a system to limit for the first time the amount of global warming pollution _ mainly carbon dioxide from coal and oil combustion _ that's permitted from utilities, oil companies and large-scale industries, which make up 85 percent of the U.S. economy. They'd have to buy permits for each ton of emissions.

The total emissions amount would be lowered each year until it was 83 percent below 2005 levels in 2050. That's the amount that science suggests will be needed as part of a global effort to prevent irreversible problems from steadily increasing warming.

Companies that need more permits could buy them from companies that need fewer of them. This system of a declining cap on overall emissions and a market for permits is known as "cap and trade."

Sponsors declared that their plan would create jobs in clean energy that couldn't be shipped offshore, would reduce dependence on foreign oil and would make the United States an exporter of energy technology, all while making sure that American consumers and coal-dependent parts of the nation are spared from sharp cost increases.

"This legislation will create millions of clean energy jobs, put America on the path to energy independence and cut global warming pollution," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who sponsored the draft along with Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., the chairman of the committee's Energy and Environment Subcommittee.

Waxman and Markey modeled their cap and trade plan on a consensus report that U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a group of 26 large businesses _ including ConocoPhillips, Shell, BP America Inc., Duke Energy, Alcoa and the U.S. automakers _ and five environmental groups released in January.

Environmental groups supported the draft.

Democrats are pushing for ambitious climate-change legislation this year before a global conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December that aims to set new goals for reducing the emissions that contribute to global warming.

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called the Waxman-Markey plan a "new national energy tax" and asserted that it would cost households up to $3,100 a year and reduce the number of U.S. jobs.

House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio attacked the plan with similar arguments and added that AK Steel, which is in his district, would pay more under cap and trade than competitors in places such as China would.

"Their costs will skyrocket and their customers will simply buy cheaper imported steel," Boehner said.

The draft, however, contains provisions to protect businesses from foreign competition and leaves open for debate how consumers will be protected. One idea that has some bipartisan support is returning all or most revenue from pollution permit sales to taxpayers.

Another suggestion is to give permits to companies free in the plan's early years. That also could help hold down costs to consumers if the companies passed the benefits along.

In a sign of the argument to come, Republicans unleashed a series of ads Tuesday aimed at 54 politically vulnerable House Democrats, charging that a cap and trade plan would send energy prices soaring. Ken Spain, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, warned of a "fiscally irresponsible cap and tax proposal that will increase energy bills, raise taxes and overwhelm the budgets of American families."

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Scott Paul, the executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said he was glad that the draft bill included plans to protect American industries from competitive disadvantage. Still, he said it would take time to analyze the 640-page draft to determine how effective and how costly the bill would be.

The bill's section on global competitiveness calls for some industrial sectors to receive rebates to compensate for additional costs. If the rebates aren't sufficient, the president could impose tariffs on foreign manufacturers and importers to cover the carbon they emitted in making their exported products.

James Mulva, the chairman and chief executive officer of ConocoPhillips, said at the National Academy of Sciences on Monday that businesses wanted certainty about energy prices so they could make investment decisions. He predicted that this issue will be a difficult fight in Congress and called for work toward an "environmentally effective, economically sustainable and fair" approach.

Mulva said that a "significant proportion" of the permits should be given free to businesses to help consumers and protect against competition from foreign countries without mandatory controls.

The measure offers other provisions that businesses sought. One is offsets; companies can increase their emissions if they obtain reductions of emissions elsewhere at a lower cost which offsets those increases. Total offsets would be limited.

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© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.

Malicious virus might spread mayhem, or laughs on April Fools' Day

By Aman Batheja

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

FORT WORTH, Texas _ April Fools' Day pranksters may find themselves outmatched this year.

A cunning computer infection that is believed to have infiltrated millions of computers is expected to receive a set of instructions from its creator on April 1.

"Everybody is a little bit nervous about it," said Mike Stute of Dallas-based Global DataGuard, a network security firm. "It could be nothing. It could be very dangerous."

Either way, the anonymous creator of the Conficker virus has caught the attention of computer security experts around the world, with Microsoft going so far as to issue a $250,000 bounty on those who created it.

The Conficker worm, a malicious software program also known as Downadup, has spread through a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. Windows users who automatically receive updates from Microsoft are probably safe. Likely, so too are those with updated antivirus software.

The Conficker worm is thought to have easily found millions of Windows users who haven't updated their operating systems or don't have the right protection.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a tool Monday to detect whether a computer is infected by the Conficker worm.

Yet other than reducing an infected computer's defenses, Conficker hasn't done much else to its victims, a departure from most computer infections that tend to do a lot of damage early on, according to computer security experts.

