Boise is an unlikely hot spot in the BP oil spill controversy this week. Idaho’s capital was randomly selected as host city for a public meeting of a federal panel that will decide how the more than 150 civil cases filed so far will be handled.

It is likely cases will be consolidated, and a judge to handle those proceedings must be identified. Cases have been filed related to the deaths, personal injuries, economic losses and environmental damage associated with the oil rig explosion and leak.

At the same time, Congress is also considering those interests, with a stack of 80 bills related to oil industry reform. Pew Environment Group manager Eleanor Huffines says much of the legislation is bipartisan, and some will be of assistance to those who have filed cases.

“People are taking a hard look at our laws that haven’t been changed for over 32 years and saying, ‘What can we do differently, and what can we do better, to take care of the coastal communities, the people and the environment?’”

She says 10 bills are already out of committee and ready for votes before the August recess. Several focus on research that would put oil companies and the nation in a better position to prevent future accidents, and to respond more efficiently when there are spills, she adds.

“A lot of the technology for drilling has advanced, but the technology for oil spill response has not advanced. Our laws have not advanced, our oversight.”

Listen to the Northern Rockies News Service podcast by Deborah Smith.

BOOTSTRAP: WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY

Attend the hearing: The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation meets Thursday, July 29 at the James A. McClure Federal Building, Courtroom No. 3, 6th Floor. Oral arguments begin at 9:30 a.m.

Check Govtrack.us to see if your congressional representative is sponsoring the pending oil industry regulation reform bills. Click on the Apture link above for a list of proposed laws compiled by the Pew Environmental Group.

Colorado is one of a handful of states being targeted by a new campaign to get big money out of national politics. You might have already seen one of the TV commercials on cable that features images scrolling on an iPad in support of the Fair Elections Now Act in Congress.

Celinda Lake, Democratic pollster with Lake Research Partners, asked voters if they would support such a measure that encourages candidates to raise money from small donors in their states rather than from large special-interest and corporate donors.

“Every single demographic group had almost two-thirds support for this measure, whether you’re talking age, whether you’re talking about every region of the country, including more conservative regions.”

She says they found majority support among Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

Some opponents of the bill say it would likely end up using taxpayer money to support far-left or far-right candidates with potentially offensive ideologies. But, Republican pollster Mark McKinnon says that even after hearing that objection, a majority of Republicans still support the measure.

“Nothing strikes hotter in the values category for Republicans than the idea of accountability, and that’s really what this proposal is all about.”

Under the bill, candidates would be able to run campaigns for office on a blend of Fair Elections Funds and small dollar donations. H.R. 1826: Fair Elections Now Act legislation has 157 co-sponsors in the U.S. House and 21 for the companion bill S. 752 in the Senate. Mountain state Democratic Reps. Martin Heinrich (NM-1), Ben Luján (NM-3), Betsy Markey (CO-4), Walter Minnick (ID-1), Jared Polis (CO-2), Harry Teague (NM-2) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) are co-sponsoring the tandem bills.

Listen to the Colorado News Connection podcast by Eric Mack.

BOOTSTRAP: WHAT CAN YOU DO TODAY
Fair Elections.org offers a grassroots campaign finance reform activists toolkit to bird-dog elected officials and candidates to pledge support for clean, small donor-based elections.

Congress is moving closer to giving consumers in Wyoming and the nation more legal recourse if they are injured by a product that is manufactured overseas.

Christine Zinner, associate director of public affairs for the American Association for Justice, says 83 percent of the defective goods that were recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2009 were foreign-made.

The recalled products ranged from defective drywall to dangerous toys. Zinner says Congress is now looking to hold overseas manufacturers accountable.

“Foreign manufacturers right now are able to kind of skirt the law when it comes time for them to be responsible for a product. It’s really unfair. What this legislation does is level the playing field for everyone. It says, ‘If you want to sell your goods in the U.S., then you have to abide by the rules here.’”

The Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act (S. 1606 and H.R. 4678) would apply to all foreign-made products that are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Ami Gahdia, policy counsel with Consumers Union, testified before Congress last week. She says a wide range of products are responsible for consumer injuries, but people here in the United States have had little legal redress.

“The legislation applies to things like the toys that we saw that came from China with the lead paint in them, and to certain medical products coming from overseas, like tainted heparin — that made people sick and even killed a few people.”

Zinner says some American businesses are backing the measures because, right now, many of them end up holding the bag if they sold the item in question.

“When consumers aren’t able to hold the foreign manufacturer accountable, it kind of forces them to have go to the U.S. business that sold the goods or supplied the goods. That’s why this legislation really helps level the playing field for U.S. businesses.

Listen to the Wyoming News Service podcast by Deborah Smith.

BOOTSTRAP: WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY
Think you might have bad drywall? The Consumer Product Safety Commission offers some tips for detecting the problem and contacting authorities.

Complete an online form to tell ProPublica, the Sarasota Herald Tribune and CBS News your bad drywall story for a possible future story.

Governor Bill Ritter signed legislation on Tuesday creating a permanent Pay Equity Commission for the state. HB 1417 charges the commission with looking for ways to close the state’s pay gap between working white men, and women and minorities who do comparable work.

Nancy Reichman, a sociology and criminology professor at the University of Denver, served on a 2007 Pay Equity Commission that recommended making such a body permanent. She says closing the gap will not only help lift thousands of Colorado families out of poverty, but can also be good for the state economy.

