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!2007, The Dallas Morning News

The Dallas Morning News

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Showers, storms

High: 84 Low: 71Metro, Back Page

Dallas, Texas, Monday, June 25, 2007Texas’ Leading Newspaper 50 cents

Know your ARMDon’t let your adjustable mortgage surpriseyou; be prepared for rising rates.

! BUSINESS, 1D

INDEXSECTION A

Lottery ...................................2Texas & Southwest ..................3Nation..................................4,6World .....................................8Editorials and Viewpoints...14,15

METRO — SECTION BObituaries...............................4

SPORTSDAY — SECTION CTV/Radio ...............................2

BUSINESS — SECTION DTop Line..................................2Personal Finance ...................1,4

GUIDELIVE — SECTION EMovies ...................................2TV ..........................................3

CLASSIFIED — SECTION FCOMICS & PUZZLES — SECTION H

Horoscope...............................1Dear Abby...............................1

! WORLD

‘Chemical Ali’sentenced to dieSaddam Hussein’s cousinAli Hassan al-Majid,known as “Chemical Ali,”

and twoother formerofficials weresentenced tohang forslaughteringup to180,000

Kurds two decades ago. 8A

NATION

Senators pushingimmigration policySenators pushing a newimmigration policy ap-pealed to wavering support-ers before the bill comes upfor a crucial test vote thisweek. 4A

Tough staph germ thrives in hospitalsA drug-resistant staphgerm may be infecting atleast 30,000 hospital pa-tients at any given time, anew study says. 6A

SPORTSDAY

McKinney gradgets PGA winHunter Mahan, a formerstandout at McKinney HighSchool and OklahomaState, earned his first PGATour victory at the TravelersChampionship. 8CAlso: The United States,which hasn’t lost a homematch to Mexico since1999, rallied for a 2-1 victo-ry in the Gold Cup champi-onship. 8C

BUSINESS

Refinery problemstrickle to the pumpA rash of refinery fires andother breakdowns helpsexplain why fuel prices havesoared 36 percent. 1D

TXU Corp. could become the firstnational electricity company Ameri-cans have ever seen.

Private equity firms KohlbergKravis Roberts & Co. and TPG aren’tsaying how they plan to make money

with their $45 billion bid for the pub-lic utility, but a consultant hired byThe Dallas Morning News to analyzethe deal speculates the buyers justmight be planning to extend TXUfrom sea to shining sea.

That’s the best guess for why theinvestors would put together the big-gest leveraged buyout ever, taking on

$24.6 billion in debt, to net a compa-ny that’s already healthy and lean, ac-cording to the independent report byGF Energy LLC of Washington, D.C.

Trouble is, the U.S. doesn’t havethe regulatory framework to protectcustomers of a national utility, the re-port says. And the high level of debtinvolved in the deal could push uprates, leaving customers vulnerable.

Officials with the buyout compa-nies declined to be interviewed on therecord for this story. After reading thereport last week, the buyout groupsaid in an e-mail that it is “filled with

generalizations and erroneous con-clusions” but didn’t elaborate.

Mike McCall, chief executive ofTXU Wholesale, wrote in an e-maillast week to the lead author of the re-port, Roger W. Gale, that a change inownership doesn’t change the regula-tory framework, and “a substantialbody of enforceable rules, laws, proce-dures and protocols already exists” toregulate the power industry.

“This could be a recipe for trouble,”said Tom “Smitty” Smith, head of the

Buyers may go national with TXU Consumer protections could be at risk

if company expands beyond TexasBy ELIZABETH SOUDER

Staff Writeresouder@dallasnews.com

See BUYERS Page 10A

EXCLUSIVE REPORT

Second of three parts

Meet the newfaces on councilDallas’ new mayor andseven rookie councilmembers will take theoath of office at 9:30a.m. today at theMorton H. MeyersonSymphony Center. 1B

INSIDE

the animal had just crossed in abrown blur.

