Cherry blossoms get major boost in odd spring | The Japan Times Online

Cherry blossoms took as long as 19 days from blooming to reach their peak in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, the longest ever observed in the city, followed by 16 days in Miyazaki, 15 days in Kobe and Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, and 14 days in Osaka — all record lengths. In Nagoya, the period was a record-tying 15 days.

In the six cities, the average number of days from blooming to full bloom has been 6.9 to 8.5 days.

[Delayers]: New Date Set For Senate Climate [Hoax] Bill -- Energy Section

Looks like a Senate climate bill will not be unveiled the week of Earth Day after all. The new goal for Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joe Lieberman, I/D-Conn., to publicly release a potential deal is April 26, sources said.

Earlier this week, Graham explained why the bill would not be released on Earth Day, April 22. "One, we're not ready," he said. Second, he said, the message "had been driven by global warming policy" but is now domestic energy policy, job creation and cleaner air.

Fence-Sitting Dems Lay Out Plans They'd Support -- Energy Section

...they do ask for a "significant" phase-in for manufacturers to be covered under a cap-and-trade program "if the funding for rebates to energy-intensive and trade-exposed industries is inadequate." During this period, these industries need to receive rebates that can be used to purchase greenhouse gas emissions credits. "It is critical that a sufficient number of allowances are set aside for EITE industries in order to provide the kind of certainty that will lead to investment in U.S. facilities," they wrote.

They also ask bill authors John Kerry, D-Mass.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; and Joe Lieberman, I/D-Conn., for "an automatically triggered" border tax on "imports from countries that do not have in place comparable greenhouse gas emissions reduction requirements to those adopted by the United States."

Obama blames company for West Virginia mine deaths | Reuters

"This tragedy was triggered by a failure at the Upper Big Branch mine, a failure first and foremost of management, but also a failure of oversight and a failure of laws so riddled with loopholes that they allow unsafe conditions to continue."

Obama said the company's management should be held accountable for the accident.

If a failure of laws caused this accident, why didn't Obama/Reid/Pelosi fix the laws *before* this accident occurred?