Arizona plunges in business ranking

Arizona fell 18 places, the most of any state, in the Forbes magazine rankings of the best states for business. Arizona was 18th in the 2006 but only 36th in the results put out last week. According to the article, "A common theme with our top-ranked states is an expanding, educated workforce."

Forbes measures 6 areas - costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects, and quality of life. They use 33 factors to determine the rankings in the 6 areas.

Arizona did best in Economic Climate (7th) and worst in Quality of Life (47th). The Quality of Life rank comes from an "index of schools, health, crime, cost of living, and poverty rates."

The other factors are:

Business costs rank = 31
Labor rank = 14
Regulatory environment rank = 45
Growth prospects rank = 38

Our second strength, the labor rank, is based on educational attainment, net migration, and projected population growth. A worsening employment and economic forecast for Arizona was highlighted as the root of our big drop.

Senate confirmation hearing for Marcia McNutt to head USGS

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, will hold a full Committee hearing to consider the nominations of Marcia K. McNutt [right. Credit MBARI], to be Director of the United States Geological Survey, and Arun Majumdar, to be Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, Department of Energy, this coming Thursday, October 9, at 10:00 a.m. in Room SD-366 Dirksen.

Marcia would be the first woman to be confirmed as director of the USGS. So far, there are no reports of Senators opposing or holding back her nomination to put pressure on the Administration to act on other issues, as has happened with some other nominations.

Series completed on a 'brief' history of the Colorado Plateua

Geoblogger "Geotripper" (aka Garry Hayes, right. Credit, Geotripper blog) has compiled the links to his extensive set of posts that cover a "Brief" History of the Colorado Plateau. As Garry noted, it appears to be the equivalent of writing an entire book on the topic:

"So there you go: 71 posts that tell a story encompassing 2 billion years as it is exposed on a very special part of the earth's surface: the Colorado Plateau, covering parts of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico."

It's an amazing collection. I'm looking forward to reading those that I missed along the way. Great job Garry!

Therizinosaur coming to Mesa

The Museum of Northern Arizona's therizinosaur display opens on Octboer 3 at the Arizona Museum of Natural History in Mesa, and if you haven't seen, you have to go.

AZGS published a popular cover story in our newsletter Arizona Geology on the exhibit when it first opened at MNA in the Fall of 2007.

The mystery of how this land dinosaur ended up in marine deposits 100 miles offshore read's like a CSI-Cretaceous episode. It's a great way to get kids engaged in analytical thinking.

Arizona legislature Ad Hoc Committee on Climate Initiatives

The Arizona Senate's Ad Hoc Committee on Climate Initiatives is holding a hearing tomorrow that garnered some harsh words about its chair, Senator Sylvia Allen in the online Arizona Guardian. They reference a press release in which Sen. Allen says federal plans to slow global warming are advancing "without consideration for scientific evidence" and that "we are going after problems that do not exist."

Two prominent state senators, Chuck Gray and Russell Pearce were added to the Ad Hoc Committee on Friday, suggesting a higher profile role for the committee.

Sen. Allen was in national spotlight earlier for her comments about the Earth being 6,000 years old so reporters are watching for more provocative statements.

Review article on thermochronology and landscape evolution

There have been a plethora of new scientific articles, discoveries, grant awards, and accomplishments coming out of Arizona universities in recent weeks, and I hope to catch up on them soon, but let me make a quick note that Pete Reiners at UA with co-author David Shuster at UC Berkeley, have a nice review article in the current issue of Physics Today (Sept 2009) on how thermochronology techniques are being used to decipher the evolution of the Earth's surface, which in turn "express how the surface affects dynamic deep-Earth processes such as mantle convection." The full article is only available to subscribers but the abstract is public. [right, apatite (U-Th) He ages in the Cascades. Credit, Peter Reiners]

Ref: Thermochronology and landscape evolution, Phys. Today 62, 31 (2009)
http://link.aip.org/link/?PHTOAD/62/31/1

California abolishes geology board

The president of the California Board for Registration of Geologists and Geophysicists, Richard Blake released this statement:

Recent legislation (Assembly Bill No. 20, 4th Extraordinary Session) will abolish the Board for Geologists and Geophysicists (Board) effective October 23, 2009, at which time all Board Member and Executive Officer positions are also abolished. The Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (BPELS) will then assume “…all the duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction previously vested in the Board…” along with “…two personnel years…for performance of the board’s responsibilities...” under the Geologist and Geophysicist Act.

The Association of Engineering and Environmental Geologists (AEG) has alerted it's members with an email blast that says,

This transfer, which had no impact whatsoever on the budget, was not accompanied by the resources or structure necessary for BPELS to fulfill its new mission. As it stands now, there will be no geologists or geophysicists on BPELS, there will be no name change to reflect its new mission, and BPELS will not have the manpower to perform its new functions - only two personnel years were reallocated from BGG. Early discussions with BPELS personnel indicated that none of the standing committees, including the Exam Committee, will be continued. BPELS has since declined to meet with us until after the October 23 elimination date to discuss the many serious issues that have not been addressed. The net effect of all this is that geologists will soon be regulated by an agency that is ill equipped to handle the responsibility and arguably hostile to its new licensees.

The good news is that there is something that can be done - we can seek an injunction against implementation of AB4X 20. The BGG was abolished suddenly and without due process, eliminating any open, fair and transparent review of the potential consequences. Existing law that carefully and deliberately outlines the specific measures and the timetable necessary for the elimination of boards and commissions was ignored entirely. The injunction will hopefully stop this action and require legislators to follow established procedures where informed voices can be heard in the formation of a board responsible for public safety.

To get started, the California Sections of AEG are forming the California Association of Professional Geologists, which will file the injunction. We hope that other organizations representing geoscientists, including AEG’s national organization, will join in down the road. AEG, however, cannot fund this effort alone. We need your help! The estimated cost for this is $15,000 to get through filing the initial complaint and up to $100,000 to see it through to the end. Noting the early estimate of $15,000, one geologist pledged $100 and challenged 149 other geoscientists to match his gift. A great way to put it! We, of course, will gratefully accept all contributions, of greater or lesser amounts, based on your ability to give. Contributions may be sent to:

AEGSC-Political Action Fund

1772-J E. Avenida De Los Arboles, PMB #304

Thousand Oaks, CA 91362

The other side to this effort is an approach to legislators. We will be asking you to write letters at the appropriate time and with the appropriate message. We are in the process of consulting with legislators to elicit their advice and support in reinstating the BGG or repurposing BPELS into an agency that is fully equipped to fulfill its mission. With your help we can reach this important goal!
Sincerely,
Peter Thams, Chair Bill Godwin, Chair John Pfeiffer, Chair
Southern California Section San Francisco Section Sacramento Section