Dr. Booth-Binczik, a research tech-nician at the Dallas Zoo, was out of her

“Holy [expletive]! That’s an oce-lot!” shouted assistant Seth Patter-son, leaping sidewise from the bed ofthe truck and onto the road where

seat in a flash and peering through thesharp bushes at the side of the road,but she was out of luck that day. Therarespotted cat was gone.

“I missed it because I had turnedaround to talk to you,” Dr. Booth-Binczik said in a good-natured huff.

Few people in the United Stateswill be lucky enough to see an ocelotin the wild today.

JIM MAHONEY/Staff Photographer

There are about 100 ocelots left in theU.S. Gordo lives in the Dallas Zoo.

G. DANIEL LOPEZ/Special Contributor

Sue Booth-Binczik of the Dallas Zoo crawls through the thorn scrub of the Laguna Atascosa National WildlifeRefuge in South Texas, inhospitable for humans but preferred by the ocelot, the species she’s trying to save.

Not a lotof ocelots

Dallas Zoo researcher creeps throughterritory of rare cat, working for its survival

By KATIE MENZERStaff Writer

kmenzer@dallasnews.com

^ Video:Dallas Zooemployeestalk abouttheir effortsto save theocelot.

dallasnews.com/extra

NUEVO LAREDO — Mexico’swarring Sinaloa and Gulf drugcartels have quietly declared acease-fire in at least two states asthey negotiate a peace agreementthat could divide the nation’s lu-crative drug routes, U.S. and Mex-ican intelligence authorities said.

The surprising move could dra-matically reduce violence across anation where more than 1,300people have been killed this year.But authorities caution that anyagreement could easily be derailedlike similar past efforts.

In contrast to the raging vio-lence of the recent past, drug-re-lated killings have fallen dramati-cally in the last two weeks,according to Mexico City newspa-pers that conduct unofficial dailytallies. Drug experts and seniorlaw enforcement authorities on

Cartelsin talksto splitturfViolence falls as Mexicorivals aim to divide drugroutes, preserve futureBy ALFREDO CORCHADO

Mexico Bureauacorchado@dallasnews.com

See MEXICO Page 13A

AUSTIN — Austin may nothave Dallas’ glitzy, marble-linedart museums or Houston’s ornate,cavernous symphony halls andtheaters. But the capital securesmore state arts grants than any ofits big-city peers despite being a

fraction of their size, according toa Dallas Morning News analysis offive years worth of such funding.

The city’s arts organizations,which pride themselves on theirgrassroots fundraising and gutsyindependent dance and musicaltroupes, have won close to $3.6million in state arts grants since2002. That’s about $5.50 for eachof its residents — compared withabout $1.50 per person in Dallasand San Antonio, and about $1.80per person in Houston.

ERICH SCHLEGEL/Staff Photographer

State arts officials say Austin groups — such as the Heart ofTexas Chorus, shown rehearsing Saturday — don’t getpreferential treatment but may benefit from their location.

Austin the capitalof state arts funding

Larger cities get lessper capita; agency says

there’s no favoritismBy EMILY RAMSHAW

Austin Bureaueramshaw@dallasnews.com

See AUSTIN Page 2A

Think this global-warmingcontroversy will blow over soon?The lawyers don’t.

Top Dallas firm Thompson &Knight started a dedicated cli-mate-change practice June 4 with26 lawyers. Today, Dallas’ Vinson& Elkins will unveil its 41-lawyergroup, headed by a former seniorcounsel for the World Bank.

The law firms — and a dozenothers nationwide — are gettingready for a predicted explosion ofclimate-related work tied to gov-ernment regulation, lawsuitsagainst energy companies andnew markets that will trade therights to emit carbon.

“We’re not here to act as clima-tologists,” said Thompson &Knight’s climate chief, ScottDeatherage, though he has a de-

Don’t likethe heat?Try suing

Lawyers anticipatea rising sea of work

tied to climate changeBy ERIC TORBENSON

Staff Writeretorbenson@dallasnews.com

See LAWYERS Page 12A

See OCELOTS Page 12A

LAGUNA ATASCOSA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REF-UGE — Sitting in her truck on a road surrounded byseemingly bloodthirsty thorn bushes in South Texas,

Sue Booth-Binczik turned around in her seat and leanedout the window to talk to her research assistant.

