Impeach McConnell, Boehner, and Cantor Today: Obama grounded taxpayer funded firefighting air tankers in 2011; untended, deadly fires were then claimed to be proof of CO2 and need for $billions

.
Update, 6/29/12, "Four additional military MAFFS air tankers activated," Wildfiretoday.com

------------------------------------

Update #2, 6/29/12, "US Carbon Output Forecasts Shrink Again," American Interest, Walter Russell Mead
--------------------------------------

In the private sector this is called criminally negligent homicide. Lead ClimateGate figure Phil Jones long ago suggested politicians blame fires on CO2 even if they know such isn't the case. Most wildfires are started by humans and some deliberately. In the US many forest areas are under federal jurisdiction, local officials aren't allowed to lift a finger to fight them, must wait for federal or even congressional action. If you're interested in destroying a nation, whether you're officially a terrorist or not, make sure people have to wait a long time for federal 'help.' The GOP is of no use.

9/7/11, "Contract Dispute Grounds Firefighting Planes," Human Events, Audrey Hudson

"Nearly half of the federal government’s firefighting air tankers are siting idle at a California airport, grounded by the Obama administration in a contract dispute just weeks before wildfires swept through Texas killing a mother and her child, and destroying 100,000 acres.

The massive blazes forced Texas Gov. and Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry to abruptly call off a campaign appearance in South Carolina earlier this week to respond to the crisis, and may force him to cancel his first debate appearance Wednesday night.

The U.S. Forest Service terminated the contract with Aero Union five weeks ago to operate seven P-3 Orions that are critical to the agency’s firefighting mission, leaving the federal government with 11 tankers under contract to help battle more than 50 large uncontained wildfires now burning nationwide.

That’s down from 40 tankers used by the Forest Service just a decade ago, according to Rep. Dan Lungren (R.-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Administration, who is challenging the decision to dismiss the largest provider of heavy air-tanker support to the federal government.

“We were certified to fly all season, but they just terminated us and threw 60 people out of work and left the country vulnerable to fires, as you can see right now in Texas,” said Britt Gourley, CEO for Aero Union....

Gourley said the government did not provide details on why the contract was canceled, but that they did not agree with Aero Union’s 15-year maintenance plan.

“We wanted to sit down with them and ask why it was canceled and find a quick resolution, but they didn’t want to talk about it. They just said, ‘We don’t want the airplanes, have a nice life,’ ” Gourley said. “I had to let go of my staff–60 people and their families were devastated,” Gourley said. “It’s really been tragic.”

The Forest Service says it will not use aircraft that does not meet its requirements, and in this case that included the long-term airworthiness inspection program, although the company passed its annual inspection.

“Our main priority is protecting and saving lives, and we can’t in good conscience maintain an aviation contract where we feel lives may be put at risk due to inadequate safety practices,” said Tom Harbour, director of the Forest Services fire and aviation management program.

“This contract termination notwithstanding, we possess the aircraft support needed for this year’s fire season,” Harbour said.

In a letter to the administration questioning the canceled contracts that was obtained by HUMAN EVENTS, Lungren said the aircraft “are some of the best available for fighting fires in the United States.”

“The [Federal Aviation Administration] representative stated that the disrupted contract issues which led to the grounding of Aero Union’s entire fleet do not relate to the suitability of these aircraft to perform for the remainder of this fire season,” Lungren said in the Aug. 15 letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, whose agency oversees the Forest Service.

“I am deeply troubled by the Forest Service’s sudden action, particularly as California enters into the fire season. Our aerial firefighting fleet is already seriously undercapitalized,” Lungren said.

In addition to the 11 tankers in the fleet still operating, two air tankers are under contract to operate on-call, and up to eight military firefighting aircraft can be called to assist if needed.

Aero Union operated six Lockheed P-3 Orions, and was preparing to add a seventh to the fleet when the contract was canceled. The four-engine turboprops were originally used as anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft that were built for the U.S. Navy.

Ultimately, those aircraft will be replaced with two-engine CV 580s from Canada, which Lungren said is “worrisome” because those aircraft will carry a smaller load of fuel-retardant and require more downtime.

Gourley told HUMAN EVENTS he has reached out to his former employees and that they could have four planes up in 48 hours to fly to Texas’ rescue, and assist in other devastating fires burning in California.

“First and foremost, we are firefighters at Aero Union, and we do not want to sit idle while the people of Texas and California suffer,” Gourley said in a letter Tuesday to Harbour.

“We feel strongly that a contract disagreement unrelated to the safety of our fleet to fight fires should not stand in the way of our mission at a time when these aircraft are most needed. The tragic scenes in Texas and California make any contract issues appear very secondary,” Gourley said.