Instead, the most recent version of Conficker appears to be designed to wait until April 1 and then begin searching the Web for the next set of instructions from its creator.

"He could, say, delete the entire contents of the hard disk," said Mike Cotton, a researcher for San Antonio-based Digital Defense. "Or steal credit card info ... He could tell the machines to send massive spam attacks across the Internet."

Then there's the theory this is all an elaborate hoax, fittingly to be revealed on April Fools' Day.

Whether the goal is money or bragging rights, many experts are in awe of Conficker. Some call it the most sophisticated worm ever created.

"This is like these guys have learned four or five of the top techniques and put them all together in a worm that is elegantly written," Stute said.

Margaret Perez, who fights viruses on business computer networks as owner of Tech Support Mobile Services in Fort Worth, said the talk about Conficker has been unavoidable in recent weeks.

"It's like a hurricane coming when something like this happens," Perez said. "We've been seeing a barrage of these kinds of viruses for a year now. This one is probably the most serious of them all."

But for all the hype, Perez said there are an untold number of serious infections targeting PC users all the time, and after Conficker is beaten, likely something worse will come along to replace it.

"Maybe for like 15 days, it's actually going to be the Conficker worm," Perez said. "Then it's going to mutate to Conficker AB, or Conficker G Generic. It mutates just like a disease mutates."

Blissfully unaffected by worries about Conficker are computer users not on Windows.

The online design firm Alamofire in Southlake, Texas, runs only Apple's Mac OS and the freely distributed Linux operating systems on its computers, said company head Josh Williams.

The company's products include applications for Facebook and the iPhone. Security experts worry that social networking sites and mobile devices could be the next easy target for creators of malicious entities like Conficker.

Security is a priority for the company, Williams said, but in the end, users need to be careful about where they go online and who they allow to access their information.

"Ultimately common sense is a key ingredient to security," Williams wrote in an e-mail. "You can use all the security patches in the world, but if you hand your password out to a phisher or download an application you received in an e-mail, those patches aren't going to help you."

CHECKING YOUR COMPUTER

How to see whether your home computer is infected with Conficker:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a tool Monday to detect whether a computer is infected by the Conficker worm. You can access it at www.us-cert.gov.

How to remove Conficker from your home computer:

Tools to remove Conficker are available at several Web sites including

www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/worms/conficker.mspx

www.mcafee.com

www.windowsupdate.com

www.symantec.com

Conficker may block infected computers from accessing many security sites. If you cannot access one, San Antonio-based Digital Defense recommends finding an uninfected computer and copying the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool at http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx onto a CD and then loading it onto the infected one.

Source: Microsoft, Digital Defense, Global DataGuard

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© 2009, Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Visit the Star-Telegram on the World Wide Web: www.star-telegram.com.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Bankruptcy advocates say GM's best bet may be 'prepack'

By Michael Oneal

Chicago Tribune

(MCT)

CHICAGO _ Faced with an auto industry that is bleeding cash and seemingly unable to fix itself, President Barack Obama began laying the groundwork Monday for a possible government-sponsored Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.

After threatening to cut off government aid to both companies unless they meet strict new deadlines for forging restructuring plans acceptable to the president's auto task force, Obama said that bankruptcy filings could represent part of the solution to either company's woes.

The move to put a Chapter 11 filing squarely on the table is an abrupt repudiation of the conventional wisdom in the auto industry that bankruptcy would be disastrous for car sales and the general economy. But with the automakers burning through billions while negotiations with creditors, unions and other stakeholders drag on, Obama may be ready to take that risk, experts said.

"If anybody was under the illusion that the Obama administration was going to sink billions of dollars into this industry until the end of time, they were disabused of that notion" on Monday, said Douglas Baird, a bankruptcy expert at the University of Chicago Law School.

Several observers said the administration's willingness to consider bankruptcy may have both practical and tactical elements. On the practical side, few restructuring experts have ever felt GM or Chrysler could work out their myriad problems without the aid of a bankruptcy judge. Obama's auto task force may be coming to this view.

Tactically, the task force may be sending a signal to creditors, unions and company managements that the government's patience and checkbook are not unlimited and that if they can't stomach the cuts needed to make GM and Chrysler viable, a court will have to make the cuts for them.

On Sunday, the Obama administration eliminated one longtime opponent of a bankruptcy filing when it asked GM Chairman Rick Wagoner to resign.