That’s when it happened.

Border fence may stop ocelot. 12A

Scary goodRon Mueck’s hyperrealistic — and sometimeslarge — sculptures evoke strong emotions.

! GUIDELIVE, 1E

Rangers rally, failDespite two late rallies, the Rangers lostto the Astros, 12-9, in 10 innings.

! SPORTSDAY, 1C

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Page 12A Monday, June 25, 2007 II dallasnews.com The Dallas Morning NewsFROM THE FRONT PAGE

gree in marine biology and knowsplenty of the science behind globalwarming. “We’re here to steer ourclients through what is likely to benew regulation, and that’s going tohave risks and opportunities.”

One potential opportunity isthe $30 billion global market forrights to put carbon into the air; ifthe U.S. comes on board, the mar-ket could grow by $100 billion,and the credits are likely to be-come investments that draw WallStreet attention.

Vinson & Elkins’ ChristopherCarr, who helped the World Bankoversee its carbon finance unit,predicts a nationwide “cap” on car-bon emissions in just a few years.

“It’s not a question of if; it’swhen, and most importantly, howit will be set up,” Mr. Carr said.

By their geography, the Dallasfirms have a number of energycompanies as clients. But they alsoexpect to represent plaintiffswho’ve been harmed by globalwarming and pollution.

Potential suit in CanadaSteve Susman of Susman God-

frey in Houston has been a pioneerin such litigation. He led thecharge this year to force TXU En-ergy into building fewer coal-firedplants in Texas than it hadplanned.

Now he’s among several law-yers talking with a group of Inuitsin northern Canada who have seenan entire island sink under risingseas from global warming. Thetribe is weighing its options, in-cluding suing carbon-emittingcorporations such as power com-panies for heating the planet, hesaid.

“Melting glaciers isn’t going toget that much going, but wait untilthe first big ski area closes becauseit has no snow,” said Mr. Susman,who teaches a climate-change liti-gation course at the University ofHouston Law School. “Or wait un-til portions of lower Manhattanand San Francisco are under wa-ter.”

Some lawyers are trying to tie

the damage from Hurricane Ka-trina to global warming — and theenergy companies who may havecontributed to that warming.

Mr. Susman predicts large in-surance companies, which havepaid out billions of dollars inclaims in the past two decades be-cause of powerful hurricanes,eventually will become plaintiffsin broad greenhouse-effect litiga-tion against energy companies.

It might seem difficult to con-vince judges and juries that lossesfrom intense storms or rising sealevels came from carbon-dioxideemissions from power plants.Even if American power plantscaused the warming, what of Chi-na and India and other industrialcountries’ roles in the process?

But lawyers are testing thosewaters.

“You’re going to see some reallyserious exposure on the part ofcompanies that are emitting CO2,”Mr. Susman predicted. “I can’t sayfor sure it’s going to be as big as thetobacco settlements, but thenagain it may even be bigger. We’re

not going to know until the regula-tory environment becomes clear-er.”

Ahead of the gameAttorneys such as Mr. Carr and

Mr. Deatherage see big changescoming from Washington, andmany of their Texas-based energyclients want to be ahead of thegame when rules are made.

“I think we’ll have a climate-change statute post-2008,” Mr.Deatherage said. Energy compa-nies are jockeying now to makesure investments in clean-air tech-nologies qualify for tax or carboncredits down the road.

Public-nuisance laws that arebeing cited in suits related to envi-ronmental hazards such as leadpaint could come into play withglobal warming and energy com-panies.

Whether states and municipal-ities can really extract potentialdamages for the “nuisance” ofglobal warming isn’t clear. Califor-nia has sued automakers overglobal warming; the automakers,

in turn, have sued the state overclean-air rules.

The Bush administration’s rec-ognition of climate change alongwith overall Democratic momen-tum in Congress has pushed bothenergy-related companies andtheir law firms into action.

