Our bright orange friend, the Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula,) is back in the LipsYard. Not named for the city, the Baltimore Oriole gets its moniker from the fact that the male's colors resemble those on the coat-of-arms of Lord Baltimore. It is also the state bird of Maryland.
They don't stay around for long, as they're just passing through on their way north to their breeding grounds. They do like to eat from oranges we cut in half and put out by the other bird feeders. You can also get special Oriole feeders, that look like oversized hummingbird feeders.
Also back this spring, are high prices at the pump. When oil prices skyrocket, inevitably Republicans will talk about drilling in Alaska and blame Democrats for blocking proposals that would open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for petroleum exploration.
President Bush didn't disappoint drilling advocates at a press conference last week, calling again for drilling ANWR.
Few people have bothered asking exactly how much oil might be produced if the Arctic refuge is opened up. The answer: not much in the scheme of things _ around 1 million barrels per day. And the Alaska oil wouldn't hit the market for another 10 years.
According to a report from the Department of Energy, at its peak capacity in 2025, ANWR would produce 1 million barrels of oil a day, only reducing world oil prices around 30 cents to 50 cents a barrel. Heck for that kind of savings, you might as well cut the federal gas tax for a summer.
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