U.S. Moves Ahead On Controversial Oil And Gas Leases On Public Land

washingtonpost.com:

A decision by federal officials this week to press ahead with a controversial sale of oil and gas leases in eastern Utah is stoking the debate over how to balance the nation's needs for fossil fuels against concerns over the environmental impact on iconic national parks and other sensitive areas.

The Bush administration, which has sought to reduce American dependence on imports to meet the continuing demand for oil and gas, has aggressively pushed to open up energy exploration across broad swaths of the West, off both coasts, and in Alaska. But those initiatives regularly stir opposition from both environmentalists and advocates of faster development of alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power.

Read the whole story: washingtonpost.com

Comments

[OYea]

When people eventually connect the dots about what has really been going on regarding oil and gas in the US and finally realize that we've ALL been fleeced... even the staunchest 'Conservatives' are going to be outraged! This is about so much more than just the environmental impact. The Bush/Cheney administration has erected one colossal smoke and mirror show designed to pit the 'Liberals' against the 'Conservatives' in order to divide the country. And while US citizens are at each others throats... these thieves are pulling off the greatest heist that the world has ever seen!

[Oonagh]

It is just incredible... with the short time to go he and Chaney can still do so much harm.

[JEP57]

I'm all for expanded research and development in alternative energy sources. But until there are scientific and technical breakthroughs in things such as photovoltaics (when they cost less than $0.50 a watt for example, and people and municipalities can afford them), they won't fill more than a small percentage of our energy needs for the forseeable future. Let's get a Manhattan style project going for these scientific breakthroughs. In the meantime, we have no choice but to explore and use the fuels in our own country. I believe we can do it in these public lands in an environmentally safe way.

[Harmony1812]

Bush sucks. I hope Obama can counteract his damage.

[instagladiator]

"It's possible to drill in environmentally sensitive areas in safe ways." WTF?

[gorgol]

KARMA IS coming Mr. Bush...Karma is coming.

[thismachinekillsfascists]

Unfuckingbelievable.

How are we going to tell our children that we did NOTHING to stop climate change? No, instead we put an oilman in power which resulted in record profits for oil companies and a destroyed environment and economy. WE are to blame. WE let this happen. Are WE going to let these criminals get away with this??

[instagladiator]

Yes, because THEY know that the majority of the public WILL NOT do a single thing to stop them. Does revulushun (misspelled to get posted) ring a bell?

[shockmagog]

"Look, Utah, the gays are trying to get married!"

They turn to look as the drills go in the ground behind them, and their land is laid to waste.

[Ono4Hoopono]

The incoming Obama Administration needs to put these potential bidding companies on notice that they should not "rely on these contracts," as they will have been obtained under questionable policy conditions. If they do so it will make it harder for them to prove in court that they were "innocently" damaged by purchasing and relying on them. This is one of the key aspects to proving damages, and each side in a contract is under obligation to minimize the damages they incur during a dispute. The court does not award damages for people who "run up the tab" against the other party to the contract.

Also before they take office, they should suggest the possibility of some alternative contracts or leasing that they can perhaps bid on with honor after he takes office. Warn them that they should be careful about taking an adversarial stance as it could affect the outcome of other issues impacting their profits and their industry, like maybe taxes or levies or changing emission and environmental standards to counter the damage they do with these leases. Let them know they would be better off being on the side of the people on this and other issues.

[littleblackcat]

These bidding companies KNOW that these "contracts" have been shoved through the back door by this corrupt administration with the FULL INTENTION of shafting the will of the intelligent people. Sadly, these measures call for the same dirty street-fighting in order for them to be rescinded. Whether President Obama will decide to hit back by simply declaring the contracts void due to their underhandedness remains to be seen. I'm sure he would rather remain a person of higher standard than resorting to bush's level of egomaniacal destruction of the public good in order to preserve the land, but there may be no other choice. Using bush's pigheaded arrogance in declaring "This is how it's going to be" in a turnaround onto those who seek to profit from it, President Obama just might say "Okay, you have said that's how it's going to be and since now I'M the one who makes the decisions, I'm telling you that it ISN'T the way it's going to be!" I wouldn't change places with President-Elect Obama for all the jewels in the world. May all the gods everywhere help and protect him.

[Ono4Hoopono]

I think what you are saying may be the case. I'm hoping that Obama can appeal to the angels of their better nature, too. If not, I think he is prepared to be presidential, whatever it takes.

[darthdarcy]

I wonder how McCain squares this with his claim that Teddy Roosevelt is his hero and favorite president..?

Destroying and polluting Roosevelt's great legacy he acted to preserve for our nation by those very industries who's monopoly he busted up..!

Bush is an environmental criminal, and a scourge of God's great creation..

Of course of Congress and Senate allowed this abomination, since their vacations were more important than our nations legacy and well being..!

[Ono4Hoopono]

As the Bush Administration "sets fire" to the environment in their final days in office, it reminds me of Saddam setting fire to the oil fields at the end of the first Gulf War. Or like the "revenge cuts" of the lumber industry proponents in the Pacific Northwest, when they went into sensitive areas at night to cut down ancient protected redwoods to spite environmental groups in the late 80s/early 90s, including the largest redwood on record.

Have these people ever really represented any interests but their own?

[mirza]

A Disgrace

[crazylikeafox]

Utah voted overwhelmingly for BUsh and Cheney and McCain.

They are getting a dose of Republican reality.

Don't cry to environmentalists Utah when they dig for gas and oil in your back yard and destroy your ground water supply.

You voted for it.

[spinns17]

KING BUSHWHACKER knows it all.or what cheney tells him.

[fussygorilla]

Can' t the Congress stop this madness?