The regulatory side, not the liti-gation side, is where the bulk ofthe legal work will come from, saidMr. Carr, who hopes to bring hisexperience with carbon-credittrading to bear with Vinson & El-kins’ numerous energy clients.

“While there may be some liti-gation in the shorter term, thetransactional area is going to be asignificant source of long-term le-gal work,” he said. “To me, it’s per-sonally important that we get thebusiness legislation right.”

Public opinionOthers also downplay the idea

of big money from climate-changelawsuits. Going after Big Tobaccohad plenty of public support, butgoing after Big Energy could be adifferent story.

“While it made a nice little storyto gang up on tobacco companieswho are killing us with a poisonproduct, it won’t be so fun to gangup on energy companies whenthey’re in fact keeping the lights onand getting you to work on time,”said Darren McKinney of theAmerican Tort Reform Associa-tion in Washington, D.C., whichworks to reduce frivolous lawsuits.“We’re not going to get public sup-port for litigation that drives ener-gy costs through the roof.”

But as they succeeded in ex-tracting concessions from tobaccocompanies, Mr. Susman predictslawyers will be effective players —more so than, say, diplomats — inhelping solve the problem of glob-al warming.

And, he said, the law firmsgirding today for the coming envi-ronmental war are making a goodbusiness decision, Mr. Susmansaid.

“I think these guys are smart,because there’s going to be a lot oflitigation in this area and theywant to get ahead of it,” he said.

Lawyers preparing for an explosion of climate-related workContinued from Page 1A

The beautiful, smaller cousin ofthe leopard used to range in thethousands through Texas and partsof Arizona, Arkansas and Louisi-ana, but the species has all but dis-appeared thanks to hunting, habi-tat loss and inbreeding.

Dr. Booth-Binczik and other re-searchers at the Dallas Zoo havebeen working with the U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service and others tokeep the country’s last ocelots fromdying out, but there’s a lot to over-come if the agile, elusive creature isto survive.

“It’s a question of value for lifeand for nature,” said Dr. Booth-Binczik, who often visits the Lagu-na Atascosa National Wildlife Ref-uge to do research on the handfulof ocelots here. “I think we havedestroyed their habitat enough.”

Fewer than 100 ocelots are leftin the U.S. — all crowded into acouple of isolated pockets in thesouthernmost tip of Texas — andtime isn’t on the cats’ side. Expertssay a single blow — hurricane, fireor disease — could wipe the speciesfrom the country in a moment.

But why save a cat most peoplehave never heard of and even fewerhave seen?

Dr. Booth-Binczik argues it’s amatter of survival. If alterations tothe fragile spider web that is theEarth’s ecosystem affect ocelots,then they’re affecting other animalsas well — including humans.

“We are not omniscient. Wedon’t know which interactions be-tween species keep ecosystems op-erating like they should,” she said.“We don’t know what will happen ifthe ocelot is gone.”

Ken Kaemmerer, curator ofmammals at the Dallas Zoo, offersa less dramatic but no less compel-ling reason to save the tiger-stripedfeline. Ocelots are nice to look at.

“We like cats,” he said. “They’repretty.”

The ocelot is a nocturnal, mid-sized feline that lives hidden in thedense thorn scrub of parts ofNorth, South and Central America.

Although a near twin of Texas’more abundant bobcat, the ocelothas a shorter tail and rounded ears.Its grace is as rare as its numbers.

The striping and swirls on theircoats are their fingerprints —unique to each animal — and theirsilky pelts were once highly prizedby fur traders who helped huntthem to near extinction. Becausethe ocelot is now protected as anendangered species in the U.S. andMexico, it is illegal to kill them to-day.

But even without guns, mancontinues to be the Texas ocelot’sgreatest threat.

The native, inhospitable brushthe cat needs for camouflage andprotection is barely visible on ei-ther side of the Rio Grande today.In its place: cattle ranches, produc-tion plants and millions of acres ofgrapefruit trees, sugar cane, grainsorghum and cotton planted in thearea’s rich soil.

“We’ve flown over South Texasand found that less than 1 percenthas this very special habitat ofthorn brush,” said Michael Tewes, aprofessor of wildlife ecology andconservation biology at Texas A&MUniversity-Kingsville and an ex-pert on ocelots.