Wagoner and other auto industry officials had warned since the car companies began running out of cash late last year that a bankruptcy filing by any of the Big Three would be disastrous for the entire industry. They said it would crush sales by scaring away consumers worried about buying such a big-ticket item from an unreliable company. And, because the industry is tightly intertwined, they said it would set off ripple effects that would threaten dealers, suppliers and other car companies responsible for a large swath of the U.S. economy.

"The people who say bankruptcy is a good idea don't understand the complexity of the industry," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. "It's mostly bankruptcy lawyers who are saying that because they will feast on it."

Those advocating a bankruptcy process argue that a so-called "prepackaged" Chapter 11 filing with financing supplied by the government may be the best option for a company like GM. In a "prepack," the various stakeholders agree to a solution in advance and use the court to enforce it in a relatively quick, in-and-out process.

That can solve a lot of problems, experts said.

GM's debt, for instance, is currently trading at around 15 cents on the dollar, but bondholders have so far signaled support only for a deal worth a little more than 30 cents. Getting all the bondholders _ a group numbering in the thousands _ to agree to cuts so drastic might be impossible out of bankruptcy court, Baird said. But under the rules of a pre-arranged bankruptcy, half of the bondholders by number, or two-thirds by dollar amount, can cut a deal and drag the other, more recalcitrant investors along with them, making for a smoother process.

During his speech Monday, Obama seemed to embrace the idea of a prepackaged filing while taking pains to address concerns about spooking consumers. A Chapter 11 filing, he explained, would not mean the failure and unwinding of either GM or Chrysler.

"What I'm talking about," he said, "is using our existing legal structure as a tool that, with the backing of the U.S. government, can make it easier for General Motors and Chrysler to quickly clear away old debts that are weighing them down so that they can get back on their feet."

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Obama also introduced specific measures to stimulate sales and make jittery car buyers more comfortable about buying from a manufacturer in financial trouble.

First, he said the government would guarantee all auto warranties so buyers don't have to worry about being stuck with a damaged car if its manufacturer is incapacitated. Then he announced one initiative to allow car buyers to write off sales and excise tax on new cars and another to provide incentives for replacing older, less fuel-efficient cars with new ones.

One thing Obama made clear is that Chrysler and GM are very different.

Chrysler was given 30 days to complete a global partnership agreement with Italy's Fiat.

General Motors, on the other hand, will have 60 days to forge a compromise between management, the United Auto Workers and the company debt-holders. In addition to the debt restructuring, the UAW will likely have to agree to more wage cuts and a controversial debt-for-equity swap to fund its retiree health trust. And management will have to show how its restructuring adds up to viability.

Fritz Henderson, GM's new interim CEO and a longtime Wagoner lieutenant, acknowledged to reporters after Obama's speech that the risk has increased that the company will have to reorganize through bankruptcy, because of greater demands from the Obama administration to get debt off its balance sheet.

In a statement, the company said: "Our strong preference is to complete this restructuring out of court. However, GM will take whatever steps are necessary to successfully restructure the company, which could include a court-supervised process."

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© 2009, Chicago Tribune.

Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Fargo residents hold on as storm puts sandbags to the test

By Kaylee King
Chicago Tribune

(MCT)

FARGO, N.D. _ Flood-weary homeowners watched Monday as the water line inched down the trunks of sunken trees, sparking the hope that the worst of the damage by the rising and marauding Red River was over. But we weren't out of the woods yet.

We spent the weekend filling and stacking sandbags, and people were starting to breathe a sigh of relief as the river levels began rapidly dropping throughout Sunday and Monday.

But with the positive, there also came a negative: a winter storm warning. Local weathermen wearily reported the area would be blasted with 12 inches of snow. Meaning, the Red River could jump back as high as 41 feet, increasing pressure on already exhausted homeowners and sandbag dikes.

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Nicholas Shannon, a friend of mine whose parent's home usually welcomes the beautiful flowing river in their backyard, flew back from a spring break trip to help in the battle against the Red.

"I felt bad, because when I got here all the hard labor work was done," Shannon said. "It's OK though, now my dad and I stay up all night watching the pumps and spending good time together."

Shannon lives in St. Paul, Minn., and attends St. Thomas University. He will take the week off of school to stay home and help his dad while his mom is out of town.

Folks like Shannon are sprinkled throughout Fargo and are easy to pick out. They have dark bags under their eyes and glassy stares from the fight against the icy water that threatens their homes.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

It was late last Wednesday when I got the call that solidified my decision to head home to help in the fight to save Fargo from flooding disaster. Nervously, my dad explained on the phone the flood of 2009 was an entirely different ballgame from the flood of 1997, and the crest could reach anywhere from 42 to 43 feet.