Perry toured the devastation near Austin on Tuesday and viewed some of the homes destroyed by the flames.

“These fires are serious and widespread, and as mean as I have ever seen, burning more than 1,000 homes since this wildfire season began,” Perry said.

“Texas appreciates the resources and support we continue to receive from across the state and across the country to fight these fires, and the efforts of the brave men and women who put themselves in harm's way to protect Texans' lives and property. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are impacted by these fires,” Perry said."

=========================

"The vast majority of wildfires on the refuge and in Mohave county are caused by humans."

"Causes of Wildfires," US Fish and Wildlife Service, Southwest Region2

"In an average year, Havasu National Wildlife Refuge will have several wildfires that occur on and/or near the refuge, including land managed by BLM, BIA, as well as state, county and private land. The frequency and size of these fires is dependant largely on weather conditions.

The vast majority of wildfires on the refuge and in Mohave county are caused by humans. Off the Refuge, many fires are started as a result of debris burning. Often these fires are rekindled, in some cases several days after the fire is thought to be out, when air temperature, wind speed and relative humidity come together to create conditions favorable for fires to burn and spread.

Lightning also is responsible for fires starting on the Refuge. Such fires occur at a frequency of three to five every year. Lightning here is generally associated with rain, so these fires do not usually grow to a large size.

Human caused fires that start on the Refuge are most often the result of arson or carelessness. These fires are usually suppressed before they become large, but some have reached into the hundreds of acres and threatened life and property on and off the Refuge."

-----------------------------------------

6/16/12, A fire started by lightning on June 4 but wasn't reported to feds until June 9. Part of it is on federal forest land so the federal government had to be consulted. Then the Obama official decided congress had to be consulted. All this while fires continued. "Vilsack praised Congress for allowing the government to contract additional aircraft — particularly heavy tankers — to fight wildfires across the West." Our fire fighting air fleet had dwindled to almost nothing yet Obama canceled a fleet of 6 or 7 able tankers in 2011 knowing they were badly needed. The GOP didn't stop him.

6/16/12, "Wildfire destroys most homes in Colo. history," AP via CBS News

-----------------------------------------

2011's massive Arizona fire was set by humans and had nothing to do with CO2 poisoning. An untended campfire was left in a national forest. The fire happened to come close to U.S. Army Fort Huachuca. University of Arizona climate profiteer Sagarin suggests this helped the US Dept. of Defense see the need to take action against global warming.

8/24/11, "Feds charge 2 in devastating Wallow fire," AP, East Valley Tribune

"Federal charges have been filed against two cousins accused of accidentally causing the largest forest fire in Arizona's history by leaving a campfire unattended."...

======================

Southwest droughts caused by particulate matter from Asia, not by CO2 and not even byAmericans:

5/18/12, "CO2 Not to Blame for Southwest Droughts?" World Climate Report

"According to Allen et al.:

“Our analysis strongly suggests that recent Northern Hemisphere tropical expansion is driven mainly by black carbon and tropospheric ozone, with greenhouse gases playing a smaller part.”...

The authors argue that there is a good likelihood that black carbon emissions have been underestimated—especially those Southwest US fires fed by undergrowth not 'climate change,' necessary thinning of forests has been legislated away by so-called environmentalists."...

==============================

"On the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, where thinning is practiced, the tribal lands are in far better shape."

6/5/12, "Politician should check her research," Las Vegas Sun, Letter to the Editor, Sanford Cohen, Prescott, Ariz. arising from Southeast Asia....

"The bottom line is that the primary influences on a major component of the earth’s atmospheric circulation and thus general weather patterns turns out to be, on further examination, not atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration changes, but rather black carbon (soot) and tropospheric ozone. And one impact from the forced atmospheric circulation changes is a tendency for more aridity across the Southwestern U.S."...

--------------------------------------------

Billions of US tax dollars are gambled every year on speculation of CO2 poisoning and sent to numerous bank accounts around the world in the name of "tackling" an alleged CO2 poisoning problem. Additional money is taken by regulations forced on the assumption that CO2 is poison and that even if it isn't, it's a good idea to effect changes as if it were.

------------------------------------------

The structure for global 'climate' spending by the US government was set up by the first George Bush in the "U.S. Global Change Research Act of 1990." (Bush does mention CO2 near the end). At least 13 federal agencies today are charged with climate change matters via the "US Global Change Research Plan" which began as a presidential initiative in 1989 and was mandated by Congress in the Global Change Research Act of 1990." This doesn't even get into the official gambling casinos that are the carbon trading markets around the world. Will they create an "Asian aerosols" trading market?