The thorn scrub that remains isisolated in small, distant pocketsnot large enough to sustain largeocelot populations. Because thetwo known ocelot colonies in Texasare cut off from each other and theclusters in Mexico — the closest is100 miles south of the border — theocelots are inbreeding.

Genetic diversity is suffering,Dr. Tewes said, and researchersknow the cats will become moresusceptible to disease and reducedfertility if the inbreeding goes un-checked.

Jody Mays, wildlife biologist atthe Laguna Atascosa refuge nearHarlingen, said the cats in her areaappear to be getting smaller.

And while individual ocelotsused to have all pink or pink andblack spotted noses, all ocelots onthe refuge have the same coloringon their noses now. That’s an indi-cation that the ocelots are too close-ly sharing genes.

“If I see a picture of one with anall-pink nose, I know it can’t be oneof ours,” she said. “All our ocelothave pink and black noses.”

While bobcats, another of Texas’

native cats, have learned to flourishin man’s urban setting, the ocelothas proved itself unable to adapt tothe changed environment.

Bobcats can be active in the dayor night — depending upon theirenvironment — and will venture in-to the open, brushless territory ofranches and neighborhoods to findfood.

The ocelot won’t leave its densebrush habitat willingly. If forcedout in the open and into daylight, itwill inevitably meet its death.

“The primary form of mortalityfor ocelots is being killed on roads,”Dr. Tewes said.

Even at the Laguna Atascosarefuge, where speed limits are post-ed at 30 mph and signs warn driv-ers of ocelot crossings, several of thecats have been struck by cars in re-

cent years. The wildlife service andTexas Department of Transporta-tion plan to dig ocelot underpassesbeneath some roads to give the ani-mals a safer commute, but the gov-ernment is only in the initial phaseof research.

Dr. Booth-Binczik’s current re-search involves the not-so-glamor-ous task of counting, measuringand weighing rats, one of the oce-lots’ main sources of food.

Her field pants appear polka dotwith spots of blood from thorns, butshe knows that the data she’s accu-mulating in the harsh wilderness ofthe Laguna Atascosa refuge is es-sential to the wildlife department’ssurvival plan for the ocelots.

“With information on a placethat supports ocelots, that gives us agood idea on what it takes to sup-

port ocelots,” Dr. Booth-Bincziksaid.

If the scientists study what asuccessful ocelot breeding groundlooks like — the number of mice peracre, the size of each ocelot’s territo-ry and so on — they can identify orredevelop other areas of brush landin Texas to support ocelot life.Eventually, the research will lead tothe creation of new ocelot coloniesthat operate under federal protec-tion, conservationists hope.

During Dr. Booth-Binczik’s pe-riodic, weeklong visits to the Lagu-na refuge, she spends her nightsquietly sitting in a pickup, countingthe number of rabbits and othercreatures she sees. Since the ocelotstalks its prey at night, it’s impor-tant to know how much prey isavailable then.

In the early mornings — theybegin at 5:30 a.m. — Dr. Booth-Binczik inspects the 100 live-catchmouse traps she’s set throughoutthe prickly ocelot territory on therefuge.

She and an assistant use an aro-matic combination of peanut but-ter and horse feed as a lure, and theycrawl deep through thorny under-brush to set their mouse traps.

Dr. Booth-Binczik carries a rollof duct tape in the back of her truckto quickly pluck off the aggressiveticks and other critters that creeponto her arms and up her pant legswhile she’s in the brush.

“They say that if you throw aquarter and it bounces back, thenthat’s ocelot territory,” Dr. Booth-Binczik said.

Each rodent she and her assis-tant catch is identified, measuredand weighed. They also shave asmall patch of hair on its underbellywith an electric moustache clipperand mark it with a Sharpie so theycan identify the rat if it returns tothe trap the next day.

They wear thick gloves becausethe rodents aren’t appreciative ofthe hands-on attention.

“Their teeth can’t usually get allthe way through the glove … unlessthey have big teeth,” Dr. Booth-Binczik said.

