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Show C M Y K December 24, 2008 Making New Year’s Resolutions and Managing Change When 2008 turns to 2009, champagne corks will pop, bubbly will flow and resolutions will be made. As usual, many New Year’s resolutions will involve goals for improved diet, exercise, and weight loss. Unfortunately, by the end of January, a multitude of the resolutions will lose their fizz as determination becomes flat. TOPS Club, Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), the nation’s original weightloss support group, shares the following tips to help make New Year’s resolutions stick: 1. Make it nonnegotiable. Committing to the effort – no matter what – is the first step.Vary when, where, and how if needed, but the effort itself must remain constant. 2. Set a plan. Know what to accomplish and when. Some examples: walk 30 minutes a day by noon, decrease sugar intake by the weekend, or go to the gym on Tuesday and Thursday. 3. Combat standard excuses and rationalizations. Proactively silence the good intention vs. discipline debate. Each of us knows the individual excuses that come too easily. Don’t lose forward momentum – in advance, be aware of, write down, and respond to ex- C M Y K cuses before they become an issue. 4. Use procrastination as an advantage. People who procrastinate as a habit are forced into action by some external deadline. To prompt weight loss, focus on an external deadline, such as a wedding or reunion. 5. Schedule exercise. Make an appointment on the calendar to exercise – and keep it. Aim for exercising 30 minutes a day. 6. Monitor your behavior. Monitoring can take the form of writing a food diary, counting the glasses of water sipped daily, calculating the number of calories burned while exercising, and so on. A written record is particularly helpful to check later, when a memory boost is needed. 7. Focus on the horizon. Measure the progress made, which scientists call the “horizon effect.” It’s encouraging to see progress motivation grows when the goal is in sight. Repeat winning techniques for more success. 8. Take it one choice and one day at a time. Don’t worry about forever. Any change is more manageable and less overwhelming in smaller doses. 9. Find someone who’s accomplishing weight loss Page 13 The Garfield County Insider and imitate them. When it comes to eating right and exercising, observe and copy a successful person to see what they’re doing to get good results. If correct choices are duplicated, then results quite possibly can be duplicated, too. 10. React kindly to mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. When that happens, avoid falling into the traps of shame and guilt. TOPS Club, Inc., the nation’s oldest, nonprofit weight-loss education and support organization, is celebrating 60 years of weightloss support and success in 2008. Founded and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., TOPS promotes successful weight management with a philosophy that combines healthy eating, regular exercise, wellness education and support from others at weekly chapter meetings. TOPS has nearly 180,000 members in almost 10,000 chapters throughout the United States and Canada, and several chapters in Europe. Visitors are welcome to attend their first TOPS meeting free of charge. To find a local chapter, visit www.tops.org or call (800) 932-8677 for more information. C M Y K C M Y K Oil and Gas Lease Sale Bridge to Energy Independence By Selma Sierra, BLM Utah State Director Our nation’s economy and energy security are inextricably linked. The Bureau of Land Management plays a key role in advancing our energy and economic security by providing access to energy sources such as oil, gas and renewable energy. While we envision a future of energy independence sustained by alternative and renewable sources of energy, we also know that oil and natural gas are the essential bridge to that future energy independence. It is important then that those who have a stake in the management of our public lands—and that means every American citizen—understand how the BLM carries out its responsibilities, under the law, to manage the energy resources on public lands. One aspect of BLM’s current oil and gas program, the December 2008 lease sale, deserves particular attention at this time, because facts of the lease sale have been mischaracterized in the public forum, sowing confusion and misunderstanding. It should be under- stood, first and foremost, that there can be no leasing—by law—in areas protected as Wilderness or Wilderness Study Areas. Second, BLM conducts quarterly lease sales based on the law of the land – specifically the 1920 Mineral Leasing Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Rigorous environmental reviews of proposed parcels lead to public reviews, where the public has the opportunity to look at the lease offerings and present objections to specific parcels for specific reasons. This is a standard process BLM Utah conducts four times each year. Granting a lease does not convey an unlimited right to explore or develop oil or gas resources. Leases are stipulated with terms designed to minimize the impacts of development. Standard lease terms require that the lessee minimize adverse impacts to the land, air, water, cultural, biological and visual values. Additional lease terms are applied according to site-specific needs. After a lease is issued the BLM works closely with the operator to modify the siting and design of facilities, influence the rate of development and timing of activities, and require other mitigation to minimize impacts. It is important to remember, too, that leasing is a temporary use of the land, and developers are required to reclaim sites. And let’s not forget what energy industry jobs mean to local economies. Many Utah communities depend on energy development, the jobs and infrastructure they bring. Thus far, Utah is fortunate that it has not been hit as dramatically as the rest of the country with job losses. That is due, in large measure, to energy jobs in the state, which have outpaced US job growth by more than 30 percent. Oil and gas exploration is costly and highly speculative. Only about six percent of the leases are drilled, and about four percent of leases are productive. If a lease is explored and preliminary data indicates field development is probable, BLM then prepares the appropriate National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) document—typically an Environmental Impact Statement or an Environmental Assessment—to analyze and disclose environmental impacts. The NEPA process ensures continuing opportunities for public involvement in managing your public lands. Little attention has been paid to the fact that this lease sale offers parcels for development of geothermal energy—a renewable energy resource—yet even these are protested. And renewable resources are bearing the brunt of economic downturn and falling gas prices. Our collective memory as a nation is short. We forget how hard it was to pay $4.00 a gallon for gas last summer, when we’re paying less than half that price this winter. That being said, it is important that we are deliberate in our ability to maintain existing energy resources until we can fully transition to renewable energy resources. Being dependent upon foreign sources of energy has always been risky. In the geopolitical world of today, our dependence on others leaves us frighteningly vulnerable. Common sense dictates that we have a strategy to lessen our dependence on foreign sources of energy, a strategy that gives us confidence about a future era of energy independence that is sustained by renewable and alternative sources of energy produced here in the United States. In the meantime, that strategy must bridge the gap, by promoting responsible development of the substantial reserves of oil and natural gas resources found here at home. For more information regarding oil and gas development on BLM-administered land in Utah please visit: h t t p : / / w w w. b l m . g o v / ut/st/en/info/more/ Myth_vs__Reality/December_2008_Quarterly_Oil_and_Gas_Lease. html |