“A state that’s recognized for encouraging more fair workplaces is likely to encourage more of the best and brightest to come to our state and want to work in our state.”

Reichman says one important function of the new commission will be to provide official data on the pay gap in Colorado.

“Employers have said to me, ‘Oh, it’s not true — in my firm, and we pay everybody the same.’ And I say, ‘Well, just go look and see if that’s really true.’ And it turns out in a particular case, it may not have been as true as they wanted it to be.”

She says some critics worry the commission will create new mandates that could be bad for business, but in her view, it is just an entity that should help facilitate best practices.

“And can support doing the right thing, which is in everybody’s interest.”

In Colorado, women make, on average, at least 20 cents less for every dollar a white man earns at the same job. Appointments to the new commission will be split between the governor and the majority and minority leadership of the House and Senate. Appointments must be made within 60 days of the bill’s signing.

Listen to the Colorado News Connection podcast by Eric Mack.

BOOTSTRAP: WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY
If you’re interested in being considered for an appointment to the commission, contact:

Gov. Bill Ritter

Senate President Brandon Shaffer

Senate Minority Leader Mike Kopp

House Speaker Terrence Carroll

House Minority Leader Mike May

President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Wednesday criticized Arizona’s law that makes failure to carry immigration documents a crime.

But in contrast to Arizona, a growing number of cities around the country are taking a different approach: They are issuing identification cards (ID) designed to help illegal immigrants function within society. Government-issued ID is necessary to cash checks, pick up packages from mail centers or access clinics, doctor’s offices, recreation centers or pools.

In New Jersey, Trenton and Princeton are among the latest cities endorsing a community-issued ID card. Bill Wakefield is with the group that spearheaded the ID card program there.

“It doesn’t allow them to do many of the things that a passport or a state-issued drivers license would do. In other words, they can’t get on an airplane. But they can go to the local library and check out a book.”

Some immigration reform advocates strongly oppose the ID cards, saying the communities endorsing them are hampering the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

Three years ago, New Haven, Conn., became the first city to approve community ID cards, amid considerable controversy. Now, Mayor John DeStefano says it has been a success and is no longer generating any news.

“Different communities approach immigration issues differently. We see one approach in Arizona. Other communities, such as New Haven, have approached it a different way. The bottom line to me is that the greatest periods of growth in America are when we’ve had robust immigration.”

In Asbury Park, N.J., which is about 1 mile square, about 250 cards have been issued since 2008. That city’s Latino liaison, Eve Sanchez Silver, says the card is especially useful when emergency workers respond to someone ill or injured.

“If they find a card and it says ‘Oaxaca, Mexico,’ it’s not much help in letting you know where that individual should be now, where that person’s family is. So having this community ID card really has been a help.”

In Arizona, the failure to carry immigration documents has been made a crime. Community ID cards, in contrast, are being used elsewhere to make life easier for illegal immigrants — who fill many jobs some Americans won’t take, Wakefield points out.

Listen to the New Mexico News Connection podcast by Mark Sheerer.

Scientists call it the biggest environmental disaster no one’s heard of, and they are gathering this week in Colorado to try to change that.

Nitrogen pollution from fertilizers and other sources can be detrimental to both water and air quality, experts say, leading to major health and environmental problems ranging from the onset of Alzheimers to the notorious “dead zones” at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

University of Colorado professor Alan Townsend with CU’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research says this meeting aims to create the first national nitrogen assessment.

“On one hand, we depend on fertilizer to grow our crops, and one of the key ingredients in that fertilizer is nitrogen. On the other hand, in general the world tends to use too much of it and use it too inefficiently.”

With all the focus on the oil spill in the Gulf, Townsend points out that the scope of the nitrogen problem is even greater — and that’s important to realize.

“There’s really essentially a nitrogen spill everyday. That’s the core of the problem.”

Nitrogen pollution has had documented impacts on Colorado’s alpine lakes, and Townsend adds that nitrogen is a key component in those “ozone alert” days that Coloradans are familiar with.

“Nitrogen that we end up emitting to the atmosphere through driving cars or running factories or putting fertilizers on fields is one of the key ingredients in making that ozone happen.”

The state’s new Clean Air, Clean Jobs Act will go a long way toward cutting the pollution from coal-power plants, Townsend says, but the problem is so far-reaching that a larger, coordinated effort is needed.

The nitrogen assessment meeting will be held 8 a.m.-5 p.m. May 18-20 at Millennium Harvest House, 1345 28th St., Boulder.

Listen to the Colorado News Connection podcast by Deborah Smith.

BOOTSTRAP: WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY
Tom Philpott at Grist outlines a variety of options to help reduce nitrogen in the environment through changes in eating habits and farming:

• Rethink what you eat: Americans consume an average of more than a half pound of meat per day each day. The livestock feed needed to generate all that meat — and our dairy and egg habits — consumes more than 40 percent [PDF] of our entire corn crop, by far the world’s largest.
• Push farmers to use best practices: “align their N applications more closely with their crops’ needs, perform more soil testing, try applying a little less and see if yields hold steady.”
• Promote a progressive 2012 Farm Bill: N-conscious citizens should prepare to involve themselves in what promises to be a bitterly contested farm-policy debate. The goal must be to shift federal funds from supporting large-scale corn production through commodity subsidies, to well-structured conservation programs that reward organic-style production.