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New York (CBS) -- "Refining" the Iraq Debate in Campaign '08
The summer of 2004 was the summer of flip-flops. Not the footwear, but the political football kicked off when John Kerry tried to defend his vote on a funding bill for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan by saying he actually did vote for the bill before he was against it.
Now, speaking of the war, Barack Obama who said back when he was running for the Democratic Presidential nomination flat out...
"I will bring this war to a close, and I will bring our troops home within 16 months of the time that I take office." says Sen. Obama.
...said last week that he's "refining" his policy on that and some other things, too. At some point this summer --- he hasn't said when yet --- he's going to Iraq to see for himself what's going on there.
"I'll have more information and will continue to refine my policies." Obama said.
"Refining" is not the same thing as changing, says Senator John Kerry.
"It is no change whatsoever in his fundamental determination to end the war." Kerry says.
On CBS News "Face the Nation" yesterday, Senator Lindsay Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said Senator Obama has put himself in an awkward position.
"He's in a box. He ran hard to the left during the primary. The surge, he said, would fail. It's worked. If he comes back from Iraq and says, 'This thing hasn't worked, we need to pull all the troops out' --- he will look irresponsible, and he doesn't know how to handle that." Lindsay Graham said.
And on the same program --- on the theory that the best defense is a good offense --- Senator John Kerry said if anybody is flip-flopping, it's John McCain.
"This is a different John McCain. This is not the Senator John McCain, this is Nomination John McCain --- this is Want-To-Be-President John McCain. And the result is that John McCain has flip-flopped on more issues than I was even ever accused possibly of thinking about."
Oil Share Dreams in the Rockies
Those purple mountain majesties known as the Rockies are not just beautiful to look at. They are awe inspiring in another way, too. There's gold in them thar hills: black gold, oil trapped in the shale. All you have to do is heat it, and out seeps that marvelous goo that the world now pays 145 dollars a barrel for.
How much oil is locked up there up there in the rocks of the Rockies? Geologists estimate there are over a trillion barrels of it.
"That is more than all the reserves of the Middle East." Glenn Vawter states.
To go get and process the oil locked in deep deposits of shale in the Rockies, the government would have to write new regulations for the commercial development of oil shale. And it would take an investment that at today's price of oil would be well worth it.
Glenn Vawter of the National Oil Shale Association told CBS News Correspondent Kelly Cobiella recently...
SOT - Glenn Vawter, with CBS News Correspondent Kelly Cobiella
"If you took just an acre, let's say up there, you are looking at probably 100,000 barrels of recoverable oil." said Vawter.
Cobilla asked,"That's the key, isn't it? 'Recoverable.'"
"Yes, recoverable." replied Vawter.
Inside one tiny 30-by-40 foot patch inside a secret compound owned by Shell Oil, Shell's Terry O'Conner says they pulled out an amazing amount of oil.
SOT - Terry O'Conner, Shell Oil --- with Kelly Cobiella
"How much oil did you pull from here?" asked Cobiella
Terry O'Conner replied,"We pulled 1,800 barrels of oil, plus a substantial amount of natural gas out also."
"So when you saw the results, what did you think?" asked Cobiella.
"We were really happy." Terry O'Conner replied.
You have to heat the shale to 650 degrees to get the oil out ... which takes a lot of time, electricity, and three barrels of water for every barrel of oil you'd get.
Leslie Robinson, a resident of Rifle Colorado states, "There's not any extra water to go around."
Leslie Robinson of Rifle, Colorado was around in the 70's when Exxon and others rushed in to open shale mines, but rushed out as soon as the price of oil came down. So, she's a skeptic, to say the least.
"We'll believe it when we see it." Robinson said.
But ask Shell's Terry O'Conner, as Kelly Cobiella did...
"Is this really going to happen?" asked Cobiella
"I truly believe it will." O'Conner replied.
Keeping the Eagles Safe so they can Soar
When the bald eagle was adopted as our national emblem, there were an estimated 100,000 of eagles in the continental United States.
By 1963 --- because of pesticides, poaching and other factors --- they were down to 417 nesting pairs, and were placed on the federal government's endangered species list.
Last year --- with 10,000 pairs, the bald eagle was taken off that list, although 43 states still call them "endangered."
SOT - Andrew Griswold
Andrew Griswold said, "Our concern today is habitat loss. Open space is now the issue in bald eagle survival."
The story after this...
The magnificent bald eagle looks great on our national seal, and in life.
"The bald eagle really is an absolutely regal animal. It has an incredibly strong wing beat --- this massive honker of a beak and strong feet. It really is an impressive animal." Says Andrew Griswold.
Andrew Griswold of the Connecticut Audubon Society runs boat trips from Essex on the Connecticut River.
"Along the Eastern Banks, we've got significant acreage that makes a prime wintering site and nesting site for bald eagles." Griswold said.
Connecticut is one of several states trying to preserve the eagle's natural habitats.
SOT - Andrew Griswold
"I wouldn't say that the bald eagle is completely out of danger. There are still some areas, particularly in the New England states, where the numbers have not increased. It's absolutely important that our national symbol survives. We just need everyone to be watchdogs for these lovely birds." says Andrew Griswold
The American bald eagle makes us proud --- and on the wing elevates us all...
Rights for Clotheslines
There is a highly efficient solar clothes dryer available that uses no gas or electricity, produces no pollutants or greenhouse gases whatsoever --- relying entirely as it does on the sun and the wind to do its job.
What I'm talking about is the old-fashioned clothesline, which oddly enough does generate a certain amount of controversy.
Wei Wang likes to hang
Her wash out on the line.
It consumes no power, pollutes no air,
And it dries the wet clothes just fine.
For centuries this has been done,
Fluffed by the air and dried by the sun.
When you take the clothing down and then,
You can use that same clothes line again,
Over and over without any
pollution or costing you a penny.
In every conceivable way, you win.
You don't even have to plug it in.
Good her, good for the nation.
But from her homeowners association,
Hanging her out to dry,
And this, said a notice, was the reason why...
In effect: "Dear Ms. Wang, please be aware
That hanging your clothes on the clothesline there
Is forbidden by bylaws of your community,
Which you cannot violate with impunity.
And if you continue we're informing you
That under these bylaws, we shall sue."
"We shall see," Ms. Wang then said.
For she was offended by what she read.
And so she wrote to the EPA,
And this is what she had to say:
"This is the way we dry our clothes
With many benefits, goodness knows.
And the right to dry cannot be denied,
For this is the way clothes should be dried."
A nonprofit group, Project Laundry List
Thinks Ms. Wang is right, and they insist.
That hangin' out is the better way
And have started a National Hang Out Day.
Some states now have laws, and others have plans,
To prohibit outdoor clothesline bans.
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