To most, those crest numbers mean nothing, but to the residents of Fargo, a few precious feet equal the gap between staying dry and losing a home to the muddy, murky depths of the Red.

This weekend was spent throwing hundreds of sandbags, checking multiple pumps and hearing story upon story of the flood experiences of neighbors. More than 75 close family friends were issued mandatory or voluntary evacuation notices _ often coming in the middle of the night from city officials or National Guard members. Five more family friends' sandbag dikes surrendered to the pressure of the river as water rushed into the basements and lower levels of properties, destroying everything in its path.

The skies above Fargo are consistently humming as massive Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and U.S. Coast Guard choppers circle the area using infrared cameras to survey the dikes in search of the slightest leak, or worse, a total breach.

Non-essential businesses are closed, except hardware stores, which have extended their hours _ some to 24 hours _ in order to give the people of Fargo any possible resource to stock up on generators, pumps, rubber boots and other flood essentials.

The city has suggested no travel on the main arteries of the city, making it extremely difficult to get around. National Guard men and women sit at almost every intersection directing traffic, building clay dikes and helping in emergency dike breaches.

Residents in high-risk areas are on constant high alert, staying up every waking hour to make sure their pumps don't freeze or dikes become weak. But, unfortunately some fall asleep and disaster strikes.

Dennis Walaker, the mayor, revealed in the morning flood meeting that federal officials nudged him to evacuate the entire city, but he resisted. If the people of Fargo were not here to fight the water, the city would have been lost _ no question.

But surprisingly, the energy in Fargo is of positive nature. While sandbagging this weekend, jokes flew and people laughed at the bizarre nature of the entire situation. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of water lay bound behind a leaking clay dike a mere 150 feet away as we bagged a backup dike to protect the neighboring development. But worrying about the leak was not going to bring people down. Their attitude was simply "We are here, and we're going to have a good time battling this."

Behind the smiles and kind eyes, though, the people in Fargo know the state of affairs is precarious. Residents have seen floods before, obviously nothing like this record-shattering flood, but rising water is nothing new.

All they can do now is wait. The next battle is the major winter storm that threatens the integrity of not only the dikes, but could cause ice jams in the Red.

Come hell or high water, the people in Fargo won't let the city go down.

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© 2009, Chicago Tribune.

Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

FDA Alerts Consumers to Recall of Certain Pistachios

FDA and California Inspectors Identify Salmonella


The FDA and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) are investigating Salmonella contamination in pistachio products sold by Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc, Calif. The company has stopped all distribution of processed pistachios and will issue a voluntary recall involving approximately 1 million pounds of its products. Because the pistachios were used as ingredients in a variety of foods, it is likely this recall will impact many products. In addition, the investigation at the company is ongoing and may lead to additional pistachio product recalls.

The contamination involves multiple strains of Salmonella. Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Thus far, several illnesses have been reported by consumers that may be associated with the pistachios. It is not yet known whether any of the Salmonella strains found in the pistachio products are linked to an outbreak. The FDA is conducting genetic testing of the samples to pursue all links.

FDA is working closely with the pistachio industry and recommends that consumers avoid eating pistachio products until further information is available about the scope of affected products.

FDA will provide a searchable database of affected products at www.fda.gov and will continue to update the public.

FDA first learned of the problem on March 24, when it was informed by Kraft Foods that its Back To Nature Trail Mix was found to be contaminated with Salmonella. Kraft had identified the source of the contamination to be pistachios from Setton and conducted a recall.

High School Students Receive a Message of Strength and Perserverance

ST. JAMES (Smithtown Central school District) - Sarah Reinerstsen recently visited the 11th and 12th grade students at Smithtown High School East. Sarah is an inspirational young motivational speaker. She is a magnetic woman with a potent message of strength and perseverance. Missing her leg above the knee since the age of seven, Sarah has never let that stop her from pursuing her goals no matter how big. She is a woman of spirit, strength and determination who has always any challenge to meet her goal. Sarah is the first female amputee to finish the Ironman Triathlon championships in Kona Hawaii.

National Honor Society Visits Nursing Care Facility

ST. JAMES (Smithtown Central School District) - Members of the Smithtown High School East’s Honor Society recently visited after school with the patients at the Smithtown Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care. The residents were treated to a fantastic concert by the following students: Brian Harte on guitar, Caitlin Marsh on vocals, Jennifer Cohen on flute and vocals, Emily Hittner on flute and vocals, Mitchell Feinberg on piano and vocals, Diane Cho on vocals, and James Brierton and Megan Russ were there for moral support. The visit was organized and supervised by Science teacher Maria Trinkle who is co-advisor for the National Honor Society.