Stuck by thorns, bitten by ticksand gnawed on by rodents. It’s hardto believe they keep their senses ofhumor.

But they do.“My assistant and I were joking

that we should contact the shavercompany and tell them, ‘Your prod-uct is excellent for shaving rodents.I’m sure you want to highlight thatin your next commercial,’ ” said Dr.Booth-Binczik, after about threehours of checking traps and shav-ing rats during a trip to the refugethis month.

Starting up new colonies for theocelot won’t be easy for conserva-tionists, despite the years of re-search that have gone into them.

Much of the land they need forocelot territory is privately ownedand used.

Increasing genetic diversity willrequire moving ocelots from Mexi-co to the U.S., so diplomatic chan-nels must be opened.

And within the U.S., laws pro-tecting endangered species do notmake it easy to move ocelotsaround.

While there’s a lot to overcome,Mr. Kaemmerer is hopeful that theocelot in Texas can be saved.

“The American alligator was atone time endangered,” he said, “andnow they’re as common as crud.”

Ocelots hanging on to a small part of TexasContinued from Page 1A

Photos by G. DANIEL LOPEZ/Special Contributor

Sue Booth-Binczik, a mammal research technician with the Dallas Zoo, looks out over a corridor of dense South Texas scrubat the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. She hopes research on a successful ocelot habitat helps the endangered cat.

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QUICK FACTS

Although ocelots used to range through Texas and into surrounding states, hunting, habitat loss and inbreeding have relegated their population to the southernmost tip of Texas. Biologists believe there are fewer than 100 ocelots left in the U.S.

SOURCES: Dallas Zoo; Texas A&M University-Kingsville; Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge

YOON CHA/Staff Artist

Historic Range

Present Range

Ocelot (Felis pardalis)

Size�

Length: About 3 feet

Population distribution

! Range: Southwestern United States through Central and South America

! Habitat: Varied; found in thick brush, second-growth forests, rainforests or flooded savanna.

! Life span: 10 to 12 years in the wild, 20 or more in captivity

! Typical prey: Mostly small mammals and birds

200 miles

Adults stand about 18 inches tall

Size comparison to a house cat:

Dallas

Laguna AtascosaNational WildlifeRefuge

Researchassistant SethPattersonreleases awhite-footedmouse — foodfor ocelots —after recordingits weight andlength.

A 700-mile fence proposedalong the Texas-Mexico bordermight do more than curb illegalimmigration.

It also might cut in two thehabitat of many native animals —such as the endangered ocelot —and possibly isolate northern ani-mals from their southern breth-ren.

Without more details on whatthe fence — which Congress ap-proved last year — will look like,scientists said they can’t predicthow the barrier will affect wild-life, but they know the impactwill be felt.

“The fence is going to inter-rupt the environment for a lot ofspecies,” said Ken Kaemmerer,curator of mammals for the Dal-

las Zoo and leader of the Associa-tion of Zoos & Aquariums’ Spe-cies Survival Plan for ocelots.

Because the ocelots’ situationin the U.S. is so dire — fewer than100 are left in the country — somescientists believe a fence wouldn’tdo much to hurt them further to-day.

Research has found that oce-lots don’t cross the border be-tween the countries much any-more because their habitat ofthorn scrub has been almostwholly converted to farmland orother human uses.

But if the wildlife conserva-tionists are able to perform a mir-acle and bring the endangeredocelot back from the brink of di-saster, the wall dividing its natu-

ral territory could someday be aproblem.

The U.S. Fish and WildlifeService is already working withagencies in Mexico to restore cor-ridors of habitat that would allowfor movement of wildlife betweenthe two countries. That move-ment might be stopped by a wall,which could compromise the oce-lots’ ability to breed successfullyor establish new territories.

Still, biologists seem to havemore to worry about than a littlefencing when it comes to savingocelots in the U.S.

“We’re on the northern edge ofthe ocelot territory,” said wildlifebiologist Jody Mays, “and weshouldn’t be.”

Katie Menzer

Border fence may stop ocelot